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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s sporty hello goes out to good friend and faithful follower Dick Tremblay of Pomfret. Tremblay is one of the best baseball players to come from the village of N. Grosvenordale. He was a mainstay of the Weiss’ Market and Deary Bros. softball teams, which dominated local play during the decades of the '60s and '70s. Tremblay also serves as the unofficial editor for Ramblings Points and Comments.
Woodstock Academy senior track performer Keith Owens carries the same last name as a former great United States Olympian Jesse Owens, who was considered “the fastest Man alive” in 1936. Granted Keith Owens may not be as fast as Jesse was but the Centaur trackster is making a name for himself.
At the Eastern Connecticut Conference indoor championships, Owens captured a pair of first-place finishes for coach Chris Dodge. Owens won the 55-meter event with a time of 6.74 seconds, a mark that broke the Woodstock Academy record. Owens then moved on to the 300-meter event and grabbed another first for the Centaurs in a time of 37.10 seconds just missing the school record by a mere .8 of a second.
In the CIAC Indoor Championships, Owens posted an identical time to his ECC performance in the 55-meter dash, good for a fifth-place finish. He posted his best time ever in the 300-meter dash finishing in 36.42 seconds, placing third.
At the onset of the indoor season, Owens set his sights on qualifying for the Nationals. His performances in the ECC and CIAC meets helped him achieve his goal. He’ll be going to New York in March for the National competition.
Owens, who celebrated his 18th birthday this week, has his eyes set on enlisting in the U.S. Air Force following graduation in June. His Air Force goal is to become a member of the elite Special Ops team. His long range goal is to someday become a Connecticut state trooper. He’s the son of Barry and Brenda Shead of Woodstock.
Celtics Ball Boy for a Day…
Jack Jellison, a seventh grader at Pomfret Community School, will get the thrill of a lifetime March 25 thanks to his grandfather Karl Kuhn Sr. The elder Kuhn, whose company handles work at major sports venues such as Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, The Garden and The Meadowlands, recently arranged for his grandson to serve as the official ball boy for the Boston Celtics game against Washington.
Young Jack Jellison along with his grandfather and his father, Scott Jellison will be the guests of Celtics President Danny Ainge for the game. The threesome will also enjoy lunch at The Garden. At approximately 4 p.m., Jack will be escorted to the court where he’ll receive his game duty instructions for the 6 p.m. contest.
“It’s not often this kind of opportunity is available to small town youths outside the Boston area and I jumped at the chance to provide Jack with this gift not only to mix and mingle but actually be on the court and seated on the bench with the players throughout the game,” said proud grand dad Karl Kuhn Sr.
Jack is the son of Scott and Jessica Jellison of Pomfret. In addition to enjoying basketball, Jack plays hockey and baseball.
Gaudreau for Three!!!...
Word was received this week that Pomfret School’s ‘three-point shooting ace,” Megan Gaudreau has been entered in the Top 3-Point Shooter in the Country Contest. Her entry allowed her to be in the top 16 three-point shooters in the country in the contest that is being contested in brackets. Each week a video of Gaudreau shooting from beyond the arc will be pitted against the video of another contestant.
In order to move forward in the competition Gaudreau must outvote her opponent. The voting for each round lasts one week. If you’re interested in supporting Gaudreau in her quest to reach the finals at the Men’s final Four in New Orleans cast your vote at:
http://www.facebook.com/HighSchoolSlam#1/ HighSchoolSlam?sk=app_307450799311487.
Greenhalgh Dinner Plenty of Spaghetti and Meatballs…
The Coach Jim Greenhalgh Memorial Scholarship Committee hosted a Spaghetti and Meatball Dinner Feb . 17 and according to chairman of the event, Kevin Shaw, the dinner was a huge success. Approximately 150 people were in attendance at the VFW Post #1523 to enjoy Chef Buster Corey’s serving of the Italian favorite.
The scholarship effort, which was initiated three years ago, has a goal of $30,000. The plan is to endow a scholarship that will be awarded each year in Greenhalgh’s memory to a deserving Putnam High School student-athlete. The dinner realized more that $2,900 toward the goal.
“After three years of fund-raising we’re very close to our goal. The committee plans on closing our efforts with a golf outing at Connecticut National Golf Club in August. The support we’ve received has been very rewarding,” said Shaw.
Since the committee began fund-raising three scholarships have been awarded. The first award went to Kelsey Rybacki with Brittany Bousquet receiving the next scholarship. This year’s recipient was Austin Dodd, who is attending UConn.
Working with Shaw on the dinner committee were Stu Neal of the Class of ’62 and Roger Franklin of the Class of ’56. Anyone interested in supporting the scholarship should mail checks to CGMSF, P.O. Box 304, Putnam, CT 06260-0304.
Notes of Interest…
Sen. Donald E. Williams Jr. of the 29th Sen. Dist. and president pro tem of the Connecticut Senate, was recently spotted walking with the aid of a cane. The reason for the cane, according to Williams, is a stress fracture of a bone in the hip incurred while exercising. He’s nursing the injury along but continues to carry out his senatorial duties. He expects to be back to his exercise routine shortly.
Congratulations to longtime high school football official Ted Dumaine. The former Killingly High School sports standout was recently honored as one of the recipients of the Vincent Reilly Service Award. The recognition is given for exceptional involvement and dedication by a football official. Dumaine is a long standing member and former president of the Eastern Board of Football Officials.
ECC Girls All Stars…
Despite the domination of teams from the southeast section of the ECC a number of local young ladies were honored with all star recognition in basketball following the conclusion of the regular season.
In the Large Division Woodstock’s Lindsey Weigand garnered honorable mention honors. Killingly’s scoring machine Devin Hill was selected to the all star team in the Medium Division and Hailey Griffin and Kim Bouten of Plainfield were first team selections in the Small Division. Lady Panthers Morgan Griffin and Heather Evans were honorable mention selectees. Sportsmanship awards went to Bridget Matsas of Woodstock; Alicia Giambattista of Killingly; Evans of Plainfield; and Liz McKinley of Tourtellotte.
Gymnastics Crowns…
I’m the first to admit that I don’t know much about gymnastics except the fact that the individuals whom perform are terrific athletes who are in great shape. I also know that when northeastern Connecticut brings home two state championship teams it’s an honor that deserves recognition.
Robin Deary-Fillmore, who was a tremendous gymnast in her day, is to be congratulated for keeping the gymnastics torch burning in our area. Through her Deary’s Gymnastics Center and her willingness to work as a coach of local high school teams she’s developed a steady stream of champion caliber gymnasts. To her credit, she always conveys the kudos to her athletes.
It’s time for her to take a bow as she became the first coach in CIAC history to walk away from the team competition with two State titles. Deary-Fillmore guided Woodstock to the Class M title and Killingly to the Class S crown.
A tip of the RPC Sports Fedora to the following gymnasts for “bringing home the bacon” as my high school Principal Francis Curran would tell our Putnam teams whenever we were on a quest for a title. Jackie Deary, Shaila Segal, Courtney Osborn, Bree Hussong and Allison Rich were the Woodstock quintet that won the title besting a good Daniel Hand team. The Killingly honors go to twin sisters Taylor and Lexi Mazzarella, Hailey Cummings, Alexis Gevry and Donna Candilloro as they bested pre-tourney favorite RHAM. End of season ECC superlatives went to Hussong, Deary, Segal and Osborn of Woodstock and the Mazzarella twins of Killingly. Honorable Mention went to Gevry and Cummings of the Redgals. Sportsmanship honors were accorded to Rich of Woodstock and Candilloro of Killingly.
RPC’s Closing Thought for the Day: Located in a Church Bulletin – “This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Johnson to come forward and lay an egg at the altar.