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Clears
Woodstock Academy’s Dylan Ponkala clears 7 feet in the pole vault. Courtesy photo.
It was not a good day for a track meet for a number of reasons.
Due to a postponement because of weather earlier in the month, the boys’ and girls’ meet with Fitch was moved to April 18.
It put it right in the middle of spring break.
“We were missing a quarter of our kids. Plus another couple who were ill. So it was tough having it during vacation,” said Woodstock Academy boys coach Peter Lusa.
The Centaurs didn’t fare so well in the team competitions.
The boys lost to Fitch in the meet on the South Campus track, 95-56, while the girls fell to the Falcons, 102-44.
The lack of competitors changed the philosophy of the Woodstock Academy athletes involved.
“At a meet like this where we’re missing a lot of people, it’s more about personal bests and qualifying,” said senior sprinter Kennedy Davignon.
Getting mentally focused to compete was also a little more difficult.
“We kind of like to stay home and getting up early for practice was tough,” Davignon said.
To add insult to injury, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate.
Temperatures were in the 40s, the sun stayed behind the clouds and a gusty wind just made it all the more uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, that has been par for the course for outdoor track so far this season.
“We have really only had one nice day of practice. Last Saturday (April 14) it was in the 50s, maybe low 60s, with light breezes and it felt like outdoor track for the kids and coaches. I can’t imagine where we would be as a team if we had had two weeks of that kind of weather for practice,” Lusa said.
Davignon was one of the few who garnered a first-place finish for the Centaurs (1-1) girls.
She won the 400 meter in 1 minute, nine seconds which was five seconds better than her nearest competitor.
But it wasn’t easy.
Davignon said the home front stretch was a bear as the athletes had to compete with a pretty stiff head wind.
“I wasn’t expecting it because the wind has been along the backstretch all day. When I came around the (final) turn, I felt the wind hit me and I wasn’t really ready for it, but ran through it anyway,” Davignon said.
Davignon also finished third in the 100 meter.
Fellow senior Lyndsey O’Dea won the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches) and freshman Eliza Dutson was tops in the javelin (95-9).
Boys’ Results:
The boys’ team had the same conditions to deal with on the track.
“It’s very windy, very cold,” senior mid-distance runner and hurdler Natanael Colon said. “It hasn’t been the easiest. I can’t wait for it to get warmer. I think I will really be able to improve my times once it warms up.”
Colon didn’t have an awful day for himself.
He established a personal best in the 400 meter, crossing the line in 56 seconds flat, just 40- one hundredths of a second ahead of Fitch runner Tom Readett.
“That really pushes me,” Colon said of the late challenge. “My time was all right, not what I was hoping for, but I still got first place which was nice.”
Colon also was part of a 110m hurdle sweep by the Centaurs.
Dan Creme finished first in 18.4 seconds followed closely behind by Colon (18.6) and Adam Schimmelpfennig.
Nathan Craig brought home a first-place finish in the triple jump (31-11.5)
Senior Mark Dumas set a new mark for himself to challenge in the outdoor season by throwing the shotput 46-10, teammate Connor Huda was second.
Other personal bests included Lucas Couture (9-6) and Nik Jackubowski (9-0) in the pole vault.
The kids have been practicing in this cold weather so I’m kind of pleased with their performances in the (Wednesday),” Lusa said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director