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Works the Bars
Woodstock Academy senior Elise Boisvert works on the bars in a meet against Norwich Free Academy and Fitch last week. Photo by Marc Allard.



Minus top
gymnast,
Centaurs still
prevail
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team took advantage of the two weeks off from competition to improve not so much on its routines, but on its chemistry.
“We learned a lot these past two weeks about being a team,” said Centaurs coach Kasey Tocchio. ”It really wasn’t about the gymnastics. It was about coming together and creating some leadership on this team.”
The Centaurs have made strides in that direction and it showed in two meets this past week against Norwich Free Academy.
Woodstock Academy was hoping to finish with a 138 or better early in the week. The Centaurs easily accomplished that, putting up a 141.6 to eclipse the Wildcats (118.15) and Fitch (95.05 which brought only three gymnasts).
Woodstock Academy followed Feb. 1 with a 135.25 effort at Thames Valley Gymnastics to down the Wildcats (117.0) again.
The victories raised the Centaurs record to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in the ECC.
 Woodstock Academy competed without its top gymnast, freshman Taylor Markley and that may be the case for the remainder of the season.
“We don’t know if we’re going to get her back, so, it’s let’s see what we can do without her and prove we can still do this,” Tocchio said. “They really wrapped their heads around that and in our last practice (before last Monday’s meet), you could tell that the seniors (Jenna Davidson, Elise Boisvert and Emily Arters) really got it.”
Markley has been battling a back injury suffered over the summer.
Arters said losing Markley does make things more difficult.
 “It puts the pressure on them,” Tocchio said of the Markley absence, “but I think they took that in a really good way. It was a little hard at first, but they decided they had to step up instead of feeling defeated.”
Davidson came up with a season high Jan. 27 as she finished with a 37.0 total in the All-Around. The senior captured first in bars (9.3), beam (9.3) and floor (9.25).
Arters also had a season-best 35.15 in the All-Around to finish second behind her teammate. She was tops in the vault with a 9.45. Boisvert added an 8.85 and Lindsey Gillies chipped in with an 8.7.
Feb. 1the scores were down a bit in Norwich. Davidson had a tough time on bars but showed well in her other routines, finishing best on the  team (9.1) and the floor exercise (9.35). Arters was also strong on the floor where she finished second overall with a 9.2 and had a solid 34.4 all-around performance. The Centaurs hosted the only team that has beaten them this season, Stonington, Feb. 3, in a meet that ended too late for this edition. The ECC championship meet is Feb. 10 also at Deary’s Gymnastics.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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