caption, page 2:
Key Components
Woodstock Academy players, from left: Gabriel Viau, Evan Haskins and Jai Abrams, will be key components for the Centaurs’ boys tennis team this season. Photo by Trent Peters/The Woodstock Academy.
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In tennis: A
good problem
to have
Last year, Woodstock Academy boys’ tennis coach Siana Green was a little concerned. Her team was so young; she really didn’t know how it would all fall in place.
“This year, my problem is, I have too many good players and I don’t know who is going to get the (starting) spots,” Green said.
The Centaurs finished 7-7 overall and 7-1 in Div. II of the ECC a season ago.
Green did lose her No. 1 singles player from last year, Stefan Chervenkov, but has senior Joe Zhou coming back after a couple of years layoff.
Zhou played for the Centaurs as a freshman but was sidelined, as was everyone, by the pandemic in 2020 and didn’t return to campus due to travel restrictions in 2021.
He is currently locked in a competition with junior Gabriel Viau for the top singles spot for the Centaurs.
“Gabriel played No. 1 doubles last year,” Green said. “Joe and Evan (Haskins) played third doubles together (three years ago) and Joe just kills every ball he gets. That’s his go-to and it works - most of the time.”
Senior Jai Abrams and junior Cormac Nielsen will also likely play singles with Haskins possibly seeing time in both singles and doubles play.
“We have a lot of good returning players, several good freshmen this year too. We do have a lot of good singles players, five of us, we’re good,” Nielsen said.
Juniors James Le, Diego Rodriguez and sophomores Cang Nguyen, Kyle Pazienza and Ethan Staples are also in the doubles mix.
Green also has the benefit of five talented freshmen.
One thing she does not have – home courts: The tennis courts at the Bentley Athletic Complex are unplayable this season.
Both the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams are practicing at Pomfret School and will play their matches at Killingly High School.
The Centaurs will again be in Div. II of the ECC, just with some different dance partners.
NFA (0-12-1 last season), New London (2-10-1) and Ledyard (9-5) will join the Centaurs in the division.
“We didn’t play New London or Ledyard last year, so we have no idea what those teams will be like. It’s exciting. I’m feeling hopeful because we have done well against them in the past. We have a shot. I’m feeling positive that this may be a year where we don’t have to share a title (the Centaurs and Montville tied for the D-II regular season a year ago),” Green said.
Boys’ Tennis Schedule: Mon., April 4: at St. Bernard/Wheeler, 4:30; Wed., April 13: at Ledyard, 3:45; Sat., April 16: vs. NFA (at Killingly), 11; Mon., April 18: at Montville; 3:45; Tues., April 19: vs. Fitch (at Killingly, 5; Wed., April 20: at Fitch, 3:45; Mon., April 25: at Ledyard, 4; Fri., April 29: vs. Waterford (at Killingly), 4:15; Mon., May 2, at NFA, 3:45; Fri., May 6: at Stonington, 4:15; Sat., May 7: vs. New London (at Killingly), 11; Mon., May 9: at New London, 4:30; Wed., May 11: at E. Lyme, 4:15; Sat., May 14, vs. Lyman (at Killingly), 11.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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caption, page 3:
Contained
No contamination was detected outside the containment area at DCC Propane after the spill of 25,000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil last week in East Putnam. Courtesy photo.
Fuel oil spill
appears
contained
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — After tests on water samples from private wells near the large fuel oil spill at 10 Mary Crest Drive, at the DCC Propane tanks, the Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH) reported that no contamination was detected.
NDDH had collected water samples from private wells in the vicinity of the No. 2 fuel oil spill and submitted the samples to the CT state laboratory to test for the presence ofextractable total petroleum hydrocarbons (ETPH) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The tests show no contamination detected.
The site remains under investigation by state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in coordination with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Town of Putnam, and the responsible party will coordinate a plan that includes future testing.
March 21 the Putnam Fire Marshal’s Office responded to a report of a large fuel oil spill at 10 Mary Crest Dr. in E. Putnam.
The DEEP’s Emergency Response and Spill Division notified Putnam that 25,000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil had spilled into the tank containment area. The four-tank system was at 25 percent capacity when the one of the tanks experienced a failure, according to the Fire Marshal’s Office.
Representatives from the facility’s owner (DCC Propane) were on scene most of the day and Kropp Environmental was on scene by 9:30 a.m. to begin the cleanup. The tank containment system appears to have captured the full amount of product released and there is no immediate danger to the environment; however, monitoring wells were set to determine if any of the fuel oil had seeped into the surrounding soils.
There is also no danger to the public as this is a secured facility and the product released is not a flammable but a combustible liquid.
The Fire Marshal’s Office said “This is a large remediation and cleanup work will continue to take place for several weeks. By the end of the day Kropp Environmental was able to recover 24,820 gallons.”
Throughout the day the Putnam Fire Marshal’s Office worked in conjunction with CT DEEP, the EPA, and DCC Propane representatives to formulate a plan of correction and prevention to include testing and ultrasound inspection of all tanks, a comprehensive review of emergency plans and training records, and increased frequency of on-site inspections with the goal of preventing the possibility of future spills.
If anyone has information on this incident, they are urged to call the Putnam Fire Marshal’s Office at 860-963-6800 x112.
NDDH reminds anyone with private wells to conduct full water quality tests on an annual basis.
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Butter Curls?
Actually no. This beautiful ruffle is the corona of a daffodil. More spring's a poppin' on page 4. Linda Lemmon photo.
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caption, page 4:
Taking a Shot
Woodstock Academy senior Jonah Libby, who had six goals and an assist, looks to take a shot in an 18-2 boys’ lacrosse victory over Norwich Tech. Photo by Woodstock Academy junior Bryson Gould.
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Roundup
Season opens
with a pair of
lacrosse wins
Woodstock Academy girls’ lacrosse junior defensive midfielder Lennon Favreau is usually watching the offense perform from the defensive side of the field.
But every once in a while, she gets to cross that midfield stripe. On April 2 she was allowed to roam just about midway through the second half and came upon a loose ball near the Killingly goal crease.
The goal came with 17 minutes, 26 seconds left in the match and turned out to be the game-winner, breaking a tie and giving the Centaurs a lead they would never relinquish.
They would add two more and walk away with a 10-7 season-opening win on the road at Killingly.
But while Favreau may have made the goal sound simple- it wasn’t.
“It was pretty funny,” said Woodstock Academy coach Mikayla Jones. “They all had it on the ground, were trying to pick it up, and she just kind of flicked it right in (to the net) from the ground.”
But funny, tough, amazing or simple, it did help the Centaurs pick up the much-needed opening win.
Brin was also an integral part to the equation for Woodstock. She didn’t play much in the two scrimmage games the Centaurs had prior to the season opener due to a pulled muscle.
She made up for it with four goals, including one soon after Favreau’s game winner that put the Centaurs up by two.
Shannon Gagnon added the Centaurs final goal and finished with a hat trick.
Woodstock did open a 3-0 lead early, only to see Killingly continually respond. The Centaurs allowed Killingly to tie the game at 5 and again at 7, but never let their hosts get the lead.
Boys’ Lacrosse: Roll past Norwich Tech
It was one of those games that a team wants to jump out ahead quickly and coast to a victory. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done.
Not in the season opener for the boys’ lacrosse team.
The Centaurs jumped out to a 13-0 first half lead over Norwich Tech and handed the Warriors an 18-2 loss April 2.
“That’s what you need. You want to start off the season just like this. Now, we just have to carry the momentum through,” said coach Jason Tata.
The Centaurs had played Norwich Tech three times last season and had outscored them, 43-8.
But this was a new season and Woodstock does not have its 100-point plus scorer, Guerin Favreau, back, so, it will have to be more of a team effort.
Centaurs senior attack Jonah Libby was the second-leading scorer on the team a year ago and picked up where he left off, finishing with six and an assist.
Zach Gessner also got going in the scoring column as he finished with a hat trick while three players, Jared Neilsen, Zach Girard and Jacob Jurnovoy, all had a pair. Tyler Green, Gunnar Basak and Lucas Theriaque also scored.
“I think that’s going to be the value of our team this year, it’s going to be a different guy every single game. We know that, I know that and everybody can see that. It’s going to be great to see who steps up each game,” Tata said.
The starting defense also kept the Warriors away from first-year starting goalie John Pokorny when they were on the field in the first three quarters.
Baseball: Fall Short
Woodstock did not come home with a win from Waterford, but the team wasn’t hanging its head either.
The Centaurs dug themselves an early hole, but fought back throughout and fell just short, 5-4, April 2.
“I was really proud of them,” said coach Brian Murphy. “They bounced back. They could have buried their heads. It was our first time on the field. We had couple of scrimmages canceled and Waterford played three. We were resilient; we didn’t give up and that will help in the long run.”
The Centaurs gave up all five runs in the first two innings with the Lancers using six walks to their advantage as they produced only one hit.
The Centaurs called on sophomore Eric Mathewson in the third inning. “He did a great job in relief,” Murphy said. Mathewson pitched the remaining four innings, gave up only three hits and didn’t allow another run.
The Centaurs crept back into the contest, scoring twice in the third inning with senior newcomer Ethan Davis leading off with an infield single.
Davis advanced to second on an error and went to third on a ground out before coming home on a wild pitch.
Hamilton Barnes had drawn a walk prior to Davis scoring and advanced to second on a ground out. He scored on a single by Zach Roethlein.
Davis also started a fifth-inning rally with a single to left.
He advanced to third when Kaden Murphy reached on an error and scored on a Barnes’ single. Roethlein brought him home with another single.
Barnes, who represented the tying run, was stranded at third as the Centaurs fouled out and struck out to end the inning.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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