Roundup
Girls’ track wins ECC title; Greater Hartford Invite
For the third time in four years, the Woodstock Academy girls’ track and field team captured the ECC Div. I regular season title.
The Centaurs braved the rain, a little wind, and chilly conditions on Wednesday to participate in their only home meet of the season at Kelly Field.
Woodstock (4-0 overall, 3-0 ECC Div. I) hardly had to work up a sweat, although that would have been difficult in the conditions anyway, as it prevailed over the Falcons 125-23.
“It was very close last year. We lost it on the drop of a baton so it was nice to come back and get one this year,” said coach Josh Welch.
While Fitch did not present much of a challenge and Woodstock was also able to prevail over East Lyme (83.25-66.75) and Norwich Free Academy (90-60), Welch still expects to be tested in the ECC Championship on May 20, likely by both the Vikings and Wildcats.
“It’s a tough call,” Welch said when asked which one of the two opposing teams, East Lyme and NFA, was stronger. “I think when we get to the championship meet, we will find out. Both of them are strong and you never know going in if we have an off day, either of those teams could get us. I think what we did super well this year was that we were incredibly consistent which is a huge improvement for us.”
It’s a nice mix for the Centaurs.
The field events are strong. Take for example the effort against Fitch. Seniors Avery Plouffe and Lily Morgis finished first and second in the shotput; Morgis and Plouffe were 1-2 in discus with Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain first in javelin and high jump, Elise Coyle best in long jump, Ella Lidonde won triple jump and Finnley Syphers picked up a first in pole vault.
“I feel like we can count on 20-27 points from the throwers which we have counted on all season long. Our middle and distance runners are really picking up,” Welch said.
Emme Langevin was first in the 800m, Claire Bruneaux was best in the 1600m and Alex Dobosz won the 3200m.
Teagan Maloney also stood out with wins in the 100 and 200m and was a member of both the winning 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams.
“The girls have put in the time and effort to make sure it has been a seamless season-to-season improvement. It’s an all-around solid team with lots of girls who wanted to try different things and put their effort into it,” Welch said.
Which brought about the highlight of the afternoon.
Coyle had never run the 300m hurdles but gave it a shot and gave teammate Emma Weitknecht, one of the top hurdlers in the state, a run for her money.
Weitknecht won the event in a personal best 46.1 seconds; Coyle was three-tenths of a second behind.
According to Welch, those two times were the best in Class MM thus far this year.
“It’s really exciting,” Coyle said. “I was going into this without any expectations, just kind of winging it and I was a little nervous, it’s one of the hardest events in track and field. I’m really happy with the result. I’ve exceeded my expectations and I know I have more to give,” Coyle said.
It also doesn’t hurt when you have an experienced teammate, like Weitknecht, to work with.
“It’s awesome to have two people who can push each other and race off each other,” Coyle said.
It begs the question: Will Coyle compete in the 300m hurdles in the States?
“Elise is a fantastic athlete and a solid 400m runner and she said she wanted to try the 300m hurdles and we had to find a meet where that fit and (Wednesday) was a great day for it. She crushed it,” Welch said. “It’s going to be a tough call (for States). It comes down to balancing the points, what we can do as a team, to strong individual preference and if that’s an event she loves- that’s a different conversation. We have to figure out what she is going to look at it in the postseason. It’s nice to have a lot of options.”
While it may not have been the most pleasant of days to be outside, no one was complaining at the conclusion with another title to call their own.
“It’s definitely great,” Weitknecht said of winning the ECC regular season title as a team. ”We won my freshman year; we won my sophomore year and now our senior year. It’s a great accomplishment for our team. We’re looking for a win in the championship meet as well.”
And the Centaurs captured the win at Greater Hartford Invitational
The girls’ track team completed what was a very successful week Saturday as it finished first among 40-plus teams at the Greater Hartford Invitational.
The Centaurs finished with 126 points in the two-day event, well ahead of second-place Norwich Free Academy which finished with 55 and host East Hartford’s 51.
Emma Weitknecht took home three first-place medals as she won the 100m and 300m hurdles and was a member of the winning 4x400m relay alongside Claire Bruneaux, Bella Amlaw and Teagan Maloney.
Bruneaux finished with the second-most points for the team as she was also a member of the winning 4x800m relay team alongside Olivia Tracy, Amlaw and Nova Almquist and finished second individually in the 800m.
Avery Plouffe was the winner in shotput; Elise Coyle took second in the 400m, second in the triple jump and fourth in long jump and Lily Morgis was second in discus.
The 4x1600m relay team of Maloney, Weitknecht, Amlaw and Langevin broke their own school record by 10 seconds and won the event with a time of 4:20.20.
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain won the girls heptathlon event at the Greater Hartford Invitational with 3460 points, finishing first in the javelin and second in the 800m portions of the competition.
Boys’ Track
The girls’ track team won the ECC Div. I regular season crown. The boys decided they wanted to do the same.
After wins over East Lyme and Norwich Free Academy the Centaurs were in position to do so.
They just had to down fellow undefeated, Fitch, on its home track.
The boys did so by a whisker on the road as they just got past the Falcons in Groton, 80.5-69.5, Wednesday.
“I couldn’t be happier for this crew,” said coach Gerry LaMontagne said. “In their time competing for Woodstock Academy, our seniors had only won a single dual meet in their time competing until this season. That’s a lot of hard work and dedication rewarded.”
The win gave Woodstock a final regular season record of 4-0 overall and 3-0 in ECC Div. I.
The Centaurs did not have a lot of breathing space and, fortunately for them, three athletes came through at the right time.
Lucas Hecker pulled off an unexpected first-place finish when he won the 300m hurdles and Thatcher Paterson, in his final attempt at the triple jump, posted the event-winning distance. Ramond Joachim did the same in the long jump.
“We needed those points badly,” LaMontagne said. “In a tight meet like that, you need place to separate points-wise and those two events were critical for us. Thatcher’s jump helped us stay on pace for the win and Lucas securing points like he did was absolutely needed.”
Joachim also added some late heroics as he captured first in the long jump on his final attempt.
The conditions for the meet were hardly ideal with a steady rain and wind even prompting talk of the safety of the track.
But the athletes persevered with senior Abe McGregor capturing wins in the 100 and 200m races. He was also a member of the winning 4x100m relay team and took a second to Joachim in the long jump.
“Abe was a big lift for us in the sprints. He had a tremendous second leg in the 4x100m relay and was significant in our win. Being a sprinter and performing well in unfriendly sprinter conditions was a real lift to the team,” LaMontagne said.
Eli Manning took first in both the shotput and discus for the Centaurs.
LaMontagne also thought second and third-place finishes in the distance events by Harrison and Jackson Durand and by Collin Teal and Aiden Tyler in the 400m were critical.
Girls’ Tennis
One more win would achieve, not one, but two of the goals set by the Woodstock girls’ tennis team at the beginning of the season.
The Centaurs were hoping for 10 wins and an ECC Div. II title to start.
After a 7-0 win over Killingly last week, another win over the Trailblazers, this time at home on Monday, would accomplish both for Woodstock. (The match ended too late for this edition)
“I think it’s added motivation for them,” said coach Stephen Wetherell. “It’s also Senior Day for them so they will be excited to play. It’s tough to play the same team twice in a row. They have just seen you and we’ve just seen them, there is nothing to hide. It will be interesting. I’ve told the girls just to focus on consistency and playing their tennis.”
That tennis has been pretty good as the win over Killingly raised the Centaurs record to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in Div. II of the ECC, which clinches the Centaurs at least a tie for the divisional title.
“I think our success has come from the amount of experience we have on the team. We have three seniors and a lot of returning players and a lot of people who know the game which we haven’t had in past years,” said senior No. 1 singles player Gianna Musumeci.
Musumeci, Wynter Worth, Kerrigan Reynolds and Catherine Trudeau have been solid as the singles players for the Centaurs this season.
They all finished undefeated this past week as the Centaurs also blanked Fitch, 7-0, earlier in the week.
“I think the singles players have been great. I’ve been half-and-half, Wynter Worth has been amazing, she is undefeated but I think in most of our wins, the doubles teams have clinched it for us,” Musumeci said.
Delilah Keselman has been paired with Sophia Aguilar Del Olmo at first doubles with Jayda Ngibuini and Emma Mairson teamed at second and Mariia Oliinyk and Lillian Gregorzek at third doubles.
The rotation has changed a bit over the season due to injury.
“It was difficult initially but we’ve been very good at adjusting and coming back even stronger,” Keselman said.
But the wins have continued to come and Keselman said that success is due to good communication on the court.
“It’s really important to be really vocal because the points can be fast paced and to stay on the same page, you need to be really loud so that your partner can hear you,” Keselman said.
Wetherell said the key for the remainder of the season is to focus inward and try to improve on things within their control rather than concern themselves with their opponent.
“We’re still working on maintaining consistency and picking the right moments for things. Every girl is working on something a little different but as a team, we’re focused on just maintaining consistent play, keeping ourselves at a level mindset and moving forward,” Wetherell said.
Boys’ Lacrosse
It’s been one of those seasons for the boys’ lacrosse team.
Buckle in because where this season is headed no one truly knows.
“A rollercoaster, a big time rollercoaster,” coach Jason Tata said when asked to describe the season thus far. “The biggest challenge we face is the (ECC). There are a lot of really good teams in your own conference and we play a lot of close games against these guys but as the season has gone along, we have started to hit our stride, figured the game out and have gelled together as a team and there is nowhere to go but up.”
Some good news for the Centaurs.
The ECC part of the season is almost over with only a match with Ledyard remaining on the schedule.
The Centaurs come into the new week on a three-game win streak that has seen them raise their record to 6-6.
It puts the team in line to accomplish its primary goal; make the state tournament.
“That’s always the goal. I always tell the guys on the first tryout day that I want to win games so we get to play an unscheduled game. I don’t know if that’s corny or not but we have our scheduled 16 games. States is never scheduled; you have to earn the right to play. That’s always my goal for the team-earn the right to go to the dance,” Tata said.
The Centaurs need just one more win to officially make that happen after a pair of victories this past week.
The Centaurs began with a rarity in lacrosse – a shutout.
So rare for Woodstock, in fact, that the 16-0 decision over Norwich Tech was the first shutout in the high school career of goalie Quan Sangasy.
“It feels great,” Sangasy said. “I’ve been working to get one all four years now and I’m just glad that I finally got it done.”
The defense did the job in front of its keeper as Sangasy only had to make six saves.
Corey Lafond had five goals and five assists for the Centaurs while Dylan Phillips had four goals and three assists and Patrick Griswold tossed in a hat trick and two assists.
Lafond continued to build up his assist total as he added eight in a 15-3 win over Bacon Academy.
Lafond may only have 10 goals on the season but is easily the team’s points leader with 49 assists this year.
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job all around. I think we could still improve by playing more for each other and just being there for each other but we have a pretty good squad,” the senior said.
Griswold (two assists) and Phillips were the leading scorers again for Woodstock with six goals apiece.
Griswold currently leads the team with 36 goals but Phillips is hot on his heels with 34.
Girls’ Golf
There are some courses that vex high school golf programs.
Such is the case with the Norwich Golf Course and the Woodstock Academy Centaurs.
Neither the boys nor the girls like the course all that much and the course seems to know it.
It rose up again as the Centaurs girls team had its toughest day of the season, finishing with a season-worst 215 strokes and placing fourth at the Wildcat Invitational last week.
“We did not have a good day at Norwich but we never seem to have a good day down there,” said girls’ coach Earl Semmelrock. “The good news is we have another match down there on Thursday and maybe we can get a little redemption. The girls have all seen the course now and know what to expect. They just have to keep the ball in play and if we play like we did (against Stonington and Putnam/Tourtellotte), we will be fine.”
Reagan Scheck was solid again for the Centaurs, even at Norwich, where she posted a 44. She was the only player in the 40’s that day for the Centaurs.
Coventry won the event with a 188 while East Lyme was second and Norwich Free Academy came in a surprising third ahead of the Centaurs.
“We wanted to win but they don’t take losing as badly as the boys. They’re focused on winning the ECC’s and going back to States this year,” Semmelrock said.
But things improved as the week progressed.
It went from mild and very windy conditions on Tuesday at the Wildcat to cold and wet conditions on Wednesday at the Elmridge Golf Course.
But the Centaurs cast that aside and put up a 193-212 victory over the Bears.
Scheck carded a 43 and Lily Moran joined her in the 40’s as the senior finished with a 47.
“I was most proud of the fact that I was hitting the ball solid and it was going where I wanted it to go.” Moran said. “We tried to keep the mood light (because of the weather), kept telling everyone they were doing well and to keep their heads up.”
The weather got better on Thursday and so did the scores for the Centaurs.
Scheck shot a 39 at the Raceway Golf Club with Moran adding a 47 and both Colbie O’Connor and Brianna Beck added 49’s as the Centaurs easily got past Putnam/Tourtellotte 184-259.
To make it even better, A fifth player, Abigail Langevin, added a 49 for the Centaurs.
“We had five in the 40’s and our highest score was a 51, easily could have been in the 40’s. There is a lot of competition for the fourth, fifth, sixth and even seventh spots right now,” Semmelrock said. “What we have to solve is that you can only have five players in States and we have probably four players that are within a shot, shot and a half of each other, that are trying to qualify for the fifth spot. it’s a good problem to have.”
The wins raised the Centaurs record to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
Boys’ Golf
There was some good and some not-so-good for the boys’ golf team this past week.
The Centaurs split their only match of the week, a tri-match with Coventry and Lyman Memorial and found out just how difficult the Norwich Golf Course continues to be.
Woodstock improved to 5-3 overall with a 7-0 win over Lyman Memorial.
That win was tempered a bit as it was combined with a 162-168 non-league loss to Coventry.
Aidan O’Connor tied for medalist honors in the match with Coventry’s Elijah Stanizzi and Griffin Goshdigian as all three carded three-over par 39 totals.
Brady Hebert added a 41 and Max Kopp posted a 43 for the Centaurs.
Coventry improved to 12-2 with the win over the Centaurs.
Woodstock was in the top five teams when it started on the back nine at the Wildcat Invitational, one of the few 18-hole events on the high school golf calendar.
The front nine proved more formidable, however, and the Centaurs fell back to an eighth-place finish.
Hebert finished with an 83 and O’Connor added an 85 for the Centaurs which finished with a 346 total.
Boys’ Tennis
The boys’ tennis team looks to join their girls tennis counterparts this week as ECC Div. II titlists. But they will have to overcome a local rival to do so.
The Centaurs (5-4, 4-0 ECC Division II) are scheduled to travel to Killingly on Tuesday and a win over the Trailblazers (6-4, 3-1) will give the Centaurs the Division title.
Woodstock set that possibility up early in the week with a 4-3 victory over Ledyard.
The singles players made that win possible as Rodrigo Diez, Ryan Chabot and Dan Jameson all scored wins. Heath White had to work a little harder at No. 4 singles but still posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Zane Hill.
The Colonels made it close as they swept the doubles competition.
The Fitch Falcons, an ECC Div. I team, were a more difficult customer for Woodstock. The Falcons picked up their fourth straight win with a 6-1 win over the Centaurs.
Diez was the only winner for Woodstock as he won at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) over Charlie Gempp.
Chabot won second singles match against Larry Balsley but lost the next two.
The Centaurs were supposed to play St. Bernard/Wheeler on Friday, traveled to Uncasville to do so, but were rained out.
Boys’ Volleyball
It has been a study in consistency for the boys’ volleyball team.
The Centaurs have strolled through the Connecticut Volleyball League schedule without losing a set and a win over Norwich Free Academy on Monday (the match ended too late for this edition) will leave them with a perfect 12-0 record in the league.
Woodstock kept its undefeated ways intact with a 3-0 win over Rockville Thursday.
It was one of the more competitive matches that the Centaurs (16-1) have played recently as they had to work a little for a 25-19 first set win.
They followed that up with 25-16 and 25-14 victories.
Brayden Bottone had a triple double with 17 kills, 13 digs and 11 service points to lead the Centaurs.
Setter Gavin Hecker had 17 assists while Libero Christian Hart contributed 11 digs.
The Centaurs improved their ECC record to 6-0 with a 3-0 victory over New London on the Whalers home court.
Hecker had 20 assists despite sharing time with Jake Henderson who had 17 helps. Hecker also had 11 digs in the win.
Bottone had 13 kills while Owen Budd had nine kills and nine service points. It was another fast afternoon for the Woodstock Academy boys volleyball team as it rolled past Innovation, 3-0, winning by scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-10 at the Alumni Fieldhouse early in the week. Hart had a big service day for Woodstock with 23 points, six aces and six digs.
Evan Chernik had eight digs while Bottone had eight kills, Budd seven and Hecker contributed 16 assists.
Softball
The softball team celebrated Senior Day with a victory, handing St. Bernard a 3-1 loss early in the week.
“It was very important,” said coach Mike Sampson of the win. “Based on how the season has gone, it’s been a little disappointing from the loss perspective so we were very happy to get that win on Senior Day.”
Prior to the game, seniors Kaylee Ziarko, Ellary Sampson, Campbell Favreau and Maci Corradi were recognized for their contributions to the program.
“Ellary is a very important offensive piece to this team, our starting catcher and best player and she will be missed. Maci and Campbell have been terrific in the middle of the infield. Kaylee entered the season in a battle to see who would be the No. 1 pitcher and she has really come through in the past few weeks and has seized that No. 1 spot,” Sampson said.
Against St. Bernard, Ziarko went the distance, allowed three hits and the one run and finished with six strikeouts in the circle for Woodstock Academy.
Sampson had a double against the Saints and is now hitting .631 with six homers and 14 runs batted in.
“Sometimes, I am a little surprised that teams have decided to pitch to her to be honest but she’s been that way for a couple of years and is one of the better hitters in the ECC. I wouldn’t say she doesn’t have any protection (in the lineup), Caroline Ethier has had a good season batting fourth, Maci has had a good season too,” Sampson said.
Ethier and Faith Sortwell each had an RBI in the win against St. Bernard.
Keira Davila had two hits for the Saints.
The Centaurs were eliminated from state tournament play on Saturday by Stonington as the Bears rallied for a 5-3 win.
The loss dropped the Centaurs to 2-13 overall and 0-5 in Division II of the ECC.
Woodstock had built a 3-0 lead early on two RBI doubles by Ellary Sampson and a sacrifice fly by Caroline Ethier but the Bears closed to within one run and won it with a three-run sixth inning.
“We could easily have six wins this year, we just haven’t consistently played winning softball and that’s not just on offense, it’s defensively and pitching with errors and walks. I think we are going to have to develop some hitters moving forward because we will need the offense,” Sampson said. “We’re going to start splitting playing time a little differently, maybe bring up some JV players, the focus will shift a little. Even though we want to play the best for our seniors, we want to look forward to next year.”
Girls’ Lacrosse
The girls’ lacrosse team was hoping some of the momentum from the win over Wheeler from the Saturday before would carry into the following week.
It didn't happen right away as the Centaurs lost to New London to open the week.
But the Centaurs did put together a 9-7 win over Killingly to improve to 2-8-1 on the year.
The seniors dominated the day for the Centaurs who opened a three-goal halftime advantage on the Trailblazers courtesy of two goals each from Kaylee Saucier, Em Forcier and Vivian Bibeau.
Bibeau recorded the hat trick to help the Centaurs hold on for the win while Saucier finished with two assists to go with her two goals.Clara Dowdle and Bibeau also finished with two assists
New London/St. Bernard proved to be a tough customer to open the week.
The Centaurs hung tough in the first quarter, trailing by only a goal as Bree Antaya limited New London/St. Bernard to two, making three saves.
But the Whalers scored six times in the second quarter to open an 8-2 halftime lead en route to a 12-6 win.
Saucier, who leads the team with 35 goals and nine assists, had a hat trick with Baylee Rosinski, Allison McCusker (1 assist) and Dowdle getting the others.
The Centaurs were also doubled up on by Bacon Academy, 10-5, despite three more goals from Saucier.
Bibeau and Anna Hernandez had the other tallies.
Baseball
The baseball team took a 3-run lead early last week but then saw Montville rally to tie the game with three runs in the top of the fourth.
The Centaurs were able to answer with a run in the bottom of the inning and held on for the 5-4 victory.
Caleb Simoneau singled, went to second on a fly out and scored what proved to be the winning run for Woodstock (6-7,4-3 ECC Div. II) when Will Ellsworth singled.
Simoneau finished with three hits for the Centaurs while Ellsworth had two hits and an RBI each. Eric Richmond had two hits and two RBIs for Montville.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Captions:
Softball Senior Day
Softball Senior Day, from left: Maci Corradi, Kaylee Ziarko, Ellary Sampson and Campbell Favreau were recognized for their contributions to the program. Photo by Mike Sampson/Woodstock Academy.
2026 Coyle and Weitknecht
Senior Emma Weitknecht, right, and junior Elise Coyle are neck-and-neck coming down to the finish line of the 300m hurdles. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Emme Langevin sprints down the backstretch on her way to a win in the 1600m. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain proudly displays the trophy she took home for a first-place finish in the girls’ heptathlon at the Greater Hartford Invitational. Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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Avery Plouffe winds up to throw the shotput against Fitch last Wednesday. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy).
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Dylan Phillips finished with 10 goals and four assists last week as the Woodstock Academy boys’ lacrosse team ran its winning streak to three matches. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
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