caption:

Cross Country Captains
Woodstock Academy seniors Joel Koleszar, left, and Vincente Bastura will serve as captains for the boys’ cross-country. Marc Allard photo.


Preview
Strong five could
lead Centaurs
to better season
Comfortable. That’s the feeling Woodstock Academy boys’ cross-country coach Peter Lusa uses to describe his emotions heading into the 2022 season.
The Centaurs did lose their top runner from a year ago, Ian Hoffman — who finished sixth in the ECC championship and 16th in Class MM — to graduation.
But he has some athletes returning. “I’m happy with the core five that we have and a couple of the other kids that we have backing them up,” Lusa said.
It wasn’t like that at the beginning of the season.
The Centaurs had only a handful of runners come out but that number has blossomed to about a dozen.
Lusa does have a couple of potential frontrunners in senior Vincente Bastura and sophomore Christian Menounos.
Bastura finished 14th in the ECC championship race in 18 minutes, 40 seconds and was 24th in Class MM.
He, however, is feeling the push from Menounos. “Definitely from Christian, but it’s nice not to be alone,” Bastura said.
The senior said he did a lot more mileage over the summer but the work he did last winter and spring may prove to be even more beneficial --- shorter events in the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
Menounos finished 20th in 19:06 at the ECC and was 40th in MM.
Behind those two will be sophomore Colton Sallum, junior Charlie Caggiano and senior Joel Koleszar although Lusa would like to see those three challenge the top two.
“Here’s the nice thing, between Joel, Colton and Charlie, they will trade off, they will be tight. When the three come through, I think they will do so together. The first two open the door and then those three close the door and that could be OK in some cases. I don’t know what everyone else has,” Lusa said.
The Centaurs finished at the .500 mark, 6-6, last season but were just 1-5 in the Division I of the ECC. They beat Fitch in the ECC championship meet.
“I would love to be .500 in Division I and beat two of the other teams; I don’t know if we can beat all three of them. It will take a combination of our guys running really well and some teams having people who don’t,” Lusa said.
Another concern is the ever-present COVID threat. The Centaurs had two runners out last week due to the virus.
Schedule: Tues., Sept. 13: with Griswold at Waterford, 4:15 p.m.; Tues., Sept. 20:  with Ledyard, Tourtellotte at E. Lyme, 4; Sat., Sept. 24: at Ocean State Invitational, TBA; Tues., Oct. 4: with Windham at Fitch, 4:30; Sat., Oct. 8: at Wickham Park Invitational, TBA; Tues., Oct. 11:   vs. NFA, 3:45; Thurs., Oct. 20: at ECC Championship at Norwich Golf Club, 1.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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caption:
Captains
Junior Julia Coyle, left, and senior Sydney Lord will lead the girls’ cross-country team. Photo by Marc Allard.



The Woodstock Academy girls’ cross-country team had to accept one fact of life this fall. “The Linsey Arends era is over,” said coach Joe Banas.
Arends won the ECC individual title last year, was seventh in Class MM and 40th in the State Open championship. She will be running for the University of Rhode Island this fall.
But the cupboard is not bare in Woodstock. The Centaurs, who finished with a 10-2 overall record and second in the Class MM state championship, may not be able to replace the ECC individual champion, but they do have a strong 1-2 punch returning.
Senior Lauren Brule and junior Julia Coyle are both back. Brule was 10th and Coyle 14th in the ECC championship a year ago.
The Centaurs only have 10 runners out for the program.
Lord, who finished 15th in the ECC a year ago, will be a key for the Centaurs along with classmate Tessa Brown, sophomore Kira Greene and freshman Olivia Tracy who won the Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference junior high championship last fall.
Banas does have a goal he would like to accomplish.
He wants to keep a streak alive as the team has not finished worse than third in the ECC championship meet in the five years he has coached the Centaurs.
Schedule: Tues., Sept. 13: with Griswold at Waterford, 4:15 p.m.; Tues., Sept. 20:  with Ledyard, Tourtellotte at E. Lyme, 4; Sat., Sept. 24: at Ocean State Invitational, TBA; Tues., Oct. 4: with Windham at Fitch, 4:30; Sat., Oct. 8: at Wickham Park Invitational, TBA; Tues., Oct. 11:   vs. NFA, 3:45; Thurs., Oct. 20: at ECC Championship at Norwich Golf Club, 1;
By Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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