Details

Category: Current Issue

The Eastern Connecticut Conference championship meet was one of the many this high school outdoor track season that was hampered by the weather.
Originally scheduled for May 19 at East Lyme, the event had to be pushed back to May 23 because of heavy rain.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ track team finished with more points than the boys, but still finished 13th as a team while the boys placed 12th in the championship meet.
It was that weather and just the spring schedule as a whole that combined to make for a less than hoped for finish for the Centaurs girls’ team.
“We had a lot of kids miss almost two weeks of practice due to the trip to Greece, got hit by the illness bug late in the season, and weren’t able to get on the late season roll you really need to do well at (the) ECC (championship),” said Centaurs girls’ track coach John Ywarsky.
In his final season as head coach of the track team, Ywarsky saw Lindsey O’Dea post the best finish.
She tied for second in the high jump with Killingly’s Rachel Hultzman, but had to settle for third based on the number of jumps it took her to clear 4 feet, 10 inches. Allyson Lewis of Norwich Free Academy easily won the event when she cleared the bar at 5-8.
Sophomore Paula Hernandez was fifth in the javelin as she reached 100-feet in the event.
Junior Maddie Grube placed sixth in the triple jump (31-5) and ninth in both the 100-meter hurdles and long jump.
The 4 x 400 relay team of Olivia Majek, Kennedy Davignon, Eliza Dutson and Ashleigh Angle placed sixth at the championship.
Hannah Matsas was 19 seconds better than her best performance of the season and finished eighth in the 3,200 meter while ninth-place finishes went to Davignon in the 200-meter, Majek in the 400, Megan Gohn in the 1,600 meter and Julia Theriaque in the high jump.
“We had some good results. Paula Hernandez hitting 100 feet in the javelin; two of our freshmen (Emily McClure and Mallory Tyimok) setting personal bests in the 800 meter and our 4x400 team qualified for the Class L meet,” said Ywarsky.
Hernandez and O’Dea will be the highest seeds in the Class L meet for the girls, both will be seeded 11th.
Davignon also qualified individually in the 100 and 200 meter races as well as being a member of the 4 x400 relay team.
Angle qualified in the 300 meter hurdles, Grube in the long jump, Majek in the 400 and Dutson in the javelin.
“Being in Class L really hurts the girls,” said Ywarsky. “We’re just over the (Class) MM limit, so we’re in a class we don’t really belong in.  It hurt us in cross-country, where a team that finished in the top five in MM last year didn’t even break the top 15 this year, and I expect the same in (Class L outdoor track).  What I’m really hoping for are personal bests from the girls. It would be overzealous of me to think we could make waves at the class meet, but getting Ashleigh under 50 seconds in the 300 hurdles, Maddie over 15-6 in the long jump, and Hernandez to get over 100 feet in the javelin are all reasonable goals.  I think Olivia Majek has a shot at a sub-62 (seconds) 400 meters, she’s running very well right now and has established herself as a solid 400 runner.  Eliza Dutson will look to regain her form in the javelin. She was (over 90 feet) earlier this season, but a minor injury set her back and she’s struggled to get (past 80 feet) since.  A good performance at Class L would be great to catapult her into next year.”
The Centaurs lost their final regular season meet to Killingly, 89-51, on Friday.
For Ywarsky, he will hand over the girls’ cross-country program and girls’ track team to an unnamed successor following the Class L and possibly State Open championship meets, after five years at the helm.
“We had some early success in track. The second-place finish at the ECC championship in my first year (best ECC finish ever for the Woodstock girls) is something I’m proud of — it was ‘lightning in a bottle’ for us.  However, long term, track is an area where I’ve really struggled as a coach.  Over five years I’ve had to spread myself over almost every event, and I think it’s allowed some gaps to form.  It’s hard to develop a long-term plan for the program when I was coaching sprints one season, distance the next, and then back to sprints.  It’s really a reflection of this area of the state - there’s a shortage of coaches in event-specific areas,“ said Ywarsky.

Boys’ track
Mark Dumas and Natanael Colon finished third overall in their event for the Centaurs and won Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II individual titles at the ECC championship meet.
Colon finished in 51.92 seconds in the 400-meter, good for third behind Jason Walton of Plainfield (50.08) and Windham’s Anthony Titus (51.83), but it was the best among Division II competitors.
The senior also finished 12th in the 100-meter.
Dumas, also a senior, couldn’t catch Windham’s Nate Barbosa who tossed the shotput 50 feet, 4 inches. Cameron Belton of Norwich Free Academy was second at 48-8 followed by Dumas at 48-3 ½.
The only other Woodstock athletes to finish in the top 10 in their event was Connor Huda in the discus and Kenneth Birlin in the 1,600 meter. Huda finished sixth with a best throw of 116-03. Birlin had his best effort of the season, crossing the line in the 1,600-meter in 5:00.82, but it was only good for a 10th place finish.
“We thought that our athletes performed very well at the ECC meet. We were very proud of the team effort and the personal best results,” said Woodstock Academy boys' coach Pete Lusa. The Centaurs finished up the regular season May 25 with an 86-63 loss to Killingly in a meet that was rescheduled not once, but twice, and had to be run after the ECC championship meet.
“The season was one of the strangest we’ve seen,” Lusa added.  “The weather was by far the worst. In 25 years of coaching, we have never had to reschedule more than one meet (Woodstock had to postpone two meets this year, not counting the ECC championship reschedule), and never have we had to reschedule a rescheduled meet. The athletes were given strange circumstances to train at times. The coaching staff was pushed to the limit with trying to train athletes while the meet schedule was constantly changing. The boys and girls track teams are growing in strength and wisdom. Both teams were lacking a significant senior group. Next year we have large numbers of returning upperclassmen that should help the team.”
Only five athletes will take part in the Class MM boys’ state championship this week.
Colon qualified in the 100, 200 and 400 meter races. He is seeded ninth in the 400.
Dumas is seeded No. 5 in the shotput.
Huda will compete in the discus and shotput, Kyle Buell in the 100 meter and Eric Phongsa in the 200 meter.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

Details

Category: Current Issue

In this case, getting there was half the battle.
The Woodstock Academy girls’ lacrosse team played in its first-ever Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament match May 22 and despite the result not being to their liking — a 9-7 loss to eventual champion and host, Stonington, in a semifinal match — the experience was more than worth it.
“Awesome,” said coach Kathleen Johnson.  “The girls were pumped. The coaches were pumped. It was a great accomplishment. I don’t think anyone realizes how difficult it is to make the ECC tourney in Girls Lacrosse. Four teams. That’s it. Most sports have an abundance of teams that make the ECC tourney. My multi-sport athletes as well as my athletes that I have had for three years understand the hard work it takes to make it.”
The Centaurs played well in the first half and led, 3-2.
But Johnson sensed there could be some trouble.
The Centaurs (13-4) were not as dominant on the draw as they were in the first matchup with the Bears (14-4) in the first meeting of the season.
That match produced the first-ever win for the Centaurs over the Bears, 10-5, on May 8.
But a second win was not to be as Stonington rallied in the second half behind junior Emma Sabbadini (6 goals) for the win.
Johnson was not disappointed with the outcome, in fact, quite the opposite.
“Extremely happy,” Johnson said about her team’s play, “At the end of the game, I was disappointed that we lost but not disappointed in any of my student-athletes. They played their hearts out and never gave up.”
Freshman Bridget Horst led the Centaurs with three goals, giving her 40 for the season.
Senior Madison Brennan added her 47th tally of the year while Arielle Johnson, Emma Ciquera and Ellie Jellison also found the net.
Ivy Gelhaus and Arielle Johnson also had assists for the Centaurs.
Freshman goalie Kileigh Gagnon made four saves in net for The Academy.
The Bears went on to win the ECC championship with an upset win over East Lyme in the title game.
“It makes us feel a little better. It proves that our success this year was the real deal and we’re hungry for next year,” Kathleen Johnson said of the Stonington win.
Brennan, the ECC girls Athlete of the Week for May 7-13, was named a first team ECC Division II All-Star.
Horst and Ciquera achieved honorable mention status and Katie Mason was given the team’s sportsmanship award.
The season isn’t over for the Centaurs.
They earned the No. 5 seed in the Class M state tournament and had a first-round game on Tuesday (the game ended too late for this edition), hosting No. 12 Mercy High School of Middletown.
“I’m not sure,” Kathleen Johnson said when asked in the ECC tournament experience would help in the state tournament match, “We haven’t had a lot of experience playing ‘big games’, but we will be ready to go.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
 

Details

Category: Current Issue

By Shawn Bates
And for the guys, the Putnam Wolfpack looks to be rolling into their QVJC tournament. They secured the No. 1 seed May 24 with a win against Pomfret . Derek Coderre (I refer to him as the “Joe Toree of Middle School Baseball”) has his middle squad in tip top shape with two games left to play in the regular season this week. May 29 they played  against Lisbon on an away game.  They play Canterbury at home June 1.
The last time the Wolfpack faced both teams they came out with two victories. The Wolfpack is 8-2 at this time. Jack Rindge, Avery Pederson, Carter Morrisette and Cooper Livingston have performed well on the hill for the Pack and Zack Belleville behind the plate has held his own this year. The infield lead by the middle tandem of Livingston and Karson Bates have shown good chemistry when the two are together. Ben Northrop anchors first base and when Morrisette isn’t pitching he’s anchored 3rd base down. Pederson and Rindge along with Nick Renshaw patrol the outfield. It seems that coach Coderre has a real good chance of getting four more wins. That will get the coach and team another plaque for the gym hallway — and to make it a back to back championship season.
Clippers
The Putnam Clipper achieved what they said they would do from the first week of practice: Compete and make States. Last week the Clippers went into extra innings against Wheeler and came away with a loss .
But May 23 the Clippers traveled to Groton for a double header that put their season on the line. And the Clippers came away with two wins. That got them to nine wins overall for the season, finishing their independent season at 9-11.
That allowed the Clippers to head down, May 29, to face a well-balanced Old Lyme team with a 13-7 record and ranked #11 in the State S tournament

Details

Category: Current Issue

Girls' golf
comes to an end
The end of the season has come for the Woodstock Academy girls’ golf team.
The Centaurs finished up on Tuesday with the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship tournament which they hosted at the Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson.
The tournament ended too late for this edition.
The Centaurs were going into the season finale hoping to finish on what has become a traditional note – an ECC championship.
 “Clearly we want to win our fourth consecutive ECC championship. If the girls play as well as they have been playing at practice the last week, we should be very competitive,” said Woodstock coach Earl Semmelrock.
The Centaurs did not have a typical regular season.
They finished second to Waterford in the league after the Lancers won both meetings between the two.
Overall, The Academy posted a 10-7 record.
“I knew it would be difficult to shoot the low scores that we have had over the last few years. We really are a young team with many players with little experience.  We have relied on, at least, two first-year golfers to participate in every match,” said Semmelrock.
An example of that happened May 24.
In the final regular season match for the Centaurs, they downed Norwich Free Academy,  220-246.
One of the newcomers, freshman Kailey LaChappelle, led the Centaurs with a 52, two strokes off her best round of the season.
Senior Caroline Eaton and sophomores Linda St. Laurent and Avery Jones all carded a 56 while Katherine Harrington finished with a 62.
“I am very optimistic,” Semmelrock said of the future for the program. “With all the freshman and sophomore players we have, I would say the future is bright. They really want to improve and I believe they will put in the work over the summer and fall to return as better players. They have all shown significant improvement in their games since the beginning of the season. We talk every day about the fact that in golf you can be as good as you want to. If you are willing to put in the work, the results will follow.”

Boys’ golf
The Centaurs boys’ golf team will have an important match before the regular season comes to a close.
Woodstock hosts Montville May 23 at Quinnatisset.
If the Centaurs (13-7) can defeat the Indians (1-14), they will finish in a tie with Stonington for second place in Division II of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
The Centaurs also don’t have to leave home to play in the ECC championship which will take place at noon May 31 at Quinnatisset.
Woodstock warmed up for those two events with its best performance of the year in a 7-0 win over Plainfield May 24.
Jack Gelhaus and Eli Child both shot 36s while Mason Stewart added a 38, Owen Borski a 42 and Robert Maheu finished with a 48. All of those were season-best individual performances.
The 152 total could also put the Centaurs in the hunt for the ECC championship if they could repeat that performance.
By Marc Allard
Sports Information Director