By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC sporty shoutout is sent along to former Marianapolis Prep outstanding coach Charles “Chuck” Bourgeois.  As coach of the Golden Knights, Bourgeois produced some of the best high school teams and players ever seen on the basketball courts of northeastern Connecticut.  Today Bourgeois continues to work diligently for Frontier telephone company.

The Woodstock Academy gymnastics program, initially under the guidance of coach Robin Deary-Fillmore and more recently under her daughter and former gymnast Kasey Fillmore, has brought much recognition to Centaur Nation in recent years.

The Academy gymnasts have been a dominant force in the State of Connecticut.  Despite being hidden away in the Quiet Corner the Centaur gymnasts have turned heads from Greenwich to Thompson and Litchfield County to New London.  They’ve not only been CIAC Class champions but have prevailed in the State Open and been a force in the New England Gymnastics Championships.

The recognition they’ve brought to the rural community will be paying dividends this coming 2017 gymnastics season.  The Don Friedman executive director of the New England Council, which oversees the New England Championships, announced that Woodstock Academy has agreed to host the 2017 competition.

Although Woodstock is tucked away in the northeastern section of Connecticut, it appears to be ideally located because of its proximity to Massachusetts and Rhode Island and only a couple hours from New Hampshire, the states that send gymnasts to the New England’s.

Although the Centaur gymnasts hold their competitions in Danielson at Deary’s Gymnastics, the championships will be held on the Academy campus.  The Woodstock Fieldhouse, which is capable of holding 700 plus spectators comfortably, has recently been refurbished.  It will be an opportunity for the school to show off its facilities and give its gymnasts a chance to perform for the first time on the campus.

The success of the Woodstock program can be directly attributed to the hard work and dedication of Deary-Fillmore, her daughter and her brother Gene Michael Deary.  The trio has toiled endlessly in developing and encouraging young high school gymnasts for the past six years in Woodstock.

Since the Deary name has been associated with Centaur gymnastics the team has been the Class M champion in 2011 and 2012 and the Class S titlists from 2013 through 2016.  More impressive is the fact that Woodstock Academy gymnasts have won the Connecticut State Open for five consecutive years from 2012 through 2016.

In agreeing to host the 2017 championships Friedman is keeping his fingers crossed that Woodstock will become part of a four-year site rotation, ensuring that this won’t be the only time the competition will come to the Quiet Corner.  It could also eliminate the uncertainty of where the annual event will be held.

The New England Championships in Woodstock will also provide the school and opportunity to showcase its all-state gymnasts, seniors Paige Stuyniski and Grace Logan as well as sophomore Lydia Taft.  Stuyniski will be heading to college in Texas in September, while Logan recently announced her intention to compete at Bowling Green University in Ohio, which is the alma mater of her coach Kasey Fillmore.

The move to bring the New England Championships to Woodstock is another indication that the Academy and its Head of School Christopher Sandford are solidly behind their student-athletes. 

Upchurch Steals the Spotlight…

The UConn basketball team unofficially opened its season on Sunday, October 30 in an exhibition contest at the XL Center in Hartford against Division II University of New Haven.  The game was billed as an opportunity to showcase the Huskies freshman class of five of the best recruits in the recent history of the program, including former Putnam Science Academy standout big man Mamadou Diarra.

One of the New Haven players was Danny Upchurch, a former teammate of Diarra’s.  Diarra scales in at 6-feet, 8-inches while Upchurch is a 5-8 guard.  Although Diarra, who played 10 minutes in the game shown well, it was tiny Upchurch who stole the show, despite his team being on the short end of an 83-68 score.

Upchurch, who transferred to New Haven from Division I Charleston Southern, demonstrated why he had Division I talent.  Upchurch played 38 minutes for coach Ted Hotaling.  Upchurch not only rewarded his coach but he also amazed the crowd of 5,826 on hand for the matinee by scoring 33 points.  His stats included an 11-22 shooting performance from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.  He added five assists and two rebounds to his stat sheet.

Upchurch’s performance put a smile on the face of Putnam Science Academy basketball Tom Espinosa, who was on hand with the members of this year’s Mustangs basketball team.

Umpire Rewarded…

Umpiring baseball or officiating any sport can be very trying at time and often not rewarding.  It takes a very special person with a thick skin and love of the sport to go out day after day, week after week, often in front of hostile crowds.  Once in a while all the hard work and devotion pays off with unexpected rewards.

Ray Faucher Jr., who’s been a member of the Eastern Board of Approved Baseball Officials for eight years, was recently honored by his fellow officials.  At the annual gathering of umpires at Dodd Stadium, Faucher was honored being named Umpire of the Year – 2016.

Faucher’s award comes on the heels of the award he received in 2015 when he was recognized as the Most Improved Umpire.  Faucher, who is a humble man who just goes out and does the job on the field, did break out with a smile following his most recent award.

Killingly on the Rise…

The latest CIAC Football Playoff Points rankings indicate that the Killingly Redmen of coach Chad Neal have moved up to fourth in the Class M standings.  The amazing part of Killingly’s position is that the team was 10th three weeks ago.  The following week they moved up to the 8th slot and last week were ranked 6th.  The steady rise can be attributed to the Redmen’s ability to win close games.       

Valley Regional/Old Lyme holds down the top spot for the second straight week with 117.14 points.  Killingly has 110.00 points.  St. Joseph’s (2nd) and Hillhouse (3rd) round out the top four teams.  The top eight teams in each class qualify for the postseason playoffs.

Woodstock Academy runningback Kameron Janice continues to dominate the Rushing Touchdown race.  Through seven games, Janice has 19 touchdowns on the ground.  He leads Killingly’s Spencer Lockwood who has nine rushing touchdowns.   Janice’s teammate, quarterback Jared Bouten, who has seven passing touchdowns, three behind the leader, Kyle Derosier of Killingly who has 10 aerial TDs to his credit.

All Stars… 

The Eastern Connecticut Conference released its all star selections for the recently concluded field hockey and volleyball seasons.  A number of northeastern Connecticut female athletes were among the honorees.

Alexis Smith of Killingly was a First Team selection as a midfielder on the field hockey team.  Honorable mention went to a pair of Woodstock Academy players, Natalie Cross and Hannah Reynolds.  Kayla Spooner of Killingly and Alexandra Matthews of Woodstock Academy received the Sportsmanship awards.  

The ECC Division II volleyball First Team selections included the trio of Ally Conde, Meridith Zamperini and Reilly Allen along with Maddy Gronski of Woodstock Academy.  Honorable Mention Awards went to Abby Laseter of Killingly and Caroline Eaton and Coleen Solitro of Woodstock Academy.  Laseter also collected the Sportsmanship Award for the Redgals while Clara Sarantopoulos was chosen from Woodstock Academy.  

Jaime Beauregard of Plainfield was a First Team selection in Division III.  Her teammate Sarah Jankowski was an Honorable Mention selection and Panther Heather Milliron won the Sportsmanship Award.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “Man is made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.”  Jean de la Fontaine

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