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Roundup
Centaurs Capture Inaugural ECC championship
There was plenty of emotion going into the contest and just as much after it was over.
The Woodstock Academy Centaurs became the first champions in ECC history in the sport of boys’ volleyball Thursday.
The Centaurs won the inaugural ECC championship match, 3-1, over Norwich Free Academy.
“It’s genuinely unreal,” said junior middle hitter Owen Budd. ”You can’t replicate the feeling of this game. It was an incredible game, fast-paced and I just love playing with these guys.”
It wasn’t as easy as the score may indicate.
The Centaurs came into the game with a little trepidation after learning that ECC All-Star Libero Christian Hart was not going to be able to play.
It threw the Centaurs off their game and the Wildcats took advantage.
NFA led for almost the entire first set and handed their hosts a 25-15 setback.
It was just the seventh set the Centaurs (20-1) had lost all season and first to an ECC or Connecticut Volleyball League program.
“We are traditionally, and I don’t like this, a slow-starting team. A lot of emotions coming into the game, not having our Libero, (setter) Gavin (Hecker) playing his former team. NFA is a great group of kids; it’s the best I’ve seen them play all year so they came ready to take it to us. We just had a slow start and of their first nine points, eight were on our errors. We weren’t helping ourselves but we just needed to settle down. We slowly did that and things started to get better,” said coach Adam Bottone.
The Centaurs did get better results in the second set.
Bottone opted to put Eli Hamilton in at Libero and had Budd move and play back row for the first time this season receiving serves.
“There was some growing pains there but when we put Eli in during the second set and we won pretty handily, I was like ‘we’re not changing anything.’ There were a couple of balls that dropped on him but I thought he stepped in there and did a great job,” Adam Bottone said.
The Centaurs did fall behind 2-0 in the second set but forged ahead, 3-2, and never trailed again, winning the set, 25-11.
The third and fourth sets were a little closer but the Centaurs again prevailed, 25-18 and 25-19, to capture the championship plaque and league banner.
“It’s pretty cool that were able to win it and go undefeated in the league. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous after that first set or with how we were playing in that first set but that’s boys sports- you never know what’s going to happen or who will show up. It was tough, we kept our heads and pulled through,” Adam Bottone said.
In the end, it was Hecker who was holding the Most Outstanding Player Award for the championship match as he delivered nine kills and 21 assists against his former teammates.
“It’s always nice to play against my former teammates. We’re all friendly at the end of the day. We came out victorious, it feels great,” the senior said.
Junior Brayden Bottone, who finished with a team best 19 kills, was also in possession of some new hardware as he was named the ECC Player of the Year prior to the contest.
“I’m thrilled especially with this being a new league and being the first player recognized as such, it feels great,” Brayden Bottone said.
He wasn’t the only Bottone who was recognized as Adam was named the ECC Coach of the Year.
“That was pretty cool. It’s a big honor to have the coaches vote for you with it being the first-ever Coach of the Year for the boys and having my son get Player of the Year on top of that was pretty cool too. I’m very happy about it and it’s a testament to the players. I would not be in the position to receive this award if it wasn’t for them going out there and doing what they do every day,” Adam Bottone said,
Budd, who finished with nine kills and 12 service points in the championship match, was also named an ECC All-Star. Hecker received ECC honorable mention.
The season is far from over for the Centaurs.
They will play either NFA again or Computer Science Academy in a Connecticut Volleyball League semifinal at the Alumni Fieldhouse on Wednesday with the CVL championship scheduled for Thursday.
The Centaurs are also seeded first in Class S when the state tournament gets underway.
“This (ECC championship match) was a great experience builder especially for the younger kids. Our Libero (Thursday) Eli Hamilton is only a sophomore; it was a great building experience for him. Most of our starters except for me and Weston Mission, are juniors. It’s going to be a strong team again next year and it’s good to help them build experience,” Hecker said.
Girls’ Track
This one was a nailbiter for the girls’ track team.
“I tried not to keep track of this meet too much,” said coach Josh Welch. “Once you play your cards, it’s going however it’s going. The biggest thing as a coach at that point is to go around and be supportive of the kids, keep them focused and positive and they did that on their own which was awesome. This is the most consistent team that I’ve seen on the girls’ side because they didn’t need a ton of coaching. They were excited to be there and confident walking in and that is what got us there.”
For the second year in a row, the girls’ track team brought home the ECC Div. I championship from East Lyme High School Wednesday.
The Centaurs downed East Lyme 167 ½ - 161 to claim the title again. Norwich Free Academy finished third with 114 1/2 points.
“It was great to win again and the third win that the seniors have had in the last four years of us being here. It’s definitely great to help make those contributions and bring home the wins,” said senior Emma Weitknecht.
Weitknecht certainly made an impact as she finished first in both the 100m, where she improved her own school record in 14.83 seconds, and 300-meter hurdle events and the senior was also a member of the winning 4x400m relay team along with Bella Amlaw, Teagan Maloney, and Claire Bruneaux.
“I’m most proud of the 4x400 really stepping up where we needed to. The meet was within three points and we knew we had to beat East Lyme if we wanted to win the meet as a whole and we also knew it was going to be close with Stonington. We knew we had to push and give it all we had,” Weitknecht said.
Elise Coyle was another multiple winner as she finished first in both the 400m and long jump.
“It was really special to win both of those events because last year, I was second in both of those events so it’s really great to see the progression,” Coyle said.
Ella Lidonde was best in triple jump with a school record effort of 36-feet, 3-inches.
“It was a back-and-forth competition for Elise and Ella with some girls from East Lyme and they had to produce, in some instances, almost two feet over their personal best to compete with those kids and they did it. That was an amazing performance from the girls,” Welch said.
Avery Plouffe was best in shotput where the Centaurs swept the top three spots with Lily Morgis second and Kiley Elliott third. Morgis was also first in discus and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain topped the javelin competition and finished third in high jump.
Bochain won the javelin event on her fifth throw as she shuttled between that competition and the high jump which were taking place simultaneously.
“I think she learned she had won while she was running to high jump. She knew she had the top throw but there was a whole other round she had to survive. She managed to keep her composure 100 percent of the time and that’s a difficult thing to do,” Welch said.
The quartet of Nova Almquist, Olivia Tracy, Bruneaux and Amlaw won the 4x800m relay while Emme Langevin contributed third-place finishes in both the 1600 and 3200-meter races.
The season is not over.
The next stop for the girls’ team is the Class MM state championship which will take place this Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.
“Winning the ECC’s shows what we can do in the States, how we can work as a team and push when we need to. It showed our good teamwork and what we’re ready to do. We’re hoping for a top two if not a first-place finish,” said Weitknecht who will continue her track and field career at the next level at Southern Connecticut State University.
“I think it’s looking good,” Welch said in regards to the MM competition. “Mercy (High School) is a monster but it takes so much to tease out how many events these kids can do. They may have four of the top 10 3200-meter runners and milers or whatever but many overlap and are actually the same person and can’t run all the events. They will be dense and will put a lot of points on the board so we will chase them, Hillhouse doesn’t look quite as strong as last year but you can’t count them out either and the East Lyme girls will be there to keep us honest so there is a lot going on,” Welch said.
Boys’ Track
While the girls’ team has started to become dominant in Div. I of the ECC, having won two consecutive championship meet titles and three in the last four years, the boys’ team has never been so lucky.
Until Wednesday.
The Centaurs captured their first-ever ECC Div. I championship meet title with a 126-114 win over East Lyme. Ledyard was third with 110 points.
“That’s my understanding, it’s our first-ever league championship in its current form. It was absolutely fantastic. I was fortunate enough when I was in high school and college to be a part of some championship teams in track and field and football. All these years later, it’s just as thrilling being a coach and super-happy that the kids were able to have this experience,” said coach Gerry LaMontagne.
What won it for the Centaurs?
“I think it was our versatility and hard work,” said senior Abe McGregor. “From the start of the meet, we just believed we could do it and just never let off the gas. We just kept on pushing no matter if we won or lost in an event.”
Eli Manning took home two firsts and a second as he captured first place in both the javelin (162-feet, 1-inch) and discus (a personal best 161-5) and was second in the shotput (48-4).
“We knew he was going to be up there but a big question we had was in the javelin. He has been battling some elbow issues and did not take more than 10 throws from the last meet to the championship. He’s been doing a lot of footwork and running drills but because he had not done a lot of throwing, we did not know what was going to happen. Even at the meet, we were making sure we were not overstressing the elbow. He came up with a huge throw with the first one and that stood up and he successfully defended his league javelin title,” LaMontagne said.
Owen Williamson finished with a personal best effort of 41.11 seconds to win the 300m hurdles. He was also third in the 110m hurdles and was a member of the winning 4x100m relay team along with Kai Brailsford, McGregor and Collin Teal.
“I thought it was great,” Williamson said of his first-place effort. “I had lost to the same kid in the 100-meter hurdles so to turn it around and take the 300 hurdles was really nice,” Williamson said. “Winning the ECC title is great. We’ve been scheming it since indoor track. We knew it was a goal and to finally make it happen was great. I was happy to score a lot of points and help the team accomplish its goal.”
Thatcher Paterson and Ramond Joachim finished 1-2 in the triple jump while McGregor was second in the long jump and the 4x800m relay team of Oliver Pierce, Jackson Durand, Sam Greene and Ronan Curran placed second as well.
“The team depth was everything, everyone contributed. We won by a little more than 10 points and when you start looking at contributions from our 800-meter athletes and our middle and distance (runners), who didn’t necessarily win but scored in those events, those efforts helped push us over the top,” LaMontagne said.
The Centaurs have another large meet on deck as they travel to Willow Brook Park in New Britain Sunday, May 31 for the Class MM boys’ track championship.
“Realistically, we’re hoping for a top-five finish but you never know, maybe we could sneak in and compete for the championship. It’s really hard to tell at States because you don’t know what other schools will do with their top guys. Xavier is always strong, so is East Lyme at the state level. Rockville is also right up there so the kids have their work cut out for them but, that being said, we have really good coverage across events. If things work out our way, we will be up there,” LaMontagne said.
Girls’ Golf
First place in the ECC girls’ golf standings is now firmly in the grasp of Woodstock Academy as it downed Killingly Wednesday at the Connecticut National Golf Club 185-194.
“It was very important,” coach Earl Semmelrock said of the win. “The girls are really focused and want to win the conference. We thought Killingly would be our closest competitors this year and they gave us a good match.”
In the middle of the nine-hole encounter, Semmelrock was seeing his prognostication coming true as the two teams were locked in a “dogfight”.
“We ended up winning by nine shots so it was not quite as close as I thought it might be but it was very satisfying. The top two (Reagan Scheck and Lily Moran) really led the way. It was a good day.”
Scheck led the way for the Centaurs with a 39 while Moran added a 43.
The Centaurs are now 9-0 in the ECC and 11-1 overall.
Even with a bigger than expected margin. Semmelrock was happy to see his team have to work a little harder for a win.
It could help set them up for bigger and better things to come.
“We’re going into the meat and potatoes of the season. We have four regular season matches left and the conference is not sewed up yet and we have the conference tournament and States within a week of each other,” the coach pointed out.
Killingly remains in the hunt to, at least, tie for a championship as it has an 8-1 league record.
The Centaurs still have matches with NFA, Bacon Academy and Killingly and a non-league match with Suffield still to play before the ECC Championship on June 3.
The other item the team has to navigate is all of the end-of-year happenings on the school calendar.
“There are all the school responsibilities and graduation. (Against Killingly), we were missing one of our top players because of testing so there is always something going on but I’m actually very pleased that the season has turned out as it has with everything they have going on. I’m always in awe of how much they do as they’re all high-performing both academically and in the social setting at school and they still come out here and find a way to be pretty good golfers,” Semmelrock said.
Earlier in the week, the Centaurs and Norwich Free Academy managed to get a match in just before the skies opened up at the Quinnatisset Country Club.
The Centaurs prevailed with a 190-211 win over the Wildcats.
Moran was medalist with a 42 while Scheck finished with a 46 and Brianna Beck added a 48.
Baseball
It was not quite the way the baseball team wanted to see its regular season end.
The Centaurs had been hovering around the .500 mark all season long but a couple of late losses saw them finish below break-even at 9-11.
The last week of the regular season actually began on a good note for Woodstock.
They traveled out to South Windsor and met a pretty good Bobcat (14-6) team in a non-league game.
Thanks to the efforts of junior pitcher Hayden Maloney who pitched a four-hit, eight-strikeout gem, the Centaurs were able to prevail, 2-0.
Trevor Turner walked and later scored on an RBI ground ball by Will Ellsworth and Rhys Asikainen was hit by a pitch and scored on a Logan Coutu sacrifice fly to account for the Centaur runs in the sixth inning.
But Senior Day was not what it was hoped to be as the visiting Griswold Wolverines prevailed in eight innings, 7-6.
Prior to the game, the Centaurs recognized their three seniors, Caleb Simoneau, Collin Gaudette and Logan Coutu.
But Griswold hopped on top 2-0 in the first inning.
The Centaurs got half of it back in the bottom of the inning when Simoneau reached on an error and Asikainen (2-for-5) knocked him in with a double.
Woodstock tied the game in the bottom of the second thanks to the Simoneau-Asikainen combo again.
Simoneau (2-for-3) singled, stole second, went to third on an error and came home on an RBI single by Asikainen.
Woodstock Academy took a two-run lead in the third on a pair of walks, a Jameson Costa single and an error. The Centaurs lead increased by one in the fourth when Will Ellsworth singled and later scored on a Coutu base hit. Coutu also drove in the sixth run for the Centaurs on a sacrifice in the sixth inning.
But Griswold scored four times in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings and won it in the eighth.
The Centaurs finished up the week in Coventry and the host Patriots lived up to their lofty 17-1 record with an 11-1, five-inning victory over Woodstock.
Costa and A.J. Malone had the only hits in the loss for the Centaurs. Ellsworth finished the regular season as the top hitter for the Centaurs with a .400 average with Simoneau close behind at .385.
Ellsworth also led the team in RBIs (15), doubles (5) and had the only two home runs for the Centaurs this season. Asikainen also hit over the .300 clip (.303) with nine runs driven in and three doubles. Maloney and Coutu each sported 3-3 records on the mound.
The season is not over for the Centaurs who will play Waterford in an ECC tournament game on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Dodd Stadium in Norwich.
Girls’ Lacrosse
Centaurs celebrate Senior Day without a game
It’s been a year where adjustments had to be made and both the coaching staff and players had to roll with the punches.
Such was the case again this past week as everyone was on hand for Senior Day festivities but the weather decided to play a role.
Thunder, lightning and rain caused the match with Rockville to be postponed until Tuesday.
But with everyone on hand, it was decided to hold Senior Day with, or in this case, without a game.
Bree Antaya, Danielle Demers, Kaylee Saucier, Clara Dowdle, Em Forcier, Grace Lescault, Baylee Rosinski, Vivian Bibeau, Alexis Starr, Avery Nielsen and Avery Crescimanno were the seniors recognized for their contributions to the lacrosse program.
For Saucier, it was her third and final Senior Day as she also got to celebrate with her soccer and basketball teammates prior to the lacrosse event.
“It can be tiring at times but with good time management, doing what you need to do in the classroom, athletics just becomes fun,” Saucier said of her ability to balance three sports and her academic work.
“Lacrosse has changed me a lot especially the past three years. They have been developmental seasons so it has taught me how to learn and how to help those younger than me to learn and it has had a really positive impact on my life,” Bibeau said of the program.
This senior class was a building block for coach Heather Miller when she took over the program three years ago.
“I’ve been coaching high school varsity programs for almost 12 years now. I coach at other levels too, but this level is where I have been at longest and I have seen a lot of seniors and classes come and go and they each have their own things that I remember. These seniors, however, are a little extra special to me because of what we have been through and culture-wise, I have had to change a lot and that’s a lot harder than coaching itself. The girls and I have been through a lot together,” Miller said.
The Centaurs did get a match in on Thursday.
Saucier had a hat trick and both Em Forcier and Baylee Rosinski added tallies but it wasn’t enough as the girls lacrosse team fell to Wheeler, 8-5, in North Stonington. Grace Lescault and Avery Crescimanno added assists for the Centaurs (3-11-1).
That third win came early in the week when the Centaurs outscored the New London/St. Bernard co-op, 12-11.
Bibeau scored five times and Saucier added three goals and four assists.
Stella Puchalski added two goals and Dowdle had a goal and three assists for the Centaurs in the win.
Boys’ Tennis
The boys’ tennis team finished the regular season up in a unique way with a doubleheader.
It’s not unheard of in high school tennis as weather can play havoc with the courts and getting matches in can be difficult.
That’s even true when most of your home matches are played inside.
The Centaurs were supposed to host New London and St. Bernard/Wheeler this past Tuesday but things went awry when heavy rain made the outdoor courts at the Pomfret School unusable.
The match also could not be moved inside as Pomfret School was using the facility for graduation-related events.
So, the Centaurs had to push back their regular season ending matches to Thursday.
It didn’t matter all that much as the Centaurs easily prevailed over St. Bernard/Wheeler, 5-2.
New London only brought two players for its match and the Centaurs rolled to a very short, 7-0, victory.
Prior to the matches, the team did celebrate Senior Day with only Ryan Chabot and Steven Shen recognized as the only senior members of the program.
“Ryan and Steven will be big shoes to fill. Ryan has been a great captain. I’m excited about who we still have and the incoming freshmen that I know about for next year,” Green said.
The wins meant the Centaurs finished the season at 9-5.
“My goal was 10-4 so we weren’t too far off. I’m excited to have a good amount of people in the ECC (tournament) because we haven’t had that many in the past few years. Overall, I think our team is getting stronger,” coach Siana Green said.
The Centaurs will be represented at the ECC individual tournament by their top two singles players, Rodrigo Diez and Ryan Chabot and top doubles team of Cayden Worth and Steven Shen.
That tournament begins on Memorial Day afternoon at East Lyme High School.
Diez is seeded second and will play No. 15 Ethan Dong of East Lyme in a first-round match on Monday. Chabot is ninth and will take on the eighth-seed, Mike Petropoulos of Fitch, in the first round.
“I hope that the combination of seeing our team do well and, hopefully, new tennis courts on the horizon, I’m hoping that more people will want to join. I thought we would have more international students since the town courts were up this year but it will be a work in progress,” Green said.
The Centaurs, earlier in the week, finished their ECC Division II season with a 6-0 record thanks to a close, 4-3, victory over Norwich Free Academy.
The Centaurs were dominant in the singles matches and that was a good thing as Norwich Free Academy swept the doubles.
Diez, Chabot, Daniel Jameson and Heath White all prevailed in their singles matches to give Woodstock the win.
Boys’ Golf
Woodstock was in it throughout but just could not get past Killingly in a boys’ golf match at the Connecticut National Golf Club early this past week.
The Trailblazers prevailed 5-2 although the difference between the two teams was just five strokes, 159-164.
Aidan O’Connor shot a 39 and Max Kopp carded a 41 for Woodstock.
The Centaurs did improve to 8-5 with a 6-1 win over Bacon Academy in the tri-match.
Woodstock Academy still has three regular season matches to play as it hosts Fitch and Plainville this week before traveling to the Mohegan Sun Country Club to play Lyman Memorial in the regular season finale on June 2.
Softball
It was a dominant season offensively for senior catcher Ellary Sampson.
That was the highlight for the softball team which finished up its season this past week.
Sampson hit .603 for the season with 21 runs batted in, nine doubles and eight home runs.
“It’s definitely hard to hit against (ECC) pitchers, they are really good but I really dedicated myself to it over last summer and this past winter. I really wanted to go out with a bang this season,” Sampson said of her success.
The eight home runs also led the ECC this season.
“It feels great (to hit a home run). I know when it hits my bat that it is going to be a home run and the cheering from my teammates makes me feel great,” she added.
Ellary Sampson also had the benefit of playing for her father, coach Mike Sampson, something she has done all of her softball career.
“It was fun,” Mike Sampson said of coaching his daughter in her senior year. ”I’ve coached her for a long time so to be able to coach her and the other seniors, Maci (Corradi), Kaylee (Ziarko) and Campbell (Favreau) whom I have also coached forever, I’m very thankful and I was glad I was able to do it.”
Both Sampson and Corradi (.367 batting average, 7 RBI, two triples, one home run) had good years at the plate for the Centaurs.
“It was fun to watch (Ellary) hit, We didn’t have the team success that we wanted so it was a little bittersweet but she did have a good year and I know how hard she works,” Mike Sampson added.
The Centaurs finished 2-18 as they lost their last two games this past week to non-league foes Valley Regional and Old Lyme.
“We lose the four seniors but we have nine varsity players coming back. We were also able to field a JV team this spring so a few players from that team should be able to contribute next year. I think future seasons will be better,” Mike Sampson said.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The regular season came to a close for the boys’ lacrosse team on Wednesday as it lost to Ellington in the rain on the road, 9-8.
The loss brought an end to the Centaurs six-match win streak and meant they finish the with a 9-7 record.
Patrick Griswold scored three goals with three assists and Dylan Phillips and Logan DelFarno had two goals each in the game for the Centaurs.
Griswold also had three goals and two assists and Corey Lafond added three assists as the Woodstock Academy boys lacrosse team made it six wins in a row earlier in the week with an 8-3 non-league victory over Ellington.
Phillip Feaney Aleman and Phillips each added two goals in the win.
The Centaurs now have to prep for the Class M state tournament which will begin for them with a second-round match either on June 3 or 4.
The Centaurs, the likely 11th seed, will likely travel to play at No. 6 Brookfield.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
2026 ECC boys champion (2)
Girls’ track and field team celebrated its second consecutive ECC Div. I girls’ championship meet title. Photo by Gerry Lamontagne/ Woodstock Academy.
2026 ECC boys track championship (1)
For the first time, the boys’ track and field team claimed the ECC Div. I championship meet title and the league banner declaring them tops in the ECC. Photo by Josh Welch/ Woodstock Academy.
2026 ECC boys’ volleyball champions
Members of the boys’ volleyball team proudly display the banner declaring the Centaurs as the league’s first-ever champions in the sport. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
2026 girls’ lacrosse Senior Day
The senior members of the girls’ lacrosse team were recognized on Senior Day. Photo by Collin Singleton/Woodstock Academy).
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