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Track team's
season
finishes at
State Open
There was only one top-10 performance but overall, Woodstock Academy girls’ track and field coach Josh Welch was satisfied with his team’s performance in the State Open track championship last week.
Sophomore Juliet Allard was the top finisher for the Centaurs as she finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.15 seconds.
The top six qualified for the New England championship in Bangor, Maine, Saturday and, while Allard did not immediately qualify, she was the first alternate and accepted an invitation to compete when an opening became available.
Allard finished 19th in the New England Championship in 47.86 seconds.
Allard, as she seemingly does just about every meet, also bettered one of her school records in the State Open championship as she finished in 25.94 seconds in the 200-meter.
Bella Sorrentino failed to advance into the finals of the 100-meter hurdles but there was a reason for that.
“Bella fell a little short from where she wanted to be. She had a great start in the hurdles but got spiked pretty badly which messed up her day quite a bit,” Welch said.
Sorrentino also finished 19th in the shotput.
The 4x800-meter relay team of Talia Tremblay, Julia Coyle, Olivia Tracy and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain finished 13th.
Jillian Edwards equaled her career-best as she cleared 4-feet, 10-inches in the high jump.
The State Open generally concludes the track team activities for the season.
“We had some personal-best performances and it was a great way for some of the kids to wrap their seasons up. It’s winding down but we’re now hitting some of the things that are most fun for me. I love working with the heptathletes and decathletes that I get to play a role with,” Welch said.
Liam Wilcox will compete in the CIAC boys’ decathlon event this week while Sorrentino and Edwards will compete in the CIAC girls’ heptathlon.
Coyle, D’Alleva-Bochain and Tracy will compete in the CIAC Steeplechase also this week.
In addition to Allard competing in the New England championship, Magdalena Myslenski has qualified for the Nationals in both the javelin and discus and that takes place on Saturday in Philadelphia.
“It’s been a fantastic year,” Welch said. “Looking at the state championship, we could have almost won it but not everyone had a perfect day, not everyone was firing on all cylinders and that’s the luck of the draw. Seeing our seniors not be our leading scorers, most of our points were put up by sophomores and juniors, means next year we have a really good chance of developing along those lines. I think we could be a top contender at States and in the (Eastern Connecticut Conference) again next year. I don’t know if we will be as dual meet strong, but we will look like a very strong team in the championship season.”
The Centaurs will lose nine seniors from this year’s roster.
“Bella and Magdalena were huge standouts, they filled up a lot of space in the dual meets. I just knew that there were four or five events that we would dominate because they were there. Abby Morin was coming on, getting a lot of seconds and thirds. Sydney Lord was a big part of the 4x800 relay early on. Sophia Quinn was in the shadow of Magda a little, but was a major point scorer in several meets. We’re going to miss them a lot. The points are one thing but it’s the leadership out of Bella, Magda and Sophia really changed the culture of the team. We have to find some people to carry that weight,” Welch said.
Boys’ track
It wasn’t what he had hoped.
Woodstock Academy senior Jared Eaton finished fifth in the shotput at the State Open track championship.
“I will be honest, I wasn’t happy (with fifth-place),” Eaton said. “I had an unmarked 56-foot throw that would have won the meet so I was a little disappointed. I can’t complain. Fifth in the state is more than I could imagine.”
Eaton said the 56-foot throw was not marked because the throw went about 2 inches outside of the sector line -a foul.
The senior settled for a 51-foot, 8-inch throw and the fifth-place finish which did qualify him for the New England championship.
He did not compete there as there was the little matter of graduation ceremonies at Woodstock Academy to take care of.
“It’s the day of graduation and I tried but my Mom and my family want me at graduation and that’s a big day so I suppose I should be there,” Eaton said.
Eaton’s high school career is not technically over.
He will compete in the shotput at the High School National track and field championship in Philadelphia on Saturday.
“I’m so ready. I’m pumped. I’m ready to try and get another medal,” he said.
Boys’ Golf
The Woodstock boys’ golf team went in as a 14th-seed and that’s where it finished at the Division I state tournament golf championship.
“I thought our seeding was appropriate and so was the finish,” said coach Rich Garceau. “I always like to finish, at least, one ahead of where we were seeded but I think the guys learned a lot this season.”
Woodstock was paced by senior Davis Simpson who finished with a six-over par 78 as it finished with a team score of 358.
“Davis is an exceptional leader on and off the golf course and in school. He took that leadership role when he was a sophomore, stepped into it really quickly so I thought we had something special there. I think there is a certain level of his charisma that is going to stick with us and I really think that will impact the young kids moving forward,” Garceau said.
Logan Rawson finished with a 90 and Don Sousa added a 93.
“I had a little coaching session with Don during the tournament and I think he had an epiphany and things started to turn around towards the end,” Garceau said.
The Woodstock Academy coach was also happy to get some of his younger players involved in the tournament season.
“I have a really talented pool of freshmen that, if they practice and get a few tournaments under their belts over the summer, I think they could really do a lot of things in the future,” Garceau said.
The nice part about that is it means he is looking forward to the 2024 season.
“Usually at this point, I’m really tired at the end of the season and I am really tired but it has been a long time since I’ve been this excited about next year this year. I think we’re in a good place moving forward,” he said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Freshman Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain takes the handoff from Julia Coyle.
in the 4x800-meter relay event at the CIAC State Open track championship at Willow Brook Park in New Britain last week. The Centaurs relay team finished 13th overall.
On her way to breaking her own school record, sophomore Juliet Allard (second from left) competes in the 200-meter race at CIAC State Open.
track championship at Willow Brook Park in New Britain last week
Senior Isabella Sorrentino concentrates before throwing the shotput.
at the CIAC State Open track championship at Willow Brook Park in New Britain last week
Photos by Michelle Verrilli/Woodstock Academy
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