Roundup
Plouffe finishes 2nd in shotput in NY; shatters school record
Woodstock Academy junior Avery Plouffe almost did the unexpected — bring home a first-place finish from the Nike indoor track Nationals in New York City.
Plouffe unleashed a 41-foot, 1 ¼ inch throw in the shotput on Sunday in the preliminaries to briefly take the lead in the event.
The throw was 4 feet better than the school record which Plouffe had already held.
Unfortunately, Plouffe was passed for first-place later in the event but she still brought home a second-place medal.
“Coach (Gerry) Lamontagne has been saying all season that Avery was on the verge of breaking out with something big,” said indoor track coach Josh Welch. “But, still, I don’t think anyone could have expected a 4-foot improvement at the Nationals. When the officials start to get excited and cheer at that level, you know something special happened there.”
It was the highlight of the weekend for Welch and the Centaurs but it was not the only one.
Plouffe also participated in the weight throw on Thursday and finished 21stin the Emerging Elite division.
She launched a 39-foot, 1 ¼ inch throw that was only 2 inches shy of the school record which she already holds.
Senior Colton Sallum firmly entrenched himself in the school record book.
Sallum obliterated the previous school record in the 2-mile as he finished in 9 minutes, 32.43 seconds to best the previous mark by 37 ½ seconds on Friday.
Sallum finished 22nd overall in the competition.
Junior Emma Weitknecht now owns the school record for the 60m hurdles as she bested the mark previously held by Bella Sorrentino with a 9.67-second finish. She placed 40th overall and just missed out on making the semifinals in the event by 2/10th’s of a second.
Senior Christian Menounos nearly matched his school record in the 800-meter as he finished in 1:56.09 and was 20th overall in the championship division.
“He competed in the slowest of the five heats, but still managed to beat the bulk of the competition at the meet,” Welch said.
Teagan Maloney placed 46th in the 60m dash for freshmen in 8.59 seconds. That was just .02 seconds away from a school- record performance.
“It was great to get our kids some experience with these bigger meets. I think we’re starting to see more growth in how our athletes handle the pressure of a big audience and high-level competition,” Welch said.
Winter Season Closes
While winter doesn’t officially end until Thursday, it came to a close a week before last week.
The annual Winter Sports Awards Night traditionally heralds the end of the season with spring sports beginning in a couple of weeks.
The highlight of the event is the coaches for the programs giving out their Coaches Awards.
Award winners:
Boys’ Basketball: Varsity Coaches Award Recipients: Matt Hernandez, Caleb Simoneau; JV Coaches Award Recipient: Ryan Chabot; Freshman Coaches Award Recipient: Brody Dexter.
Girls’ Basketball: Varsity Coaches Award: Kaylee Saucier, Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain; JV Coaches Award: Finley Hamilton; Freshman Coaches Award: Addison Shaw.
Prep Select Basketball: Varsity Coaches Award: David Volz, Filippo De Giorgi; Unified Co-Ed Basketball, Coaches Award: Athlete: Ariana Fox and Partner: Luke Thompson.
Gymnastics: Varsity Coaches Award: Scarlet Hogarty, Anyah Oatley.
Boys’ Hockey: Varsity Coaches Award: Seamus Coleman, Jayden Fuller.
Girls’ Hockey: Varsity Coaches Award: Avery Nielsen, Grace Lescault.
Wrestling: Varsity Coaches Awards: Olivia Digregorio, Owen Hamilton;
JV Coaches Award: Colby Deary.
Boys’ Indoor Track: Varsity Coaches Award: Christian Menounos, Colton Sallum; JV Coaches Award: Tiernan Curran.
Girls’ Indoor Track: Varsity Coaches Award: Juliet Allard, Avery Plouffe;
JV Coaches Award: Addison Casteen.
Dance Team: Coaches Award: Caroline Costa, Scarlet Delaney.
Also recognized were those who received All-State and league All-Star awards including:
Class M All-State and ECC All-Star in gymnastics: Olivia Aleman; Class M All-State in gymnastics: Anyah Oatley; Class M All-State and ECC Div. I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Juliet Allard; Class M All-State and ECC Div. I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Avery Plouffe.
Also: Connecticut High School girls’ hockey Association 2nd team All-State – Sophia Gouveia; ECC Division I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Emma Weitknecht; ECC Division I All-Star in boys’ indoor track – Christian Menounos; ECC Division I All-Star in boys’ indoor track – Thatcher Patterson; ECC Division I All-Star in boys indoor track – Aidan Tyler; ECC Division I All-Star in boys’ indoor track – Collin Teal; ECC Division I All-Star in girls’ basketball: Kaylee Saucier; ECC Division II All-Star in boys’ basketball- Brady Ericson; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys’ hockey – Seamus Coleman; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys’ hockey – Jayden Fuller; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys’ hockey – Devlin Mansolf; ECC Honorable Mention Division II boys’ basketball- Cam Nason; Class M All-State and ECC All-Star in gymnastics: Olivia Aleman; Class M All-State in gymnastics: Anyah Oatley; Class M All-State and ECC Division I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Juliet Allard; Class M All-State and ECC Division I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Avery Plouffe; Connecticut High School girls’ hockey Association 2nd team All-State – Sophia Gouveia; ECC Division I All-Star in girls’ indoor track – Emma Weitknecht; ECC Division I All-Star in boys’ indoor track – Christian Menounos; ECC Division I All-Star in boys’ indoor track – Thatcher Patterson; ECC Division I All-Star in boys indoor track – Aidan Tyler; ECC Division I All-Star in boys indoor track – Collin Teal; ECC Division I All-Star in girls basketball: Kaylee Saucier; ECC Division II All-Star in boys basketball- Brady Ericson; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys hockey – Seamus Coleman; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys hockey – Jayden Fuller; Nutmeg Conference All-Star in boys hockey – Devlin Mansolf; ECC Honorable Mention Division II boys basketball- Cam Nason; ECC Honorable Mention Division I girls basketball- Isabel D’Alleva – Bochain.
Also recognized were the ECC Scholar-Athlete Award winners including: Girls’ basketball - Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain; Boys; basketball – Matt Hernandez; Gymnastics – Emma Long; Wrestling – Ayden Angel; Boys’ Indoor Track – Chandler Folkerts; Girls’ indoor track – Kira Greene.
ECC Sportsmanship Awards: Boys’ indoor track – Aiden Kane; Girls’ Indoor Track – Ella Lidonde; Wrestling – Gunnar Basak; Girls’ basketball – Madison Bloom; Boys’ basketball – Garrett Bushey; Gymnastics – Olivia Aleman.
Aleman also received her plaque for being named the ECC’s Domino’s Player of the Year in gymnastics and Tim Mozzi was announced as the Hoby Baker Character Award recipient in boys’ hockey. The girls’ basketball team had the best cumulative GPA of the winter teams.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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From left: Christian Menounos finished 20th overall. Avery Plouffe with her record-setting throw in the shotput. Colton Sallum broke the school record in the 2-mile by 37 ½ seconds. Photos by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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A sure sign that spring has sprung as catchers like Caleb Simoneau and pitchers like Brady Ericson were out on the baseball diamond. Photos by Connor Elliott.
Winter All-State
Those who received All-State and league All-Star designation were recognized at Woodstock Academy’s annual Winter Sports Awards Night last week. Photo by Savannah Canty/Woodstock Academy.
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