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Roundup
Record-
breaking day
for Centaurs
Anyone who owned an indoor track record at Woodstock Academy last weekend had to wonder if their mark was the next to fall.
Six Woodstock indoor track records fell in two different locations Saturday.
“That might be a new record in itself,” said coach Josh Welch. “That’s one of the great things about the Bethel distance meet. No one else runs a (Distance Medley Relay) or a 3K or a 5K race and it gives us the chance to do those events. We started setting records when we started to go to Bethel for a couple of them but we have improved them each year which is awesome.”
But it wasn’t only at Bethel. Junior Christian Menounos set out on his own to compete in the 29th annual Officials Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory in New York City.
He already owned the school record in the 1000-meter but he bettered that by almost two seconds, finishing in 2 minutes, 35.2 seconds.
“I kind of knew he was ready to drop his 1000m record. I think that (performance) puts him up among the top six in the state right now and qualified him for Nationals,” Welch said.
It also gave him a fifth-place finish among 249 entrants.
“That is impressive. To pull out a fifth against tons of schools, I don’t even know how many but that was a huge meet and he is showing that he is ready to take that step. It’s one of the first times he has gone up against really good competition in the 1000m. He is really just coming into the season now, because he was sick for a good chunk of the beginning. He is finally getting in shape but I know he has a couple more seconds in him,” Welch said.
Menounos wasn’t done.
He decided to take a crack at the 600m in New York.
“He’s never really run that before so we were just like, ‘Hey, if you’re going all the way to New York, you might as well run it once’,” Welch said.
Menounos finished fifth again in 1:25.56 and now owns the school record previously set by Jake Owen (1:26.88) in 2016.
“I think that puts him fourth-ranked in the state in the event,” Welch said.
Back in Bethel, there was more. Junior Colton Sallum placed second in the 5K race in 16:41, erasing Seamus Lippy’s previous record set just two years ago.
“It was good to see him put a record up that has some heft to it. It also gives him something to shoot for next year,” Welch said.
The distance medley team of Joel Koleszar, Anthony Beaudreault, Jackson Durand and Bronson Eddy also made some significant improvement to the record book as it finished third in 12:51 and broke the previous record set two years ago by almost two minutes.
“The excitement is obvious when they get (to Bethel). They’re pretty stoked about (the chance to set some school records). Joel had set the previous record with his brother and a couple of other guys and he was ecstatic to improve upon that. It gives them something else to look for and for the younger kids, we had some freshmen involved, something to shoot for next year,” Welch said.
The girls’ distance medley relay team of Julia Coyle, Talia Tremblay, Juliet Allard and Olivia Tracy finished first in 13:58 which was also a school record.
“We certainly can be faster than that but we kind of metered that a bit because some of the girls had to run again (Sunday),” Welch said. “They set a nice mark there.”
The Bethel meet also contains a pentathlon event and senior Jillian Edwards inscribed her name on the school record book as she finished second with 2,539 points to better Bella Sorrentino’s mark of 2,479 set last year.
“She was so excited,” Welch said. “That was a big goal of hers since the beginning of the season. Bella is an amazing multi-sport athlete who is having a lot of success at college now and I know Jill was really trying to chase her record down and did a phenomenal job. She had personal bests in a number of events to make that happen and that’s tough to deliver in one day.”
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs took advantage of the Martin Luther King holiday to take part in an eight-team meet also at Bethel High School.
The boys’ 4x400-meter relay team of Sallum, Menounos, Beaudreault and Charlie Caggiano finished first while the sprint medley relay team of Menounos, Caggiano, Aidan Kane, and Caggiano placed second and qualified for States in the process.
Menounos finished in 2:38.68 to win the 1000m. Caggiano took first (1:30) in the 600m, Sallum was best in the 1600m (4:33.6), Beaudreault qualified for States in the 55m dash and Kane finished fourth in the long jump.
Edwards qualified for Nationals in the high jump as the senior cleared the bar at 5-feet, 1-inch to finish first. She was also first in the hurdles, finishing in 9.6 seconds, and is only a half-second away from qualifying for Nationals in that event.
Allard won the 300m in 42.04 seconds and is just .16 of a second away from the school record in the event.
Coyle won the 1600m, Avery Plouffe took first in the shotput while the 4x400m team of Tremblay, Greysen Dery, Coyle and Allard also posted a first-place finish.
The flurry of activity indoors for the two teams comes at a fortunate time.
The recent snow and ice events have left the outdoor tracks unusable at the Academy unusable.
“To get them out and moving fast on a track is a great thing this time of the season, otherwise, there would be kind of a lull with training. It’s a chance to compete, a chance to make sure we are moving fast on the track,” Welch said.
He’s hoping the predicted break in the weather occurs which will allow for the track to be cleared by the end of the week.
“We have a meet a week from here through New England’s for the kids who get that far. This past week was the last big squeeze to get some conditioning in and these meets helped to do that,” Welch said.
Boys’ Basketball
Centaurs lose close one to Vikings
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout for the Woodstock boys’ basketball team on Friday in East Lyme.
The Centaurs almost forced their fifth overtime decision of the season but the last shot just didn’t want to fall and the host Vikings prevailed, 50-48.
“It was definitely looking like another overtime game. We just had an unlucky bounce at the end to tie it but it had the feel of another overtime game,” said coach Donte Adams.
Woodstock held the early, 16-11, lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to junior center Brady Ericson who scored nine of his team-high 15 points.
East Lyme (8-3) did put together a 10-2 spurt early in the second quarter to take a three-point lead but a pair of Garrett Bushey (14 points) 3-pointers put the Centaurs back up, 24-23, at the half.
“Coming into (Saturday’s) game, (Bushey) had a sprained ankle and I just told him that he had to go out there and still play aggressive. He shot the ball pretty well, he was 4-for-4 from 3-point line. He’s been coming along, helping us scoring-wise. I already know that he’s going to give us a strong defensive effort but him coming in and being aggressive offensively, too, really helps,” Adams said.
The Vikings got the better of things in the third quarter when Mike Timpano scored nine of his game-high 17 points to put East Lyme up, 40-33, going into the final stanza.
But Woodstock cut it to three, 44-41, halfway through the fourth and, after the Vikings doubled their lead two minutes later, put on a last-minute surge to cut it to three with 30 seconds left and then two in the final seconds.
Unfortunately, the tying attempt did not go down and the Centaurs fell to 5-7 on the season.
The team needs three wins to qualify for the Div. IV state tournament.
“We just have to take it one game at a time,” Adams said of the quest to make the postseason. “Even though we’re getting deep into the season, we haven’t played our best basketball yet. We have to keep playing our brand of basketball, keep coming to practice and playing hard. Delayed doesn’t mean denied. Just because our wins are a little delayed, I think we will be fine for the state tournament. We just have to put a string of wins together which we were able to do last season. We just don’t want to be chasing it at the end.”
Boys’ Hockey
The Woodstock boys’ hockey team and Pilgrim High School from Warwick, R.I. were even in just about all aspects of the game on Monday.
The two teams finished in a tie through the 45 minutes of regulation but it was the Patriots (2-5) who prevailed in the extra 8-minute overtime period, getting a goal with 1 minute, 56 seconds left to post the 4-3 victory.
“I had a good feeling with the kids. We were pushing, Their goalie (Braxton Bragg) made a lot of good saves but (Centaurs goalie) Brady (Hebert) made a diving save across on a shot that everybody thought was in the net and you get the feeling that this was going to be our game. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out that way,” said coach Mark Smolak.
Despite the loss, which dropped the Centaurs to 3-6, there were some positives.
All three of the Woodstock goals came on the power play.
“We spent the entirety of practice Friday working on the power play. What I really like to see is that we were winning the battles in the corners when we were fighting for pucks. We were moving the puck quickly, getting them out of position, tiring out their penalty killers, and generating opportunities and shots,” Smolak said.
After a scoreless first period, both teams got on the board in the second.
The Patriots got the first two tallies with Devin Stevens getting his first goal of the season just 2:09 into the period and Richard Cavanagh getting his fourth of the year 5 ½ minutes later.
But the Centaurs bounced back. Noah Sampson, with help from Donny Sousa and Troy Daviau, scored his eight goal of the season with 10:17 into the period.
Woodstock would go into the third period tied at two when it benefitted from the second hooking call against Pilgrim in two minutes of play. Brady Lecuyer put home a rebound off a shot from Daviau to tie the game with 3:40 left in the period.
Then Centaurs had the man advantage for the first 1:25 of the third period courtesy of a tripping call against the Patriots. Maxx Corradi scored for a ninth time this season with help from Jared Nielsen and Lecuyer.
Unfortunately, Woodstock was called for elbowing and hooking within 30 seconds of each other and the 5-on-3 advantage resulted in a Jack Sayler goal for Pilgrim with 8:03 left in regulation.
The Patriots won the game when Cavanagh scored his second goal of the game in overtime.
“We lost but this is the first time I can say that we played a good hockey (game) for 45 minutes. That’s a step in the right direction. This was the best game that I have seen (Jayden) Fuller play. He was engaged, he was physical, he was moving bodies, in on the forecheck. That’s what I want to see and the kids are starting to buy into that. Unfortunately, overtime, golden goal, it happens. Hopefully, next time it goes our way,” Smolak said.
The Centaurs were supposed to play another Rhode Island team, East Greenwich, last week but that contest was canceled.
It means Woodstock will not return to the ice until Wednesday when it plays host to the Eastern Connecticut Eagles at 7 p.m. at the Jahn Ice Rink.
Girls’ Hockey
Centaurs experience third-period troubles on the ice
The script has been a common one for the Woodstock girls’ hockey team.
The Centaurs played well in the first and second period of their home game against the Hall-Conard Co-Op on Saturday.
There are, however, three periods in hockey.
Hall-Conard scored all four of its goals in the third and posted the 4-1 victory over the Centaurs.
Illness, injuries and other obligations have cost the Centaurs (2-11) a couple key players and left them out of gas in the third period of games.
“It’s a combination. We haven’t had our full lineup since Game 1 and we showed in that game (early in the week against East Catholic) that we could hang with (opponents),” coach Eric Roy said. “The concern was the stamina and the legs. We come back to the bench, red in the face, hunched over but we have battled all year.”
The two teams played a scoreless first period and the Centaurs were able to kill off a penalty to start the second.
Woodstock took the lead 9 minutes, 59 seconds when Sophia Gouveia scored her team-best sixth goal of the season.
That lead held until the third when Hall-Conard tied it just 2:32 into the last stanza. The visitors went ahead for good with another goal 2 1/2 minutes later.
Junior goalie Renee Porter made 46 saves in net for Woodstock but the Centaurs found the going difficult against the East Catholic Co-Op, the third-ranked team in the Connecticut High School Girls Hockey Association, in a Martin Luther King Day matinee.
The Storm posted an 8-0 win getting five goals in the third period against the undermanned Centaurs.
Again, the game began well and Roy was more than happy with the team’s play in the first period.
The Centaurs allowed only one goal by Alivia Roy as the defensive game plan was working.
“We had a strategy and we played it to a tee and hung with them,” Roy said.
Grace Lescault, Ellary Sampson and Gouveia all had good opportunities at the net for Woodstock but were foiled by Storm goalie Lola Espinto-Santo.
East Catholic went up 3-0 in the second period on a pair of goals by Alexis Pacheco.
The Storm sealed their eighth win in 11 games and sixth in a row with the five-goal third period.
Woodstock was back on the ice on Friday and again did not put a puck into the back of the net, falling to the Suffield Co-Op, 3-0, in Simsbury. Porter made 34 saves in that contest.
Gymnastics
Centaurs battling injury woes
For a second consecutive meet, the Centaurs were missing defending ECC individual champion, Olivia Aleman.
Add to that, just four healthy gymnasts and it becomes even more difficult.
Woodstock lost to Thames Valley Gymnastics Wildcats, 130.65 - 121.15.
Emma Long produced the top individual all-around effort with a 32.05 total for the Centaurs (0-3, 0-3 ECC) while Livia Gerum had the best individual event score with an 8.65 score on the beam.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions, page 2:
Relays
On left: The distance medley relay team of, from left: Julia Coyle, Juliet Allard, Talia Tremblay and Olivia Tracy are all smiles after winning the event at the Bethel distance and pentathlon event. The four finished in a school record time, 13 minutes, 58 seconds. On right, from left:) Bronson Eddy, Anthony Beaudreault, Jackson Durand and Joel Koleszar were more than happy with a third-place finish in the distance medley relay at the Bethel indoor track distance and pentathlon event. The quartet finished with one of the six Woodstock Academy school indoor track records that were set on Saturday. Photos by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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Junior Jayden Fuller gets ready for the face off against Pilgrim High School. Centaurs coach Mark Smolak praised Fuller’s play in the contest. Photo by Sam Clark/Woodstock Academy.
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The distance medley relay team of, from left: Julia Coyle, Juliet Allard, Talia Tremblay and Olivia Tracy are all smiles after winning the event at the Bethel distance and pentathlon event. The four finished in a school record time, 13 minutes, 58 seconds. Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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From left: Bronson Eddy, Anthony Beaudreault, Jackson Durand and Joel Koleszar were more than happy with a third-place finish in the distance medley relay at the Bethel indoor track distance and pentathlon event. The quartet finished with one of the six Woodstock Academy school indoor track records that were set on Saturday. Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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