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Park Work

A group of students from Putnam High School, "The 21," cleaned up the town's pocket parks along Providence Street. Courtesy photo.

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC shoutout is sent along to Putnam resident and U.S. Army veteran Walter Larochelle.  A long-distance tractor trailer operator, Larochelle is a community-minded individual who devotes numerous hours to the success of American Legion Post #13.

Tourtellotte Memorial High School will enshrine former three-sport star Jennifer Martin - Peterson into its Athletic Hall of Fame with the Class of 2016 on Saturday, June 25.  The ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Ryscavage Auditorium and is free to the public.

Martin – Peterson, a 1996 Tourtellotte graduate, was a soccer, basketball and softball standout throughout her four years on the Thompson campus, starring as a varsity athlete in each sport for four years.  She was a Connecticut State Soccer All Star and an Eastern Connecticut and Quinebaug Valley Conference All Star in all three sports.  Martin – Peterson was honored as a Connecticut State Scholar Athlete in her junior and senior years.

Her play led to a number of team championships for the Lady Tigers.  She was a member of the 1993 Class S Championship Soccer team and the next year led the team to the finals once again.  In softball she was a member of QVC Championship teams in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and a Class S Finalist also in 1996.

Martin – Peterson attained high academic honors in her four years at Tourtellotte and was a member of the school’s National Honor Society.  

Following her graduation from Tourtellotte, she continued her education at the University of New Hampshire.  A member of the UNH Division I soccer team, she was selected America East Scholar Athlete in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.  She was selected to the school’s Golden Key and Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.   Martin – Peterson is the holder of a master’s degree in sports psychology from the University of Iowa in 2003.

Martin – Peterson is currently a high school coach and a certified basketball and lacrosse referee.

ECC Baseball and Softball All Stars…

The Eastern Connecticut Conference announced its baseball and softball all stars for the recently concluded 2016 spring season.  A sprinkling of local athletes was among those selected.

Baseball – Large Division Honorable Mention, Evan O’Connor; Sportsmanship, Jack Archambault (Woodstock Academy).  Medium Division First Team, Colby Greenhalgh and David Carpenter; Honorable Mention, Dylan Horn and Jeff Nicolosi; Sportsmanship, Dave Kumiega (Plainfield).  Honorable Mention, Drew Daley, Ben Desaulnier and Cory Sipos; Sportsmanship, Evan Zanauskas (Killingly).  Small Division Honorable Mention, Alex Angelo; Sportsmanship, Hunter Angelo (Tourtellotte).

Softball – Large Division Honorable Mention, Angela Caponi and Rylee Hehir; Sportsmanship, Alexa Pearson (Woodstock Academy). Medium Division Honorable Mention, Cara Mayhew; Sportsmanship, Karissa Slowik (Killingly).  Small Division First Team, Cali Joslyn, Kat Devolve and Kacee Hirst; Honorable Mention, Madison Kelley; Sportsmanship, Taylor Peloquin (Plainfield).  First Team, Carinne Sosnowski, Abby Poirier and Christina Kopacz; Honorable Mention, Emily Vincent and Crystal Daly; Sportsmanship, Emily Vincent (Tourtellotte).

Brit Captures Woodstock…

Marin Milne, a Londoner visiting relatives in Coventry, meandered over to Woodstock on Memorial Day and won the Woodstock Memorial Day 10K Road Race.  Milne cruised around the 10K course, including the finishing uphill mile on Child Hill Road, in a winning time of 32:50.  A small field of 137 runners competed.      

Second place went to Ben Joyce of Manchester who was almost three minutes behind Milne with a time of 35:43.  The first Woodstock runner to cross the line was third-place finisher Matthew Rich with a time of 36:33.  The first woman finisher was Elizabeth Edwards of Thompson in a time of 42:48.  She finished 9th overall.

Other local runners in the Top 50 included – 5. Jack Houlker (Danielson) 37:11; 6. John Dipippo (Brooklyn) 38:01; 7. Scott Deslongchamps (North Grosvenordale) 41:17; 10. Brianna Demers (Ashford) 43:01; 13. Tim Atwood (Woodstock) 43:08; 14. Stuart Hebert (Woodstock) 43:11; 17. Matt Bellerive (Brooklyn) 44:03; 18. Roger Barrette (Woodstock) 44:03; 22. Robert Davis (Ashford) 45:43; 23. Vance Carter (Danielson) 46:04; 24. Benjamin McSheehy (Dayville) 46:07; 25. Ray Insalaco (Central Village) 46:26; 26. Sean Saucier (Woodstock) 46:30; 27. Cyrus Gould (Woodstock) 46:35; 32. Karen Houle (Danielson) 48:11; 33. Kristin Rigney (Woodstock) 48:37; 35. Melissa Andrews (Woodstock) 49:25; 36. Rick Canavan (Pomfret Center) 49:34; 39. Sara Hunt (Putnam) 50:36; 41. Amy St. Onge (Thompson) 51:28; 42. Robert Peterson (Woodstock) 51:33; 43. Bobby Fischer (Moosup) 51:51; 45. Amy Ahearn (Woodstock) 52:14; 47. Seamus Connor (Woodstock) 52:18.

Tip of the Sports Fedora…

The RPC Tip of the Sports Fedora is one of the highest if not the highest award a local athlete can receive.  This week it’s a privilege to bestow a special tip of the cap to 21 student-athletes from Putnam High School.

These student-athletes are being recognized not for an achievement on the court or field but rather for an act of kindness and community service that they recently performed in cooperation with the Town of Putnam.  “The 21” along with four Putnam High School staff members took time to beautify the pocket parks on Providence Street.

In a day and age when young people are often disparaged and said to lack energy and compassion, “the 21” certainly dispel that myth.  Congratulations and a Tip of the Sports Fedora from RPC.

Local Baseball Coaches Pack It In…

Whatever the reason or reasons, and there have been a variety floating around, two local high school coaches are no longer on the sideline or in the dugout with the conclusion of this baseball season.  Bill Carpenter, of Woodstock Academy and David Austin of Killingly High School, have resigned their positions for personal reasons, leaving the schools in search of someone to fill the vacated holes.

Carpenter has been with Woodstock for three years, succeeding Charlie Kozey who was at the helm for one season.  Carpenter is a dyed in the wool baseball man, going back to his days in the Plainfield Little League.  He climbed the baseball ladder through American Legion and into college where he was an NCAA Division III All American shortstop at Brandeis University.  Following his four years at Brandeis, Carpenter was drafted by the Boston Red Sox where he played in the minor leagues for two seasons.

Under Carpenter the Centaurs qualified for the CIAC postseason in two of his three seasons at Woodstock.  This season the team failed to reach the eight-win plateau necessary to qualify, finishing the regular schedule at 7-13.

Austin, who has made the high school coaching circuit with stops in Putnam, Woodstock and Marianapolis prior to taking over the reins at Killingly four years ago, like Carpenter is a baseball man.  He’s also had two stints as coach of the TriTown American Legion team.  Austin played and starred in the local Little Leagues before hitting paydirt at Putnam High School where he was a mainstay of the Putnam pitching staff in the Clippers run to a Class S State title in 1986 under coach Paul Leduc.  He pitched for one season at Manchester Community College.

In his four years at Killingly he posted a 23-57 record.  This season, despite losing some tough games, the Redmen could only manage a 6-14 record in the Eastern Connecticut Conference.  The Redmen qualified for the CIAC Tournament once in the four years under Austin.

There must be reasons for these sudden resignations.  Only these two men and those involved in the decisions know the true story.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.”  George Lucas

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