Centaurs win
13th ECC  crown in a row
If 13 was an unlucky number for anyone on the Woodstock gymnastics team, it probably isn’t any longer.
The Centaurs won their 13th-consecutive ECC gymnastics title Sunday with a 136.05-134.3 win over Norwich Free Academy.
“That’s pretty good,” said coach Kasey Tocchio. “(Woodstock Academy athletic director) Sean (Saucier) came up to me at the end and said, ’13!’. It’s awesome.”
It also was not pre-ordained as it has been in the past.
The Centaurs lost their top gymnast, Taylor Markley, to injury before the season even began and several others also had to recover from injuries of their own. Freshman Julia Kerr, for example, performed in the All-Around competition for a first time this season at the championship meet.
“Every team has its own challenges,” Tocchio said. “We come into the season always trying to figure it out and it takes a little bit at the beginning and we always seem to get back into the groove. It’s more challenging these days, not harder, but just different.”
And going into a championship meet with a streak on the line that the Centaurs now still possess can make it all that much more difficult.
The solution: Don’t think about it.
“My biggest thing is telling them to just be normal. I like to remind them of that; it’s no different (than a regular meet). Keeping their nerves down and just being calm is so important. They didn’t have to do anything out of the box, nothing better or worse, just be normal because their normal is really good,” Tocchio said.
It’s always nice, however, when you have someone to lean on. The Centaurs have that in sophomore Olivia Aleman.
Aleman was solid at the beginning as she posted a 9.35 to tie for first in vault. She followed that up with second-place finishes in the bars (9.2) and beam (9.2) before putting together a sparkling routine to win the floor with a 9.65 total.
It all added up to a 37.4 All-Around total and an ECC individual championship for the young gymnast.
Kerr also stepped up. It was the first time she attempted to compete in all four routines that comprise the All-Around.
She came away as ECC beam champion, alongside Killingly’s Ella Pereira, as both finished with a 9.25 score. The freshman was also second on the floor with a 9.45 and added an 8.15 vault and an 8.1 bars routine for a 34.95 total, fifth-best in the competition.
Kerr’s presence on Sunday was more than important. The Centaurs didn’t have much room for error as the meet was not decided until the final rotation.
In addition to the Wildcats finishing just a point and a half back, Killingly (134.1) was just two-tenths of a point behind NFA and Stonington ended with a 131.3.
“We knew how close it was, everyone was checking scores and it was pretty much neck-and-neck. Our floor as a team is very strong (the Centaurs tallied a 35.9) so it was good for us to end there,” Tocchio said. “I feel like all four teams made mistakes (Sunday) too so that made it even a closer meet in a sense.”
One streak maintained. Another to try and keep intact. Woodstock has 11-straight state titles to its credit.
The Centaurs next travel to Jonathan Law High School to compete for a state class championship on Feb. 25, but at what time, in what division, and against who is still a mystery.
Unlike most CIAC-sponsored sports, the state divisional alignments are not determined prior to the season and, instead, are figured out after the regular season concludes.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs accomplished another goal.
The Centaurs captured the ECC regular season crown with a 136.15-133.55 win over Norwich Free Academy.
Aleman was again a key performer. Aleman did not finish first in any of the four routines but had a balanced performance to capture first at the end.
She just edged out Norwich Free Academy’s Trinity Ambruso in the All-Around  by a tenth of a point, 37.45-37.35.
Aleman was second in the vault (9.25), second on the bars (9.4), second on beam (9.4) and third in floor exercise (9.4).
Kerr was second on the floor with a 9.55 total and sophomore Allie Boyd had a strong beam routine, finishing third with a 9.1.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

ECC Champs: The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team proudly displays another ECC championship banner, the program’s 13th straight, following a 136.05-134.3 win over Norwich Free Academy at Thames Valley Gymnastics in Norwich Sunday.
(All photos by Sean Saucier/Woodstock Academy)

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