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Winter Gray
Even gray is beautiful when you've got the crisp winter air working for you. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photo.

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POMFRET — The Pomfret School girls’ basketball team lost on the road at Williston Northampton in a fantastic basketball game Feb. 15, 67 to 65.
Sel Gonzalez had 39 points on the day—what may be a new Pomfret girls’ basketball record—and could not be stopped all day. Tay Guirantes added a double double for Pomfret with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Williston 9 30 42  67
Pomfret  16  36  50 65
Pomfret scorers: Sel Gonzalez: 39 points; Tay Guirantes: 10 points; McKinley White: 4 points; Grace Bullied: 4 points; Alba Samu: 4 points; Molly Vincent: 2 points; and Teagan O’ Hara: 2 points.
Feb. 12 the Griffins got a 64-47 win over NEPSAC Class B opponent Kingswood Oxford. A big third quarter helped Pomfret pull away and all 10 Pomfret players made strong contributions throughout. Sel Gonzalez led Pomfret with 22 points including 4 three-pointers. Tay Guirantes added 17 and McKinley White had 12 points in the first half.
Pomfret      16 - 31- 51- 64
Kingswood  10- 25- 37- 47
Pomfret scorers: Grace Bullied: 6 points; Sel Gonzalez: 22 points; Tay Guirantes: 17 points; Teagan O’Hara: 2 points; Alba Samu: 2 points; Molly Vincent: 2 points; McKinley White: 12 points; Brooke Zahansky: 2 points.
By Patrick Burke

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Competing
Left to right: Adam Schimmelpfennig, left, sports his medal for a fifth-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles while Greg Weber shows his two fourth-place medals for high jump and long jump. Isabella Sorrentino gets ready to launch in the shotput. Julia Theriaque clears the high jump bar enroute to a 2nd-place finish. Greg Weber goes airborne in long jump competition. He finished 4th. Photos by Joe Banas/Woodstock Academy.




Track: Two
move on to
State Open
Two members of the Woodstock Academy indoor track teams will be competing again this weekend at the State Open championship and both will be in the same event.
Senior Julia Theriaque and her classmate, Greg Weber, both qualified for the final indoor track event of the season in the state in the high jump.
Both will see if they can qualify to advance to the New England championship.
“Julia has a very good shot at New England’s. Greg would have to have a breakthrough but you can’t count it out entirely,” said Woodstock Academy indoor track coach Josh Welch.
Girls
Theriaque placed second in the high jump at the Class L state championship.
Theriaque equaled the top finish of Conard freshman Audrey Kirkutis at 5-foot-2, but it took Theriaque more attempts to clear the bar.
“Julia had a solid day. We were hoping for 5-4 and beyond but she had three narrow misses and ended up second by the tiebreaker. It’s not what we had hoped for, but she has another chance at the Open,” Welch said.
Sophomore Linsey Arends placed fifth in the 1,600-meter in 5:31.30.
“Linsey had her work cut out for her with a tough double between 4x800 and 1600. She ran a tough race to finish fifth in Class L but missed qualifying for the Open because of the strong competition all the way down through Class S.  I think she gained valuable experience by doubling that will help her in the coming seasons,” Welch said.
Arends joined Iris Bazinet, Lauren Brule and Meghan Gohn to finish 10th in the 4x800 meter relay.
Daisy Li was seventh in both the 55-meter dash (7.68 seconds) and 55-meter hurdles (9.51).
“Daisy also had a great day, she didn’t quite reach her personal bests but she was in the neighborhood. Finishing seventh in both is awesome for a junior. She missed the Open by a hundredth of a second.  She is gaining a lot of confidence through her experience and she has a lot to offer in the coming outdoor season,” Welch said.
Freshman Isabella Sorrentino was 15th in the shotput competition.
Boys
Weber stood out again for the Centaurs at the Class L indoor track state championship meet.
Weber finished fourth in both of his events, the high jump and long jump Feb. 15. Weber cleared 5-foot-10 in the high jump and it will be in that event that he moves on to the State Open championship Feb. 22.
Welch is hopeful that since Weber now only has to concentrate on the high jump, it might benefit his effort this weekend in that event.
“With a refined focus on that event he may have a chance to move up in the Open.  He took 4th place to earn medals in both events which is very impressive for a new athlete,” Welch said.
It is Weber’s first year competing in indoor track. His best in the long jump was a 20 feet, 4 1/4 inch effort.
“Greg came up short in long jump, about a foot under his best. He missed qualifying for the Open by about an inch. The demands of doubling up for a new athlete with high jump first, and the pressure of a big meet might have caught up with him,” Welch said.
Junior Adam Schimmelpfennig finished fifth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.2 seconds.
“Adam had a great run in the hurdles but it wasn’t enough to make the Open this year with some very strong performances through the other divisions,” Welch said.
Fellow junior Ethan Aspiras placed in the top 10 in the 3,200-meter, finishing in just over 10 minutes and 11 seconds, good enough for eighth place.
Eric Phongsa finished 13th in the 55-meter dash and he also joined Jeff Phongsa, Schimmelpfennig and Scout Favreau in a 10th-place finish in the 4x200 meter relay.
“I’m a little disappointed that we don’t have more moving on, but our kids did a great job over all. Getting so many to the meet was a great step. We tied at 14th in the state for both teams. Not the top 10 we were hoping for as performances came up a little short of the athletes bests in many instances. We have some things to look at there but with so many new to state competition we have a lot to work with in the future,” Welch said. 
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

 

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Winners
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team displays another ECC championship plaque and banner after it won the ECC championship for an 11th consecutive time.

Woodstock Academy senior Jenna Davidson won her second consecutive ECC individual championship with a 36.75 performance in the All-Around competition. Photos by Marc Allard.





Centaurs
capture 11th
straight ECC
championship
It’s not getting any easier. But that may be a good thing for the Woodstock Academy gymnastics team.
“The pressure is there especially since the ECC teams are growing and doing so well. The pressure is a little more but it makes everyone work a little harder,” said Woodstock Academy coach Kasey Tocchio.
As a result, the Centaurs just escaped from Deary’s Gymnastics in Danielson early last week with their 11th consecutive ECC title with a 139.4-138.5 win over upset-minded Stonington.
“Thank God,” said Woodstock Academy senior Jenna Davidson. “We were so nervous because it would be so bad (if they hadn’t kept the streak going). We’re happy.”
Davidson repeated as the ECC individual champion with a 36.75 score in the All-Around competition.
“I think last year, I kind of got lucky. Our two seniors I think fell on something so I won. This year, I hope I was more deserving, maybe. I think I had a decent meet,” Davidson said.
Although the Centaurs didn’t know the exact score going into the final event, they were pretty sure what they were up against.
Going into the floor exercise, senior Emily Arters told her classmate, Davidson, “You know that it’s down to floor, right?” Davidson responded that she didn’t.
“But floor was a good event to finish on. We usually have fun with it and it usually turns out well,” Davidson said.
Davidson didn’t know just how crucial the floor was for the Centaurs. They trailed the Bears going into the final event by three-tenths of a point.
“That’s scary,” Davidson said with a laugh.
Stonington coach Leslie Gomes knew her team had to do something that was going to be difficult, score well in its final event, vault.
“I knew we did really well on beam and floor, but I didn’t know what Woodstock was doing. It was kind of hard to know and vault is not our strongest event. We’re struggling a little with it. Hanna and Lydia (Laskey) are doing great but it’s just not our strongest event,” Gomes said.
Lindsey Gillies scored an 8.55, Elise Boisvert and Arters both finished with an 8.75 and Davidson posted a 9.15 to give the Centaurs a 35.2 total for the floor.
It was enough to best Stonington which finished with a 33.95 in the vault.
The Centaurs came into the meet pumped — maybe a little too much.
“Kasey talked to us at the end of the meet and said we had a lot of adrenaline (going into the ECC championship). I think it shows in little mistakes here and there because we were so amped up. Everything just has to be normal, just like practice, normal,” Davidson said.
The Centaurs started on the vault which only served to ratchet up the excitement level since Gillies nailed it.
The sophomore finished with a 9.2 to finish first in the event.
“I put that upgrade in on Saturday. I didn’t think I was going to do it, but (Kasey) told me to do it,” Gillies said.
It impressed Davidson.
“That vault is new. She keeps getting better vaults and I don’t know how she does that vault because none of us can do it. She had a solid meet. Everything looked great. We’re all happy for her,” Davidson said.
Gillies went on to finish with a 34.95 total, good enough for fourth in the All-Around competition.
Davidson followed with a 9.15 performance on the bars, best in the competition, and also was best on the beam where she finished with a sparkling 9.45.
The Bears made it close with a 36.3 total on the floor and a 35.2 on the beam. Their 138.5 total was a school record.
“It’s awesome to see Stonington set a school record. It’s so nice that we have a great connection with everyone and we’re still cheering everyone on. We want everyone to do their best and see where the results lie from there,” Tocchio said.
The Centaurs have another streak to protect. Woodstock Academy has won nine straight state championships, the last seven in Class S.
Tocchio said she thinks this team, even without freshman Taylor Markley who is out with a back injury, is capable of keeping that streak alive as well.
“I think we are,” Tocchio said. “I think we need to remain healthy. It’s just different. Every year is different. This is a small team so every single person has to do their job. They just have to stay in the zone. Every year gets tougher.”
The state championships are Feb. 29. The class designations have not been announced.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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