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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s sporty hello goes out to Putnam’s Willie Hryzan. In addition to being a hardworking individual Hryzan can’t wait for golf season to arrive. He’s also an avid outdoorsman who enjoys a moment of solitude with his rod and reel. As a young man, Hryzan was a standout first baseman and slugger for the former Putnam Savings Bank championship teams in the Putnam Senior League.
It appears all systems are a go for the 1st O’Putnam 5K & Wee Mile scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 11. The event is a Hartford Marathon Foundation Multi-Sports Series race, sponsored locally by The Courthouse Bar & Grille.
By all indications organizers are expecting a field of at least 400 runners. Pre-registration has been as good as or better than expected for this first-time race. The place to go for registration information is hartfordmarathon.com. According to Sheila and James Frost of The Courthouse volunteers are still needed to man spots along the course.
All entrants will receive a T-shirt, corned beef sandwich and a beer following the race, which concludes in front of the restaurant on Main St. The Main St. area will be closed to vehicular traffic for the greater portion of the day, according to Putnam Police Chief Rick L. Hayes.
The 5K (3.1 mile) run is scheduled to assemble on Bundy St. prior to moving to its official starting line on Kennedy Drive. The runners will proceed south, turning on to Arch St. through the Arch and left on to South Main St. At Putnam Famer’s Co-op the runners will head up School St. and turn left on to Providence St., where they’ll head west, reaching Marshall St., at the end of Marshall they’ll head down Woodstock Ave. to the Bridge St. Bridge. Then it’s back on Kennedy Drive, before turning left on to Massicotte Circle and right up Main St. to the finish line in front of the Courthouse Bar & Grille.
“As we get closer to the date of the race I’m getting very excited. I feel this is great for our community as it will bring people to Putnam. Once they see our beautiful town I know they’ll want to come back,” said Sheila Frost.
Run, walk, jig or jog, volunteer or cheer on the participants, citizens of Putnam are urged to come out, line the race route and show the spirit that is making our community a destination for visitors.
The Stars Continue to Shine…
Chris Coderre, director of Athletics at Woodstock and committee member of the Eastern Connecticut Conference ,recently released the names of the 2011-2012 Boys’ Basketball All-Stars. A scattering of local hoopsters dotted the rosters across the three divisions.
The Small Division had the largest representation of players, led by Tourtellotte’s high scoring forward Eddie Kopacz. Also on the first team was John Lorange of Plainfield. A pair of Tigers, Evan Touchette and Kaevon Safford received honorable mention honors as did Ryan Pambuku of Plainfield. Sportsmanship awards went to Brian Sullivan of Plainfield and Nick Authier of Tourtellotte.
Jeff Clang of Killingly was the sole area product to be recognized in the Medium Division, where he was an honorable mention selectee. His teammate Dane Grauer was honored with the Sportsmanship Award. In the Large Division, Woodstock’s Chris Lowry received honorable mention and Chris Mayhew was accorded sportsmanship honors.
All the recipients received their awards prior to the start of the ECC Championship game in New London March 2.
Three Cheers for the ECC All Star Cheerleading Squad…
Members of the Woodstock Academy, Plainfield, Killingly and Tourtellotte cheerleading squads were honored as all stars following the recent completion of the ECC Tournament. The Acads were represented by Kyleigh Caron and Mariel Baker, who received First Team honors and Khadijah Dismuke who was an honorable mention selection. Haley Bessette and Kayla Slaton were the fall and winter sportsmanship winners.
Ariel Roy and Xavier Laporte of Plainfield won sportsmanship awards in the Medium Division, Danielle Knoll and Kasey Falco of Killingly were sportsmanship winners in the Small Division.
First Team Small Division honors went to Francesca Coppellotti of Tourtellotte. Her teammate Janelle Davidson was selected as an Honorable Mention recipient. Collellotti and Julie Chalpowski were accorded sportsmanship honors.
Scoring Leaders…
As the 2011-2012 boys’ basketball season winds down the scoring race appears to be in the hands of Tourtellotte’s Eddie Kopacz. Kopacz’s season average sits at 25.1 points per game with at least one State tournament game on the horizon. Right behind Kopacz is Putnam’s Dino Porcic at 23.2 ppg. and a minimum of one tournament game in his future. The other two players in the scoring picture Jeff Clang (17.9) of Killingly and Dayshon Smith (15.7) of Putnam Science Academy have concluded their seasons.
Clang however, walks off with the three-point crown with 66. He was followed by Dan Gagnon (61) of Pomfret School and Smith with 57.
The girls’ leader is Killingly’s Devin Hill at 18.4 ppg. Unfortunately for Hill her season ended on a sour note as she incurred a severe knee injury early in her final regular season game against Tourtellotte. The injury will also put Hill on the IR for any all star games she may have been invited to in the postseason. Behind Hill in the scoring race is Plainfield’s Hailey Griffin at 16.7 ppg. Melanie Mills of Marianapolis is third with 15.9 points a contest. A player to watch out for next year, Putnam’s Ashley Espinosa finishes the season at an even 15 points a game. Pomfret School’s Megan Gaudreau rounds out the top five at 14 ppg. Gaudreau also finishes the year as the top three-point shooter in the area with 81. Plainfield’s Kim Bouten ended the season as the runner-up with 47.
From the Hospital to the Sidelines…
There are many fans of college basketball that look at UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun with a jaundiced eye because of his sideline behavior toward his players and officials. Regardless of one’s opinion about the hall-of-fame coach, his love of his players and desire for success on their behalf is an admirable quality.
Feb. 27 Calhoun was in New York under the knife having surgery for spinal stenosis. Following a brief recuperation at his Pomfret home, just five days later he was at Gampel Pavilion on the sidelines leading his Huskies to a much needed victory. It was obvious, even from my man cave HD-TV that the spirit and intensity of the UConn men was much higher with Calhoun in their midst as they defeated a solid Pittsburgh team in a crucial Big East victory.
RPC sends along continued best wishes to Calhoun as he reaches complete recovery from the surgery. Anyone who’s ever met Calhoun in person realizes his sincere love for his players past and present. That love was obvious in the win against Pitt.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Another note from a church bulletin – For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.