- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption:
The Team
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team on the Head of School’s porch following celebration dinner. Courtesy photo.
It has become an annual tradition.
Recently, The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team was honored at Head of School Chris Sandford’s home for its eighth straight state championship season.
“It was a really special season because we had to fight for it this year,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. “It wasn’t expected so it was really special to see all the girls pull together.”
The Centaurs had their troubles early.
Reeling from graduation losses already after saying good-bye to both Paige Stuyniski and Grace Logan, the Centaurs had other hurdles to overcome.
Lydia Taft was sidelined for the majority of the season due to back troubles. One of the captains of the team made a cameo appearance in the New England championship after she was finally cleared to compete. Fellow captain Ali Crescimanno, still wearing a boot last week, persevered after being injured in a car accident in the previous summer.
She returned, was cleared at the beginning of the season, but missed lots of time in the gym and it took a little while to get the rust off.
Add to that, injuries suffered by Jenna Davidson to her knees and it was a pretty challenging year.
“I thought it went really well as a whole,” Crescimanno said of the season. “I thought we came together at the end of the season and showed that we really are Woodstock Academy gymnastics.”
Tocchio added, “I think the really cool thing was that they weren’t intimidated by the fact that we had struggles to overcome. We kind of looked at the season as an exciting battle to fight, versus being scared about it. They are a really cool group. They pulled together, got better and got stronger.”
It resulted in their sixth straight Class S championship, 139.175-132.8, over Mercy High School at Pomperaug High School in Southbury. The Centaurs won two Class M state championships prior to the run of the Class S titles.
“I’m so proud to keep that streak alive. We’re still fighting the battle, we’re not ready to go down just yet,” Crescimanno said.
But the bigger accomplishment came a week later when the Centaurs did something even more unexpected, getting past Trumbull in the State Open championship to finish second behind Greenwich and qualify for the New England championship.
“Being able to win our Class in the state was awesome, but going in to the Open ranked third and coming out second was just everything we had hoped for,” Tocchio said.
Tocchio talked about the awards that the gymnastics team had already received.
Six, Elise Boisvert, Ali Crescimanno, Jenna Davidson, Grace Gronski, Madelyn Grube and Abigail Vaida, were named First team All-State. Four, Crescimanno, Davidson, Grube and Vaida, were named All-Eastern Connecticut Conference and two, Vaida and Boisvert, received the Coach’s Award from Tocchio.
For Tocchio, Boisvert’s contribution will be the one she remembers the most.
Tocchio recalled that the sophomore was ready to give up on the sport prior to the start of the season.
“We had long talks, trying to keep her in it, and there was a moment where she was like, ‘My team needs me.’ She does like to do this. She turned around, (180 degrees) throughout the season and that was really helpful for the whole team to see her be a part of this,” Tocchio said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director