Preview – Girls’ Track
Centaurs hope for a 3-peat
In a dual meet, the Woodstock Academy Centaurs girls’ outdoor track team has been a pretty tough customer.
For the past two seasons, the Centaurs have captured the ECC Div. I championship.
Coach Josh Welch doesn’t believe there is any reason to think the same will not happen again in 2025.
“That would be awesome and I think we have what it takes to do it,” Welch said. “It could be interesting to see if we have everybody in the right place at the right time but I think we have enough there. In a dual meet, head-to-head, we have a good shot.”
The Centaurs don’t have the numbers that a team like Norwich Free Academy possesses so in a multi-team meet like the ECC championship, it becomes more difficult. The Wildcats recorded 29 points alone in the pole vault alone to score a 151-149 win over the Centaurs in the Div. I-II championship a year ago.
But the Centaurs will have a diversity of strengths this season.
“Absolutely yes,” senior Juliet Allard said when asked if the Centaurs could repeat as Div. I champs. “We are back even stronger this year. We have some amazing freshmen coming up.”
The sprints, hurdles and throws will be strong points for Woodstock which has its first dual meet of the season April 9 at Stonington. 
The throws alone could net the team significant points this season.
Avery Plouffe comes over from a solid indoor track season which ended with a “bomb” throw, a 41-foot, 1 ¼-inch effort at the Nike Nationals in New York that broke the school indoor shotput record by 4 feet.
“I really didn’t expect to get as far as I did. We were really excited to have that throw and it just happened to be at Nationals where we needed it the most,” Plouffe said. “That energy that I had there is really going to carry over and inspire me going into the first meet. Knowing that you can have a four-foot p.r. like that is really kind of insane,:
The nice thing is that Plouffe is not the only weapon in the arsenal.
Lilly Morgis is solid in the discus and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain is a very good javelin competitor.
“Those are three people that could be state championship level throwers this year without a doubt. They should do very well and I think we will see a lot of first, second, and third-place sweeps from them in the ECC,” Welch said.
On the sprint side, Allard returns.
“It’s so hard to believe that this is it,” the senior said. “I’ve had so many amazing experiences here that it’s kind of heartbreaking actually. I’ve learned so much through this team and I’m going to miss it so much.”
Allard already owns a bevy of Woodstock indoor and outdoor school track records.
Records that she would not mind improving upon this year.
“Not so much so that no one can beat them. I just want to leave behind a good legacy and, hopefully, that will push my underclassmen teammates to beat those records. I want to improve upon them but I want to push them to reach those points that I hit,” Allard said.
Welch feels one record that could be within the senior’s reach is the 100-meter. What makes that record so special is that it has stood for almost 50 years.
Allard said the 300m hurdles is a focus as she feels it is her best chance to qualify for Nationals at the championship level.
Allard will be taking her skill set to Quinnipiac University to compete at the Div. I level next season. The Centaurs also have junior Emma Weitknecht who will focus on the 100m and 300m hurdles as well as relays.
Sophomore Elise Coyle has been looking solid at long jump and both she and Ava Eaton have been working on the triple jump where they will join Ella Lidonde who now owns the school’s indoor triple jump record.
There are some soft spots. The graduation of Jillian Edwards left a void in the high jump and the middle and distance events may need some shoring up.
“We had Julia Coyle and Talia Tremblay last year but we have some kids coming in that may help fill those spots,” Welch said.
Welch pointed out Melanie DiPippo as an up-and-coming distance runner while Nova Almquist has been getting her mile times down. The return of Olivia Tracy in distance events, will also help.
 “There are a handful of things I’m looking for. An undefeated dual meet season is well within our grasp and is the metric as to whether we did what we could do. The (ECC) championship meet is a whole ‘nother thing but we would like to put the pressure on for that," Welch said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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Juliet Allard, left, and junior Avery Plouffe. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.