Roundup
Centaurs
capture 1st
at track invite
The Woodstock Academy girls’ track team has some lofty aspirations for the near future and an effort like the Centaurs put forth over the weekend at the Greater Hartford Invitational track and field meet could certainly help them achieve some of their future goals.
The Centaurs walked away with the first-place trophy from the event in East Hartford as they finished with 74 points.
That was well ahead of second-place Glastonbury (54 points) and host East Hartford (50).
“Winning a major invitational like that should have the girls fired up for what they can do in the meet against Norwich Free Academy and the postseason. It was very exciting to see,” said coach Josh Welch.
The Centaurs take on the Wildcats on Wednesday on South Campus in their final regular season meet with the chance to complete the three-peat as ECC Div. I champions.
Junior Ella Lidonde was chosen by the team as the Most Outstanding Athlete as she broke the school record in the triple jump, clearing 35-feet, 2 ¾ inches to place third overall in the event.
Emma Weitknecht was the top point getter for the team as she finished second in the 100-meter hurdles, second in the 300-meter hurdles and fifth as a member of the 4x100m relay team.
Avery Plouffe was second in the shotput, Lily Morgis was second in discus and fifth in the shotput.
The 4x800m relay team of Kira Greene, Greysen Dery, Bella Amlaw and Olivia Tracy also had a second-place finish and Elise Coyle was fifth in the 400-meter.
Juliet Allard and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain did not compete in the individual events as both took part in the heptathlon at the event where Allard placed third, missing the school record by 100 points, and D’Alleva-Bochain was fifth.
“I think Juliet and Izzy helping to keep that part of the team culture going is awesome,” Welch said. “Multi-event athletes really set a strong example for others to work hard and try new things so I hope their ‘can do it’ attitudes will continue to set the tone for the team. They both had a great time with the events Saturday.”
Boys’ Track
The boys’ team did not have quite the collective success that the girls did at the Greater Hartford Invitational but they did have some outstanding individual accomplishments.
Junior Abraham McGregor broke a school record that had stood for 45 years as he finished fifth in the long jump at the Greater Hartford Invitational, clearing 21-feet, 4-inches. Ross Bunnel previously held that record for the Centaurs.
“Abraham has been a great addition to the team, fitting in easily and quickly,” said coach Gerry LaMontagne. “He gets and gives a lot of support from and to his teammates. We felt he had a good chance to break that record and we look forward to see him try and push it even further.”
Ethan Aspiras’ 3200-meter school record set in 2021 also fell as senior Colton Sallum finished the event in 9 minutes, 39.89 seconds and placed third overall.
“Colton just continues to get better and better and we think his best races are still to come. He learned some hard lessons last season and has demonstrated tremendous grit and determination with his work ethic and approach to competition this season. We believe his best races for the Academy are still to come,” LaMontagne said.
Christian Menounos finished fifth in the 400m and Eli Manning was sixth in the decathlon.
“It’s hard to relate how difficult and grueling it is to compete in 10 events over two days. Eli’s discipline and steady approach to preparation for the decathlon has paid off well. His first attempt, in his freshman year, he didn’t even qualify for the second day. Now, he’s finishing sixth in a tough field. It’s always nice to see that kind of effort bear fruit and be rewarded,” LaMontagne said.
Boys’ Golf
Embrace the elements. It was the lesson boys’ golf coach Rich Garceau had to teach at the Wildcat Invitational.
“If you let the rain and cold get to you, you’re defeated mentally before you even go out there so just embrace it. You’re going to be wet, everyone is going to be wet, you’re going to be cold but there will be a shower waiting for you when you get home tonight,” was the advice that Garceau imparted.
Of course, it still was not easy.
For example, on the second hole, the Centaurs top player, Logan Rawson, saw his driver literally slide out of his grasp.
It was just that kind of day.
“It was one of the most miserable days that I had ever been on a golf course and I was just happy that I wasn’t one of those trying to play golf,” Garceau said.
To make matters worse, the Wildcat Invitational, unlike most high school matches, is comprised of 18 holes not nine.
At first, there was talk about the tournament being cut in half, but that didn’t pan out.
“We were kind of surprised and the guys accepted it. They wanted to play nine holes and get the score in but they accepted it, picked up their bags and carried on.”
Garceau said by the end of the long afternoon, he and his players were soaked.
“Fortunately, they all listened to me because I had told them to bring a change of clothes so they could change before we drove back to Woodstock. They did and they learned a lot about playing golf in those conditions,” Garceau said.
The scores were not exactly special as the Centaurs placed 10th in the tournament. Senior Jayden Fuller paced the Centaurs with an 87 while Rawson shot an 88.
Fortunately, things got better for Woodstock including with the weather. The area received a brief respite from the precipitation on Wednesday and the Centaurs took advantage of that to get a match with Ellis Tech in at Quinnatisset.
Woodstock raised its mark to 4-2 with the 7-0 non-league victory.
Rawson played much more like himself as he carded a 37.
Sophomore Brady Hebert added a 38 while both Aidan O’Connor and Sam Clark finished with 40s.
“I have seen a gradual progression towards more impactful scores like we had Wednesday. Everyone seemed to be playing with a much greater level of confidence and control. That is what we need to continue with if we want to make a run toward the end of the season. This was the best score of the season for us up to this point,” said Garceau as the team finished with a 156 total.
The Centaurs have another tournament on deck — they head to Orange for a CIAC sponsored tournament.
“It’s a new nine-hole tournament, similar to the Wildcat in format, but it’s only nine holes. There is a girls’ tournament on the front nine and the boys will be on the back. I just thought a tournament at a course that none of the guys claim to have played on, I know I never have. I thought it would be a good thing to test ourselves against decent competition and see how it goes,” Garceau said.
Boys’ Volleyball
It was a long Friday night but it was worth it as the boys’ volleyball team recorded its 10th win of the season.
The Centaurs downed Computer Science Academy out of Hartford, 3-0.
The game was made a bit longer by several factors. Heavy rain delayed the Computer Science bus by about 30 minutes and then the junior varsity contest went to three sets.
The varsity contest wasn’t exactly short either as the Centaurs may have won by shutout but all three sets were contested. Woodstock winning 25-21, 25-22 and 25-23.
Christian Hart was dominant from behind the service line as he had 11 points including six aces and also added 12 digs defensively.
Brayden Bottone led the offense with 12 kills while Owen Budd added 10. Jake Henderson contributed 23 assists.
The Centaurs are now 8-3 in the Connecticut Volleyball League.
“The CVL is wide open. Wolcott had just lost to Norwich Free Academy (the game prior to their match with the Centaurs). Anybody can truly win on any given day in this league. There is a lot more parity this year than last. It’s just whoever shows up and decides to compete.”
The volleyball team went into the week pretty pumped as it had qualified for the state tournament the week before on the strength of three straight wins.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs came back to Earth a little bit as they had to play two of the better teams in the CVL to start the week.
The Centaurs battled hard but lost to Rockville in straight sets, 25-17, 25-23 and 25-17, early in the week.
“They were OK. We could have definitely competed with them. We just didn’t bring our ‘A’ game for sure,” said coach Adam Bottone. “For a decent portion of the sets, it was pretty competitive. We just let our errors get to us and could not overcome that. Those happened at some crucial times in the match and they set us back.”
Sophomores Brayden Bottone and Budd each had eight kills to pace the Centaurs while Hart had 14 digs.
The Centaurs then had to make the long trek to the other side of the state to play Wolcott Tech.
The Centaurs again tested their opponents but could not pull out a victory in a set, losing 25-21, 27-25 and 25-12.
Evan Chernik and Budd each had eight kills while Brayden Bottone had six and Hart had 13 digs.
Boys’ Tennis
While many teams were sitting on the sidelines this past week, watching the raindrops fall, the tennis teams were playing and practicing indoors at the Pomfret School courts.
“We are very fortunate to have access to the indoor courts and appreciate Pomfret’s hospitality and flexibility,” said coach Siana Green. ”On the plus side, we are able to play matches that would otherwise have been canceled. It has, however, made for some late nights. Either way, it is a great benefit to us and I’m so appreciative of the other teams being willing to play night matches and to the parents who provide us and our opponents food and drinks.”
The Centaurs are back at the .500 mark both overall and in Div. II of the ECC with four matches to play.
Their 5-2 victory over the St. Bernard-Wheeler co-op on Thursday raised their record to 5-5 overall.
“We have won the matches that I had hoped to win and lost the expected ones. In general though, this has been one of my most enjoyable years as the coach of this team. Having a full team takes a lot of stress off and having three freshmen and seven international students brings a whole new culture, support and even comedy to our growing family,” Green said.
The doubles teams were key as Owen Murdock and Daniel Jameson took their first doubles match over Christian Agreda and Advait Patel 6-2, 6-0.
The second doubles team of Cayden Worth and Heath White also posted a straight set 6-1, 6-0 victory over Nicholas Otka and George Kowalyshyn. Leo Larkin and Stevie Wilmot had the easiest time of it as they won by forfeit.
The Centaurs had tied the Saints at two in singles as Ryan Chabot won by shutout, 6-0, 6-0, at third singles and Ashley Abrams won 6-0, 6-1 in fourth singles.
The Centaurs were coming off a less than stellar effort in their preceding match as they fell to 2-2 in Div. II with a 5-2 loss to Montville on the road.
“I was disappointed with the outcome against Montville. I think we could have done better. In our first meeting, we were missing two singles players but this time, I think we just went in sluggish and I had a feeling we would not play our best. It’s one thing to lose a tough match and play great tennis but this wasn’t our best effort,” Green said.
The doubles teams posted the wins for the Centaurs as Murdock and Jameson won at second doubles with a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Adam Gallagher and Brishen Wu.
Larkin and Carlos Rodriguez picked up the other Woodstock victory with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 win over Ryann Mo and Matthew Mei at third singles.
All of the singles players for the Centaurs were downed in straight sets as the Wolves improved to 4-0 in Division II of the ECC and 7-2 overall with their sixth straight victory.
The Centaurs have just four matches left in the regular season including one with Killingly that was postponed from Saturday. They also have a match against always tough Stonington and finish off their Div. II season with a pair of matches versus Ledyard.
“Overall, I have found the season to be inspiring and fulfilling,” Green said. “It’s enjoyable to watch everyone play and refreshing to see how opponents interact with each other. I’m also excited to see where next year takes us. We are losing four seniors but I have three returning freshmen and one of my international students is planning to come back.”
Girls’ Tennis
Woodstock had a chance to take the lead in Div. II of the ECC on Friday. Killingly had other ideas.
The two met at the Pomfret School indoor courts and , as it was in the first meeting back in the first week of April, Killingly pulled out the victory by a 4-3 score.
The win kept Killingly atop the standings in the division with a 4-1 record while the Centaurs slipped to 3-2.
Woodstock could still finish in a three-way tie atop the standings should the Centaurs beat Ledyard in their final match of the regular season on Thursday and should Killingly lose to Norwich Free Academy.
Woodstock is 6-4 overall.
The Centaurs picked up only one singles victory against Killingly as Kerrigan Reynolds downed Mariette Vien 6-2, 6-0.
Wynter Worth battled Talia Santese at first singles, losing 3-6 in the first set before winning the second by the same score. Santese picked up the victory, 12-10, in the tiebreaker.
Also going to a tiebreaker was the first doubles team of Abby Budd and Linnea Barlow who lost 7-5, then tied Olivia Denaker and Ellana Keomanivong 6-6 in the second set before falling in the tiebreak.
Catherine Trudeau and Delilah Kesselman did win at second singles 6-2, 6-1 and Mary Oliinyk and Katie Bruce were 6-2, 6-2 winners at third doubles.
A match earlier in the week with NFA was tied at two after singles but the Centaurs doubles duos swept their three matches to give Woodstock a 5-2 win at the Pomfret School indoor courts.
Budd and Barlow posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory at first singles; Trudeau and Kesselman won 6-2, 6-3 and Oliinyk and Madilyne Ead were 6-3, 6-3 winners.
Gianna Musumeci and Reynolds produced the singles wins.
The Centaurs then traveled to Waterford where they saw their three-match win streak come to an end with a 7-0 loss to the Lancers before their match with Killingly.
Baseball
Things went in favor of the baseball team as it rallied for a 2-1 win over North Branford at St. Joseph University on Saturday.
It was the first game in a week for the Centaurs who improved to 5-6 on the season.
“It was great to be back on the field after five days of practicing inside,” said coach Connor Elliott. ”We totaled 50 minutes on the field this week and it showed (Saturday) with the bats. We can get all the reps we want inside but at the end of the day, it’s not the same as being on the field.”
The Centaurs went into the seventh down,1-0, and had only one hit.
Matt Hernandez started what proved to be the game-winning rally as he doubled to center. Will Bushey followed with an infield single but Hernandez could not advance. Logan Coutu made that happen as he advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt.
But a pop out left the Centaurs down to their last out.
Last year, something good usually happened.
That has not always been the case this season but it did on Saturday.
Pinch-hitter Colin Ericson lofted a fly ball that was dropped in the outfield which allowed both Hernandez and Bushey to score.
“The ball definitely bounced our way last year and that’s something that has been missing this year,” Elliott said. “Prior to (Saturday), we were 0-3 in 1-run games and we had the lead at one point or another in all of them. It was good to see us struggle a bit, battle through some adversity and find a way to win an ugly game at the end.”
One person who was not ugly was lefthanded ace Brady Ericson. He went the distance and improved to 3-0 with a two-hit, 13-strikeout performance.
“Brady did as advertised. When he’s on the mound, we can compete with any team in the state. He kept us in the game until the bats finally woke up. He came in every inning and said ‘We can do it, just takes one hit. I’m not going to allow any more runs,’” Elliott said.
He didn’t in the seventh as he struck out the side.
Provided the weather cooperates, the Centaurs will not be inside often this coming week.
They are scheduled to host Waterford on Monday, travel to Montville on Tuesday, host Fitch on Wednesday, host St. Bernard Friday and travel to Rockville on Saturday.
“As coach Troy (Stefanski) says ‘baseball is a sport that is meant to be played every day and we get to do that. It was great to get the win and a little momentum going into a five game in six day stretch,” Elliott said.
Softball
Like everyone last week, the softball team had some weather issues to contend with. Fortunately, they got both of their scheduled games in.
The Centaurs had to wait a day to play East Lyme down by the shoreline but managed to post a 13-9 victory over their hosts.
The Centaurs then came back home on Saturday for a game played after yet another rainstorm on Friday.
As a result, the game had to be moved from the Bentley Athletic Complex to the Commons Field on North campus where the Centaurs lost to the Stonington Bears, 7-1.
The loss dropped Woodstock to 1-5 in Div. II of the ECC but they are 6-7 overall and just two wins away from clinching a state tournament berth.
The Centaurs took the quick lead at East Lyme Wednesday when Maci Corradi walked and Campbell Favreau singled to open the first inning. Senior Madison Bloom delivered both runners to the plate with a line drive triple.
The Vikings went ahead, 3-2, in the bottom of the third when Caroline Ethier doubled and two walks loaded the bases for Corradi. The shortstop singled home one and another came across when Ellary Sampson was hit by a pitch to give the Centaurs a 4-3 lead.
Bloom brought in her third and fourth runs of the game with a single to center and the Centaurs led, 6-3, going into the bottom of the fourth.
But the Vikings kept the game in doubt with a pair of runs in their half of the inning.
The Centaurs would go back up by three on an Ella Chitmanotham RBI single and an RBI double for Corradi. Corradi knocked in two more in the top of the sixth, giving her three of the Centaurs’ 14 hits and four runs batted in on the day. Favreau, Bloom and Kaya Nichols also had two hits.
The Centaurs needed all of those runs as winning pitcher Grace Delsanto had to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh.
It took awhile but the Bears struck first against the Centaurs on Saturday.
Freshman Hana Lyon walked to lead off the fourth inning and Arianna Scavello took the next pitch over the temporary fence in left field for a two-run homer.
Bloom got half of that back in the bottom of the inning when she took a Lindsey Houle pitch over the same fence in left to make it, 2-1.
It was one of the seven hits the Centaurs would muster off Houle.
Her teammates gave her all the support she needed in the fifth as Lyon had a sacrifice fly, Scavello walked and later scored on a Melanie Verbridge single and a wild pitch brought home another Stonington run.
The Bears capped it off with two runs in the seventh inning.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The boys’ lacrosse team has its back against the wall if it wants to reach its season goal of making the state tournament.
“We keep backing ourselves into a corner; maybe the wounded dog mentality and fighting out of the corner will take over,” coach Jason Tata said. “However it plays out, it plays out. As long as we’re showing up to games and play as hard as we played (Saturday), at the bare minimum, we’re going to make it hard on teams.”
Woodstock saw its record slip to 4-8 on the season as it lost to Shepherd Hill Regional from Dudley, 12-9, Saturday.
The Centaurs still have games with Bacon Academy, Somers, Granby and RHAM and must win three of those matches to make the postseason.
“It’s not an easy four. I’m not going to try and sugarcoat it- those are tough teams. Bacon Academy and Somers have a chance to meet each other in the state finals-they are two tremendous teams. RHAM went toe-to-toe with East Lyme and Granby is phenomenal. It’s not easy but it’s not insurmountable.”
But the Centaurs will have to score. That’s something they have struggled with for the past couple of matches.
They spotted the Rams a 6-0 lead on Saturday before they finally got on the board with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first half.
That’s when Dylan Phillips scored one of his five goals in the match and just eight seconds later, after Keegan Covello won the face off, Gunnar Basak scored the first of his three goals.
“It was huge to get those goals,” Tata said.
The Centaurs also had not scored in the second half of their match against Norwich Free Academy on Thursday in an 8-4 loss, meaning the Centaurs were scoreless for almost 45 minutes of lacrosse.
“It was one goal at a time after that and we knew if we could get some momentum going against Shepherd Hill, we could start rattling some goals off against them. I guess we just forgot to take the lid off the goals early,” Tata said.
The Centaurs did win the second half, 7-6, but fell short on the scoreboard at the end.
Prior to the match, Woodstock celebrated Senior Day with seven members recognized including Cam Robida, Seamus Coleman, Sam Desmond, Xander Miller,Keegan Covello, Kason Kelly and Basak.
“It’s awesome,” Tata said. “You always love Senior Day because that’s what your program is built on- the players who are here since their freshman year and keep going. Once they are seniors, you pass the culture over to them and they become that extension of your hands. I love those guys. I love all of them. They were all in the program for, at least, three years and it’s good to see them stick around.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Woodstock Academy boys lacrosse: Woodstock Academy boys lacrosse seniors (from left to right) Cam Robida, Seamus Coleman, Sam Desmond, Xander Miller, Keegan Covello, Kason Kelly and Gunnar Basak were recognized during Senior Day ceremonies Saturday at the Bentley Athletic Complex. (Photo by Collin Singleton/Woodstock Academy)
2025 Greater Hartford: The Woodstock Academy girls track team was all smiles as it proudly displays the first-place trophy that they captured at the Greater Hartford Invitational track meet. (Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy)
2025 Jayden Fuller: Woodstock Academy senior Jayden Fuller tees off in the rain early last week at the Wildcat Invitational Golf tournament at the Norwich Golf Course. The Centaurs finished 10th as a team. (Photo by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy
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