Honored
WORCESTER/LEICESTER — Alexandra Lamontagne of N. Grosvenordale, was named to the dean’s list for the spring 2020 semester at Becker College. She is pursuing a bachelor’s in exercise science, pre-PT/health science concentration.


.
Honored
DUDLEY — Sophia Prouty of Thompson, student at Nichols College, received the Professor Keith Corkum Endowed Scholarship in Economics at the Academic Awards ceremony. The purpose of this scholarship is to recognize excellence in the study of economics at Nichols College.

President’s List
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Three local students were named to the Plymouth State University President’s List for the spring 2020 semester: Halladay Glode of N. Grosvenordale, Victoria Grissom of Chepachet and Zachary Bassett of Pascoag.

.

Last week’s weather brought about a lot of spring fever, including among local athletic teams.
The pandemic may have cancelled the competitive portion of the season for high school indoor track teams when it had to be indoors, but the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference did give its permission in late February to allow teams to compete on a limited basis indoors or on a wider scale outside when the weather would allow.
Woodstock Academy coach Josh Welch was quick to pounce on the opportunity.
With temperatures in the mid-60s, he took his Centaurs boys’ and girls’ teams south to Plainfield March 10 for their first meet of the season.
Despite not having any scheduled indoor meets, the Centaurs continued to practice in small groups during the winter months.
“When it was first announced that we could hold indoor meets, outdoors, I started looking for opportunities to get out there and help the kids learn or remember what a track meet feels like,” Welch said. “That’s a hard thing for us to do up here so we looked to friends in the south to host.”
With the numbers in their favor, the Centaurs did quite well. The Woodstock Academy boys downed the Panthers, 72-13, while the girls posted a 57-10 win.
Adam Schimmelpfennig posted first-place finishes in the 110 hurdles and 300-meter and was a member of the winning 4x200 meter relay team.
Senior Ethan Aspiras also had a pair of wins in both the 1,000 and 3,200-meter races.
“Ethan came out and matched his personal best from last year in the 1,000m in his first race and held off solid competition from Plainfield to take the win.  Coming back at the 3,200m was a struggle but he ran a great race there as well, so we can see the foundation for an excellent outdoor season, but can also see where having some competition will allow him to get back in to top shape,” Welch said.
Eric Phongsa (55-meter dash, 4x200-meter); Scout Favreau (600-meter); Ishaan Lingayat (long jump) and Everett Michalski (shot put) also recorded first-place finishes.
“Scout also had an excellent first race matching his personal best in the 600m from last year, taking part in the winning 4x200m team, and a second place in the hurdles.  In his second year he is branching out a bit, trying new events, and really helps pull the team together,” Welch added.
On the girls’ side, Bella Sorrentino had quite the season debut. “I asked a lot of Bella Sorrentino as a sophomore to compete in all that she did.  She has aspirations of taking part in the 7-event heptathlon in the future so I wanted to provide her with some practice for that by placing her in the shot, the long jump, the 4x200m and the hurdles.  For a young athlete, she has tremendous focus and is always willing to accept a challenge.  That paid off for her with four first-place finishes,” Welch said.
Sorrentino placed first in all four of her events. Linsey Arends placed first in both the 1,000 and 1,600-meter races for the Centaurs.
Like Aspiras, Welch was very happy to see Arends, another of his distance runners, turn in a pair of fine performances.
“She came out and ran a 1,000m that was excellent and right on track with her times from the end of last season,” Welch said. “She struggled to come back from that to run the 1,600m but hung in there and took a first place in that as well.  Taking these opportunities for tough doubles like that should help prepare for the outdoor season, and her ability to recover and jump back in.”
Jillian Edwards (55-meter) and Carah Bruce (3,200-meter) also had first-place finishes for the Centaurs.
While Welch agrees this is a nice little jump on the spring season, he also feels it is one that is much needed.
4 skiers qualify for State Open
While the track season is ramping up, the Alpine ski season is coming to a close.
The Woodstock Academy alpine ski team had its final regular season event last week but the season is not over for four members of the team.
Boys’ team skiers Zach Brody and Davis Simpson and girls’ team members Eliza Simpson and Emma Brody all qualified for the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League State Open championship which was held Monday at Mt. Southington (the results were too late for this edition).
“I am so proud of these four kids,” said Woodstock Academy coach Kevin Brody. “Last season only Zach and Eliza were able to go, this year doubling that number is even better.  Both Zach and Eliza light up the course when they race. The way they ski is so powerful and dynamic.  Every time they are on course, you hear the chatter of coaches and spectators and their surprise of the caliber of skiers we have on our team.”
Eliza Simpson had two first-place and two fourth-place finishes this season. In the last regular season meet, she placed third in her division.
Zach Brody finished out of the top 10 only once all season long. He delivered an eighth-place finish last week.
In fields generally consisting of over 100 skiers, Emma Brody and Davis Simpson also consistently brought home top-20 finishes.
Those results were pleasing to their coach. “When you are able to be on the mountain, ski, have fun, coach some great kids, there are only positives,” Kevin Brody said. “All our athletes once again showed dedication and improvement every time we were on the snow.  It is not always about the finish, it is about trusting the process.  The process of learning, self-improvement, trust, confidence, taking the skills we teach and honing them to become the best you can be physically and mentally on the snow.”
Kevin Brody said the best part of the season was the growth of the girls’ team, not only in experience, but also in numbers.
Eliza Simpson, who still has another year left to ski for the Centaurs, was the only girl on the team in the inaugural season last year. This year, she was joined by Emma Brody who is only an 8th-grader and will have four more years on the mountain.
Jillian Marcotte and Ksenija Martinovic, an exchange student from Montenegro, added some depth to the squad.
“Out of the new athletes, Jillian probably pushed herself the hardest this season.  Even after quite a few hard crashes during training, she bounced back and continued to push herself outside her comfort zone to become better and faster,” Kevin Brody said. “Ksenija had skied before, but nothing like this.  She had good skills coming into the program.  After a few tweaks, she became a racer and consistently finished in the middle of the pack.”
In addition to Zach Brody and Davis Simpson, the boys’ team included Anthony Listro, Neil Camara and Ty Green. Listro was injured early last season, but came back energetic and determined this season, according to Kevin Brody.
“Neil Camara is our motivational athlete in the group. Out of everyone on the team, he is always the first one with his boots on and ready to go.  If there is time for an extra run, he will go for it and get others to join him,” Kevin Brody said. “Ty came up to speed pretty quick. Also coming from a recreational skiing background (like Marcotte), his strength and agility from other sports he played helped him greatly.”
Green joined the team only a week before the season.
Prep Basketball
The Woodstock Academy prep basketball teams enjoyed a very successful weekend.
The Centaurs Gold squad improved to 5-3 with a pair of wins at home.
March 13, the Centaurs handed St. George’s School from Newport, R.I., a 79-59 loss.
Jayden Beloti scored 13 of his team-best 19 points in the first half when the Centaurs opened a 45-24 lead.
Pipe Ajayi added 16 points in the win while fellow big Isha Mohammade added 13.
On March 14 Darrow School from New Lebanon, N.Y., lost to the Centaurs, 71-45.
This one was closer early as Woodstock Academy held only a 27-21 advantage at the break. But the Centaurs pulled away with a strong 44-point second half.
Tairi Ketner led the Centaurs with 15 points while Beloti added 14 and Ajayi 10.
The Woodstock Academy Blue prep basketball team had a home-and-home series with Bridgeport Prep over the weekend.
The home game was much easier for the Centaurs.
Five players finished in double figures for Woodstock Academy (6-4) in a 96-73 win over Bridgeport.
Mark Heber finished with 24 points including four 3-pointers, three of those came in the second half when the Centaurs outscored their opponents, 52-32.
Jason Ofcarcik added 13 while Ethan Edwards tossed in 12 including a pair of 3-pointers.
Kyle Alcy (11 points) and Levi King (10) were also in double figures.
Alcy and King had played bigger roles a day before at Bridgeport Prep where the Centaurs just got past their hosts, 76-71, to break a three-game losing streak.
Alcy led Woodstock Academy on Saturday with 23 points while King added 15.
Girls’ Basketball
The Woodstock Academy girls’ basketball team finished its regular season with a 3-6 record after a tough week.
The Centaurs had their chances against Griswold March 12 but lost a heartbreaker, 38-37, to the Wolverines.
Freshman Reegan Reynolds and sophomore Alex Cloutier each scored eight points for the Centaurs.
The loss left the Centaurs, at press time, in sixth place in the ECC North Region.
Woodstock Academy will likely travel to Windham for an ECC postseason experience tournament quarterfinal game against the third-seeded Whippets March 19.
The Centaurs also lost to Plainfield, 37-25, March 10 despite a 10-point effort from junior Aurissa Boardman.
Senior Alexa Pechie scored eight points to lead Woodstock Academy in a 52-20 loss at the hands of undefeated Killingly March 8.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

.

Williams picks
Gardner-Webb
The path for Leon Williams to Gardner-Webb University was a very short one.
He was one of eight new members to join the Putnam Science Academy prep basketball team following the school’s winter break. And when he got here, Gardner-Webb got very interested very quickly.
“There were other schools that were interested too, but Gardner Webb was on me as soon as I got here, before I even played a game,” Williams said. “It was fast.”
Saying too that he didn’t want to wait around to make his decision, Williams, a 6-4 guard from Cambridge, Mass., announced over the weekend that he was accepting the scholarship offer and committing to the school.
“I feel like I’ll be a good fit there,” he said. “I like their system. I’ve watched a couple of their games and their highlights since they’ve been recruiting me, and it looks like a pretty good system to keep growing in. And I know they like PSA guys, too.”
Williams will be the fifth PSA player to head to Gardner Webb, most of whom have enjoyed terrific success at the Boiling Springs, N.C., school. Senior Jaheam Cornwall was named to the Big South’s all-conference first-team, sophomore Kareem Reid earned all-academic team honors, and D’Maurian Williams was recognized as a selection to the conference all-freshman team. Jose Perez transferred from GWU to Marquette this past season.
“We’ve had a pretty good relationship with them, and they’ve done a great job developing our guys there,” said PSA coach Tom Espinosa. “I think that’s going to happen for Leon too. He came to us really as a late bloomer, but you can definitely see some things in him that impress you. He can get to the basket and finish strong at the rim. He’s a talented player.”
Williams has indeed shown the ability to attack the basket. He’s a quick slasher who is hard to contain on the perimeter. But once defenders start to sag off him just a little bit, he starts shooting it.
“I like to mix it up,” Williams said. “A couple of plays I’ll take it hard and attack, then the next couple plays if they fall back and start playing me like I’m a non-shooter, I can knock it down. “
Williams is averaging 9.2 points per game in 10 games with the Mustangs, providing scoring punch off the bench.
“Since I’ve been here, I feel like I’ve developed a little bit of everything in my game, really,” he said. “Dribbling, ball-handling, shot creating, defense, a bunch of new concepts that I’ve learned. And being at a prep school is just such a totally different experience than public school is. There is so much more exposure here than there, and that obviously helps other people see it in you. “
Williams said he knew he had the potential to become a really good player and earn a Division I scholarship, probably around the summer before his junior year of high school (at Cambridge Rindge and Latin)
“That’s when I hit my growth spurt,” he said. “I went from 5-foot-7 to 6-3 over the summer. I felt like I was pretty good going into that year but I needed to grow into my body. I’m glad I’ve been able to do that.”
Williams and the Mustangs went 3-0 last week, posting 130-99 and 100-97 wins over Lee Academy March 13 and March 14, respectively. They also dismantled St. George’s 110-59 on March 9.
C.J. Anthony knocked six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points against St. George’s. Bryce Harris added 22 points and six rebounds, Nana Owusu-Anane 13 points and seven rebounds, and Alexis Reyes and Boris Mitkin both had nine points and six boards for PSA (14-1).
In the blowout win over Lee, Williams had 18 points, but Owusu-Anane led the way with 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Reyes added 26 points, four rebounds, and five assists; Harris made five 3-pointers among his 17 points for the Mustangs; and Anthony finished with 14 points (including the first 10 of the game), five assists and five steals.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

.