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Competing
Left to right: Adam Schimmelpfennig, left, sports his medal for a fifth-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles while Greg Weber shows his two fourth-place medals for high jump and long jump. Isabella Sorrentino gets ready to launch in the shotput. Julia Theriaque clears the high jump bar enroute to a 2nd-place finish. Greg Weber goes airborne in long jump competition. He finished 4th. Photos by Joe Banas/Woodstock Academy.




Track: Two
move on to
State Open
Two members of the Woodstock Academy indoor track teams will be competing again this weekend at the State Open championship and both will be in the same event.
Senior Julia Theriaque and her classmate, Greg Weber, both qualified for the final indoor track event of the season in the state in the high jump.
Both will see if they can qualify to advance to the New England championship.
“Julia has a very good shot at New England’s. Greg would have to have a breakthrough but you can’t count it out entirely,” said Woodstock Academy indoor track coach Josh Welch.
Girls
Theriaque placed second in the high jump at the Class L state championship.
Theriaque equaled the top finish of Conard freshman Audrey Kirkutis at 5-foot-2, but it took Theriaque more attempts to clear the bar.
“Julia had a solid day. We were hoping for 5-4 and beyond but she had three narrow misses and ended up second by the tiebreaker. It’s not what we had hoped for, but she has another chance at the Open,” Welch said.
Sophomore Linsey Arends placed fifth in the 1,600-meter in 5:31.30.
“Linsey had her work cut out for her with a tough double between 4x800 and 1600. She ran a tough race to finish fifth in Class L but missed qualifying for the Open because of the strong competition all the way down through Class S.  I think she gained valuable experience by doubling that will help her in the coming seasons,” Welch said.
Arends joined Iris Bazinet, Lauren Brule and Meghan Gohn to finish 10th in the 4x800 meter relay.
Daisy Li was seventh in both the 55-meter dash (7.68 seconds) and 55-meter hurdles (9.51).
“Daisy also had a great day, she didn’t quite reach her personal bests but she was in the neighborhood. Finishing seventh in both is awesome for a junior. She missed the Open by a hundredth of a second.  She is gaining a lot of confidence through her experience and she has a lot to offer in the coming outdoor season,” Welch said.
Freshman Isabella Sorrentino was 15th in the shotput competition.
Boys
Weber stood out again for the Centaurs at the Class L indoor track state championship meet.
Weber finished fourth in both of his events, the high jump and long jump Feb. 15. Weber cleared 5-foot-10 in the high jump and it will be in that event that he moves on to the State Open championship Feb. 22.
Welch is hopeful that since Weber now only has to concentrate on the high jump, it might benefit his effort this weekend in that event.
“With a refined focus on that event he may have a chance to move up in the Open.  He took 4th place to earn medals in both events which is very impressive for a new athlete,” Welch said.
It is Weber’s first year competing in indoor track. His best in the long jump was a 20 feet, 4 1/4 inch effort.
“Greg came up short in long jump, about a foot under his best. He missed qualifying for the Open by about an inch. The demands of doubling up for a new athlete with high jump first, and the pressure of a big meet might have caught up with him,” Welch said.
Junior Adam Schimmelpfennig finished fifth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.2 seconds.
“Adam had a great run in the hurdles but it wasn’t enough to make the Open this year with some very strong performances through the other divisions,” Welch said.
Fellow junior Ethan Aspiras placed in the top 10 in the 3,200-meter, finishing in just over 10 minutes and 11 seconds, good enough for eighth place.
Eric Phongsa finished 13th in the 55-meter dash and he also joined Jeff Phongsa, Schimmelpfennig and Scout Favreau in a 10th-place finish in the 4x200 meter relay.
“I’m a little disappointed that we don’t have more moving on, but our kids did a great job over all. Getting so many to the meet was a great step. We tied at 14th in the state for both teams. Not the top 10 we were hoping for as performances came up a little short of the athletes bests in many instances. We have some things to look at there but with so many new to state competition we have a lot to work with in the future,” Welch said. 
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy