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Champions
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team proudly displays the CIAC State Open championship plaque (held by junior and State Open individual champion Taylor Markley). Photo by Kasey Tocchio.
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team is the best in the State for a third time in five years.
The Centaurs captured the State Open championship with a 141.525 total March 5.
That total put them ahead of second-place Daniel Hand High from Madison which finished with a 139.575 total.
“I think this was something we’ve been gearing toward,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. “We knew we had the injuries and other stuff but we knew that by the end of the season, we would have healthy bodies, a full team and we would be ready to go. It was an awesome way to finish out.”
The Centaurs were coming off their 11th straight state championship a week ago and that performance buoyed their hopes heading into the State Open.
“This one was really special,” Tocchio said. “There were some awesome Connecticut teams and I was competing against one of my good friends, (coach) Kelly (Smith) from Daniel Hand. It was neck-and-neck, we’re not winning by five or six points. It came down to staying on beam, sticking some of the landings. It was well deserved. The girls worked really hard for it.”
Junior Taylor Markley led the way, saving her best for the last state meet of the season as she finished with a season-high 38.775 All-Around performance to take home the individual title from the Open. Markley finished first in the competition in all four events.
Markley had the additional burden of going into the competition with all eyes upon her as she was seeded No. 1. “There was a little pressure but I think high school meets are just fun. I like to go out there and have fun. I don’t really worry about the pressure or anything,” Markley said.
The Centaurs, seeded second as a team coming into the meet, started on the bars which was fine with Markley.
“I like starting on bars and ending on vault,” she said.
There was an issue with the bars before the competition as the tension cables were not holding tight. Once that was figured out, Markley felt she had a strong first warmup routine although the second wasn’t so great.
“In the competition, I just (tossed aside) that second warmup and knew I could do it, and I saw my Mom in the stands right before and I knew I could,” Markley said.
She finished with a 9.75 on bars. She followed that up with a 9.65 on beam.
“She was a little wobbly, a little more than normal, but it was such a solid effort,” Tocchio said. “She followed that with a beautiful routine on the floor.”
Markley scored a 9.575 on the floor and finished off with a 9.8 vault to win the individual title.
Freshman Olivia Aleman finished third in the All-Around competition with a 36.375. Aleman finished with a 9.275 vault; 9.2 floor, 9.1 bars and 8.8 on the beam.
“Olivia had a great meet and, like we have said all year, she is still not showing everything that she can do. There is just so much more to come from her. She was just so solid on the four events for us. That was huge.”
It wasn’t all that long ago that the Centaurs sported two other gymnasts, Paige Stuyniski and Grace Logan, who talked about pushing each other both in practice and the meets.
The dynamic between Markley and Aleman is similar.
“We push each other and also do USA gymnastics together. We’ve been together for a really long time and it’s nice to have her as a teammate on both teams,” Markley said. “Liv is a great gymnast and is getting better and better every meet as she comes back from her injury. She is still not at her full potential which is crazy because she is so good.”
Logan and Stuyniski led the Centaurs to State Open titles from 2014 through 2017.
“I feel like every team is different and this team especially,” Tocchio said. “(Senior) Lindsey (Gillies) has kind of gone through it. Taylor, as a junior, hasn’t really ever competed in high school (she was injured much of her freshman season), Olivia is a freshman and we have three other girls who have not been there before. It’s a completely new team and one that hasn’t experienced that back-to-back championship feeling so this one was definitely different than past ones.” Gillies also had a strong meet for the Centaurs, tying for third in vault with a 9.3. The senior scored an 8.675 on bars; 8.5 on beam and 8.1 on the floor.
The Centaurs will have another new experience March 12 — the New England gymnastics championship. “I think the girls just have to stay confident in their own minds, do what they know how to do. Everyone is doing what they are capable of in their routines, they just have to believe in themselves,” Tocchio said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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