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Senior Day
Caroline Eaton, left, and Caitlin Cannon celebrate Woodstock Academy girls’ golf Senior Day at the Quinnatisset Country Club May 17. Photo courtesy of Earl Semmelrock.



It’s a tradition that many high school teams partake in prior to the final home game of the season — Senior Day.
It’s a chance to honor those, many who have been a part of the program for four years, prior to their departure.
Fortunately for the Woodstock Academy girls’ golf team, it wasn’t a lengthy program.
The Centaurs will be saying bye to only two seniors when the season concludes, Caroline Eaton and Caitlin Cannon. The two golfers were honored prior to the match with East Lyme and Bacon Academy May 17 where the Centaurs captured wins against both.
They have both been a huge part of the team, Caitlin for four years and Caroline for three,” said Centaurs coach Earl Semmelrock. “Caitlin was a new golfer in her freshman year. Like most new golfers she struggled at first but really set her mind to figuring out what it takes to improve and has been in almost all of our varsity matches for the last four years. Caroline joined the team after leaving the track program following her freshman year and was a natural at the sport. I believe that she has competed in every varsity match for her entire time with the team. They have both been a joy to coach.”
Both celebrated their day in style at the Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson.
Eaton shot a 46 for the low score of the afternoon and Cannon was second best with a 51. Those two scores, plus a pair of 55’s for Linda St. Laurent and Katherine Harrington, gave the Centaurs a 207 total, better than both the Bobcats (233) and Vikings (246).
The Centaurs completed a little home-and-home series with the Bobcats May 18 with a 220-234 win over Bacon Academy at the Chanticlair Golf Course in Colchester.
The win gave the Centaurs a 5-2 record in the Eastern Connecticut Conference and a 7-6 mark overall.
“We accomplished our goal of getting over the .500 mark,” said Semmelrock. “What was most pleasing was that I was able to get some of the new kids into the lineup and watch them perform under match conditions yet still play well enough to win. It is very difficult to go from practicing without the pressure of being in the match to have to step up and try to have your score contribute to the team’s success.”
Semmelrock added that the team played against Bacon Academy with three freshmen and two sophomores and only one of the seniors.
St. Laurent finished with her best round of the season, a 48, while Eaton and Kailey LaChappelle both carded a 56.
The Centaurs finish up the regular season May 17 with a match at the Norwich Golf Course against Norwich Free Academy.
The Centaurs then get one more crack at ECC regular season champion, Waterford, in the ECC championship match May 29 at Quinnatisset.
“They are a veteran team with a lot of talent in the top three positions,” Semmelrock said of Waterford. “We would love to win our fourth consecutive ECC trophy, but it will take our best effort. If the girls show the consistency that we have been working on in practice, it certainly is possible.”

Boys’ Golf
Getting that first eagle on the golf course may not quite be the thrill of getting a hole-in-one.
But it’s pretty close.
Senior Eli Child had that experience May 17 in a 7-0 win for the Woodstock Academy boys’ golf team at the Chanticlair Golf Course in Colchester.
Child holed out from 116 yards out to get the deuce and his first-ever eagle.
 “I was thrilled for him,” said Centaurs boys’ golf coach Rich Garceau. “He has worked so hard to improve his game to the point that he could pull off such a great shot.  When you think that he could find and hit a target that is only 4 1/4 inches in diameter from that far out, it shows what a game he has.  My disappointment is that I was with another group on the course when it happened so I missed it.  When I was walking in to the ninth hole, I knew something good must have happened because Eli and his playing partner, Jack Gelhaus, were walking backwards toward me after their round and met me in the middle of the ninth fairway.  It was a great part of a great win down at Bacon.”
Gelhaus led the Centaurs (10-7, 4-3 ECC Division II) with a 39 including five pars and a birdie while both Child and Mason Stewart carded a 40 in the win.
It was a good victory considering it came on the heels of losses to both East Lyme and Old Lyme May 16 at the Old Lyme Country Club.
The Centaurs fell to the Vikings 6 ½- ½ and to Old Lyme, 5 ½ - ½.
“The Old Lyme Country Club was founded over a hundred years ago and back then the equipment and construction practices led to the creation of some cramped golf courses. It’s one of those. It is a course that if you grip it and rip it you can quickly find yourself in trouble.  It is not like any other course we play in the ECC and because of it leads to some very high scores for such a short golf course.  Old Lyme requires very precise placement of tee shots to give good approach angles into greens.  We had some wayward tee shots that led to our higher than hoped for scores.  The greens at Old Lyme tend to be very slow which is a big adjustment from our relatively fast greens that we are used to at Quinnatisset.  When we go to Old Lyme, we know we will have to make many adjustments to be competitive and, unfortunately, we were unable to fully do that,” Garceau said.
There were no eagles or birdies for the Centaurs as Gelhaus settled for a 40 while Child, Stewart and Owen Borski all came in at 46.
Garceau said the loss was an anomaly as the Centaurs have been playing pretty well going into the final week and a half of the season prior to the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship on May 31 at Quinnatisset.
“Things are looking good.  Other than the East Lyme match we have been playing relatively well.  We have on the road far more than at home but we will finish our season with three straight home matches and if the weather cooperates should be able to fit more practices into that time period before the ECC tournament and State tournament than we have had all year up to now.  With play at home and more practice time than we have had, we should be in relatively good position to be competitive in the ECC tournament and make a run at qualifying for and playing well at Fairview Farms for the state tournament,” Garceau said.

Marc Allard
Sports Information Director