caption, page 7:
Practice
Members of the Woodstock Academy Alpine Ski team take part in a practice at Wachusett Mountain recently. The team will compete for a first time this season. Photo by Sean Saucier/The Woodstock Academy.
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Ski team
ready for
inaugural
season
It has been a project for Woodstock Academy junior Zach Brody for a couple of years.
He wanted to see an Alpine ski team formed at the school before he graduated. He got his wish.
Together with his father and now coach, Kevin Brody, the Centaurs will put an Alpine ski team on the slopes of Mount Southington this season, competing in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League.
“I race with a club team at Wachusett Mountain and a lot of my friends are involved in high school skiing there with a lot of Massachusetts schools. That’s where the idea came from,” Zach Brody said. “If you are already racing, it gives you a little more time on the snow but it really opens the eyes of a lot of people to the sport. It’s kind of a niche thing, but it’s a sport that I love and I think a lot of other people enjoy too.”
Zach Brody has been racing for the last seven years for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.
The Brody family approached Woodstock Academy two years ago with the idea and it took a little while to put the details together.
Kevin Brody raced for Nichols College, which is a part of the United States Collegiate Ski Association. He also served as a ski instructor while in college.
After graduation, he stuck with the sport and, in addition to recreational skiing with his family, became a member of the ski patrol at Wachusett six years ago.
Now, he has a new title; high school coach.
The first informational meeting about the team produced interest from some 50 people.
Many fell by the wayside when they learned the cost of participating in the sport.
“Skiing is not exactly a cheap sport like basketball or baseball, still seeing that many people interested was great,” Kevin Brody said.
Originally, the Brodys had hoped for a team of two or three athletes.
They had 10 to start but three dropped to participate in another sport, leaving the ski team with seven.
Another was lost due to injury, but for a first year, no one is complaining about a team of six.
In addition to Zach, members of the first-year program include senior Sture Edgren, sophomores Caleb Anderson, Ben Douglas and Eliza Simpson and freshman Davis Simpson.
The group will be competing in the slalom and giant slalom events.
The giant slalom involves skiing downhill while skating around gates, similar to a race that many have seen in the Olympics. The gates are placed further apart and the skiers have to navigate around them, the fastest time to the bottom, after penalty time is added, wins.
Slalom involves shorter, more precise, fast-paced turns around gates that are placed much closer together.
Each athlete races twice on two different courses in a meet.
Each school’s score is based on the top six timed finishes which are then added together for a cumulative time.
Eliza Simpson, since she is a team-of-one, will be competing on an individual basis only this season.
“I’ve been trying to recruit any girls who can ski from the school, but haven’t got any more bites yet. It’s funny to see because skiing has become a female-dominated sport. It’s awesome. Some of the high school teams have a majority of female athletes. Hopefully, next year we can pick up a few more girls and have a full-fledged team,” Kevin Brody said.
The Woodstock Academy coach said the enhanced female interest is likely due to professionals like Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin who have become household names.
The CISL is one of the largest high school ski leagues in the Northeast with some 40 schools participating from across the state.
Some of those school teams can be large.
Kevin Brody said he has seen one school bring about a 100 athletes to a training session.
The competitions take place on Wednesday and Thursday with some 400 high school athletes taking part each night at Mount Southington.
The Centaurs will compete in five ski meets in January and February, beginning Jan. 9.
Zach Brody is, obviously, an experienced skier and the both Davis and Eliza Simpson race in a weekend program at Mount Snow.
“We do have some ringers,” Kevin Brody said with a laugh.
Edgren is also experienced as he is an international student from Sweden.
“They definitely treat skiing differently in Europe. It’s kind of nice. All of his skills are there and they will translate really well once he gets to the course. He said he has never raced before,” Kevin Brody said.
The others are a little less experienced on the slopes and the goals for them and, for that matter, the team, are pretty basic.
“We have it going. We’re just trying to teach them how to race. It’s a life-long skill. Make their skiing better and have fun on the courses,” Kevin Brody said.
Schedule:
Thurs., Jan. 9: vs. Joel Barlow, Daniel Hand, Ridgefield, Wilton
Thurs., Jan. 16: vs. Lauralton Hall and Staples
Thurs., Jan. 23: vs. Brunswick/ Greenwich Academy, Cheshire, Darien, Fairfield Prep, Greenwich HS, St. Luke’s School, Weston.
Wed., Feb. 5: vs. Amity, Fairfield Co-Op, Farmington, Hopkins School, Pomperaug
Wed., Feb. 12: vs. Danbury, Glastonbury, Guilford, New Canaan, Notre Dame-W. Haven/Oxford, Southington.
Tues., Feb. 25: CISL Championship race
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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caption, page 7:
Dedication
Ben Williams was recognized for his dedication to the Wyndham Land Trust. He’s pictured with his brother. Courtesy photo.
Land trust
celebrates
incredible
year
The Winter Solstice gathering to celebrate the shortest day of the year is a Wyndham Land Trust tradition. This year members, volunteers, and friends gathered at the Lyon Preserve in Pomfret to enjoy the crisp winter air in the open grassland fields, while roasting chestnuts on an open fire and sampling coffee, hot chocolate, and Munchkins donated by the local Dunkin Donuts on Rt. 171. A chorus of Barred Owls hooted throughout the event, as if to thank the land trust for protecting their habitat for another year.
The gathering allowed reflection on the past year, and the land trust had much to celebrate during 2019.
George Jackson, a founding member of the Wyndham Land Trust, and Ben Williams, long-time board member, both stepped down after over 40 years of service. To honor their years of dedication, the land trust installed granite benches at separate preserves in Pomfret. Jackson’s bench at the Aicher Preserve recognizes his place among the founders of the land trust; Williams’s bench at the Lyon Preserve recognizes his passion for butterflies.
Earlier in the year the Wyndham Land Trust achieved accreditation with the Land Trust Alliance after completing a rigorous application.
Land trust accreditation is a mark of distinction, showing that a land trust meets high standards for land conservation.
Accreditation sends a message to landowners and supporters that the land trust is a strong, effective organization that can be trusted to conserve land forever.
The Wyndham Land Trust acquired properties in 2019 in Woodstock, Canterbury, and Thompson, and they now own more than 4000 acres of protected land spread across the 10 towns of northeastern Connecticut.
This includes the Bull Hill Project in Thompson and Woodstock, that now covers over 1000 acres in a large unbroken forested block. All of their preserves are open to the public to enjoy, and the most walkable properties are described on the land trust web site.
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Icy Falls
Cargill Falls got hit by the Ice Man, turning the falls into a crystal palace. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photo.
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caption, page 2:
Celebrate
Woodstock Academy junior Eliza Dutson celebrates after scoring the second goal of the game versus Warwick. Photo by Marc Allard.
Girls'
hockey team
posts first
two wins
It was a nice vacation week for the Woodstock Academy girls’ hockey team.
After losing its two opening games to Connecticut teams, the Centaurs rebounded with a pair of wins over teams from outside the state line just before and right after the Christmas holiday.
The Centaurs held off Warwick, R.I., 2-1, to even their record at 2-2.
Woodstock Academy had opened the week with a 4-3 victory over Auburn.
“We’re really happy. We’ve really improved over our first two games which didn’t go so well. The team is starting to figure out the plays and figure out how to work together well. It’s really good,” said senior Chelsea Willis.
Willis got the Centaurs going against the Lady Titans from Warwick Dec. 27.
With 3:50 left to go in the first period, she was able to poke a goal past Warwick goalie Mary Centracchio.
“It was a mess,” Willis said with a laugh. “It looked bad but all three of us (linemates Eliza Dutson and Sydney Haskins were part of the said ‘mess’) were in front of the net and just hitting (the puck) which was right by her pad. We got it up and over the pad and tucked it in.”
Willis has started to develop a crease presence for Woodstock Academy.
“It’s what we’ve called on her to do. She’s a bigger presence and can keep her stick down on the ice. If we can feed her the puck, she will have opportunities to score,” said Woodstock Academy coach Jeff Boshka.
It was Willis’ second goal of the season.
Dutson added the insurance goal for the Centaurs, her fourth of the year, when she crossed over the blue line all alone and bested Centracchio one-on-one 9 ½ minutes into the second period.
The Centaurs, who outshot the Titans 26-12, had numerous other opportunities.
“I thought we were going to have a little more of a spread there, but Warwick kept fighting and definitely made it hard for us. They had a very good goalie, made some nice saves and we just couldn’t finish,” Boshka said.
The Centaurs also grew a little complacent.
It had the coaching staff a little concerned in between the second and third periods.
“You always wonder about momentum,” Boshka said. “There was some talk at the break that we were skating about 80 percent. We decided to go to shorter shifts so that everyone could go 100 percent and get off the ice to someone with fresh legs.”
The Titans still made it close.
Faith Kennedy scored the first goal of the year for the Warwick team, which was playing its season opener, with 12 minutes left in the game.
“You can’t win by a lot every time,” Willis said. “It was a concern, but we held them off. We kept them on the outside like coach said and it slid off. We listened.”
The Centaurs are going to get pretty familiar with the Titans. The two teams will play again at 9 p.m. Jan. 3 in Warwick.
Against the Auburn Rockets, the Centaurs were clinging to a one-goal lead with 15 seconds left when Woodstock Academy goalie Marie Gravier made a fateful decision.
Somehow, her glove had become stuck and she could not move her hand.
To make matters worse, an Auburn offensive player was coming in and there was a loose puck in front of Gravier.
She just pulled her hand out of the glove and stopped the puck with her bare hand.
“It wasn’t a hard shot, it was just one where she tried to lift it, but it was pretty close and pretty hectic,” Gravier said.
The senior’s heroics saved the day for Woodstock Academy which recorded not only its first win of the season, but also its first-ever win as a member of the Central Massachusetts League.
“It’s so important to start off our real league season like this. I mean it can only go up from here,” Dutson said.
It came against the team whose coach, Pete LaPrad, was instrumental in helping Woodstock Academy gain entry into the Massachusetts league.
“It’s a very competitive game and that’s what this is all about. Girls’ hockey has come a long way and I know Woodstock Academy is a part of that and it’s really a good thing,” LaPrad said. “It’s good to have good competitive teams to come out and play against.”
Auburn jumped out on top early, getting three goals within 3 ½ minutes between the first and second periods.
Haley Vadenais struck first for the Rockets (1-2-1, 0-2-1 Central Mass) putting one over the right shoulder of Gravier with 2:52 left in the first period.
Auburn would take a 2-0 lead into the second period when Reese Levansavich scored with 44 seconds left.
The Rockets put their size advantage to work in front of the net early.
“We have to get position and battle for position. That has to be a key point,” Woodstock Academy coach Jeff Boshka said in between the first and second periods.
He went into the locker room to discuss it with his team but when they came out, the same thing occurred.
Brooke Lyden passed the puck in from the left wing and Delany Novick was stationed on the opposite post.
Lyden’s pass found her teammate who scored easily just 27 seconds into the second.
It was clearly shaping up to be a long day for the Centaurs who hadn’t, to that point, scored a goal yet in the season.
But Boshka was optimistic.
“There is hope. There is always hope when you have a team that works hard and keeps on trying,” Boshka said.
With 7:49 left in the second period, a little ray of light snuck in when Dutson scored the first goal for the Centaurs.
Newcomer Juliana Buoniconti got the puck just inside the blue line and passed it to the junior for the power-play goal.
“I asked the question (Monday), ‘Who will get us our first goal?’ and there was a loud roar and everyone said, ‘Me,’ knowing full well that Eliza had a very good percentage chance of getting that first goal. She has the skill and desire. She’s hungry,” Boshka said. “It was great and much needed. It got the monkey off our back and then, it was like, ‘Let’s play this game.”
Dutson would make it a one-goal game when she recovered from a pretty solid hit just inside the Auburn blue line, skated across and beat Auburn goalie Kori Hopkinson with 1:25 to play in the period.
Nine seconds later, Willis tied the game.
Dutson put home the game winner with 5:05 left when Jade Hill sent one off the boards and on to Dutson’s stick.
Gravier then came up big late, as she had all day.
The goalie finished with 38 saves as Auburn outshot the Centaurs, 41-11.
“She makes that save with her glove stuck and she’s like, ‘I have to do what I have to do.’ What more can you ask for as a coach? She made the save with her bare hand. She’s all fired up and all in,” Boshka said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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