Roundup
Academy
girls' track
going strong
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Woodstock Academy Indoor track teams traveled to Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge, Mass., for a couple of Massachusetts league meets over the break.
The Centaurs girls downed Notre Dame, 55-10, and Quaboag, 47-35.
The Centaurs had three first-place finishes in the meet with Ivy Gelhaus winning the 600-meter in 1:54.5. Teammate Sophia Mawson finished in second place in that event.
Megan Gohn captured first in the 2-mile event in 14:18 while the 4 x 200-meter team of Gillian Price, Sophia Lawson, Ava Coutu and Gelhaus finished first in 2:12.
Junior Julia Theriaque had a personal best in the high jump where she cleared 5-feet and finished second.
Maria Scandalito was third in the shot put with a throw of 22-feet, 3 1/2 inches.
The girls also competed in the University of Rhode Island Invitational over the weekend in W. Kingstown, R.I.
Theriaque was, once again, a standout as she finished third overall in the high jump. She failed to clear the 5-foot mark again, but was good at 4-10 to snare the third-place finish.
Theriaque also improved on her 1000-meter time by 12 seconds and joined Gelhaus, Price and Coutu in the 4x400-meter relay which is getting close to the time necessary to qualify for state competition.
Gelhaus also had a good performance in the 600-meter where she chopped off another second from her personal best, bringing it down to 1:46.3. That performance was good enough for a 10th place finish in a field of 62.
Boy’s Indoor Track
The Woodstock Academy boys’ indoor track team scored against only Quaboag High School in its meet Jan. 2 at Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge.
Evan Gianfriddo brought home a pair of first-place finishes as he was best in the mile (5:44) and two-mile (12:02.8).
Senior Kenneth Birlin put together a personal-best performance of 9.4 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles for a second-place finish in that event. He was also second in the 1000-meter with a time of 2:59.9.
Birlin also joined Dylan Ponkala, Spencer Collins and Lucas Couture to finish second in the 4x800-meter relay.
Jackson Dias was second in the high jump (5-2) while C.J. Burroughs was third in the shotput (35-4).
Birlin used his fine performances in Massachusetts as momentum for the University of Rhode Island Invitational on Saturday.
The senior broke the five-minute mark for a first time this indoor season in the mile, finishing in 4:58 to place 21st among the 81 athletes who competed in the event.
Fellow senior Robert Maheu threw the shotput for a first-time ever over 30-feet, getting a personal best 31-2.
Gymnastics
Senior Lydia Taft took first place in the All-Around (35.2) for the Centaurs (3-0, 3-0 ECC) ahead of teammates Ali Crescimanno (34.25) and Jenna Davidson (33.9) as they defeated Stonington, 135.85 - 128.95 Jan. 3 at Stonington High School.
Taft won the vault (8.65) competition, placed second in the beam (9.15) and floor (9.0) and third in the bars (8.4).
Crescimanno won the bars (9.25) and floor (9.1) events.
Davidson was best on the beam (9.35).
Maddie Grube was second in the vault with an 8.6 total.

Hernandez Honored
Woodstock Academy junior Paula Hernandez was recently named to the MaxPreps High School Underclass All-American Volleyball team.
Hernandez finished with 493 kills, 370 digs, 145 assists and 261 service points and led the Centaurs to the Class L girl’s volleyball state championship match.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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