PUTNAM — The Putnam High School honor roll for the third quarter includes:
Seniors
High Honors: Autumn Bocash, Haley Cutler, Nathaniel Dolbey, Clara Greiner, Emily Langlois, Molly McKeon, Janete Morente Uz, Ellie Morissette, Anthony Navedo, Justin St. Martin, Jenna Stebbins, Noah Tomkins
First Honors: Samantha Barylski, Tanner Clark, Samantha Huff, Jade Montpelier, Charlotte Nichols, Jordyn Poole.
Recognition: Matthew Chzaszcz, Niajah DeWolfe, Paige Dziembowski, Autumn Fikter, Malaki Fitzgerald, Patrick Franks, Jaden Garcia, Jillian Gray, Kyle Haynes, Zoe Hetrick, Michael Ionkin, Alexandria Lawson, Kayleigh Lyons, Ryan Metivier, Alyiahmary Negrón Encarnación Michael Rosario, Hannah Smith, Melayna Titchen.
Juniors
High Honors: Brenden Guillen, Ethan Latendresse, Brooke Peloquin, Mackenzie Peloquin, Emma Rudman, Haley Syrjala
First Honors: Nathan Barylski, Laylah Chavez, Alex Hutchins, Anna Ionkin, Haddijatou Mbye, Lesbia Morente-Mendez, Abbigail Pelletier, Jamie Petre, Michayla Rugh, Abby St. Martin, Oscar Steinbrick
Recognition: Greyson Anderson, Kalai Ayau, Emma Braithwaite, Johnathan Carita, Charisma Farrington, Harley Field, Emma Fisk, Brenna Fowler, Catherine LaForest, Colby Livingston, Adriana Maltais, Julie Morris, Bethany Smith, Maggie Wojciechowski.
Sophomores
High Honors: Autumn Allard, Amayah Chavez, Ewa Sekula.
First Honors: Reagan Boledovic, Samantha Eddy, Tyler Fullerton, Kandi Garcia-Morente,Olivia Hassett-Mellen, Celenia Lopez, Jack Rindge, Connor Vassar
Recognition: Jamiel Andujar, Johnathen Brouillette, David DePari, Amelia Labbe-Fahy, James Lazarou, Brooke Lindell, Kayla Morrison, Iasmin Neves, Benjamin Northup, Stephanie Olecki, Avery Pedersen, Halie Reidy, Michael Roach, Dominic Sheldon, Destiney Simas, Adam Tomkins
Freshmen
High Honors: Juana Ajqui Hernandez, Samantha Bennett, Grace Benoit, Jenny Boriboun, Enrico Gabriel Ong, MacKenzie Reidy, Emily St. Martin, Alishia Thompson, Guinevere Weiker, Colin Wojciechowski
First Honors: Elysse Britt, Allyson DiNola, Jack Garcia, Vincent Gauvin, Rylee Houle, Cooper Livingston, Jacob Mailloux, Ella Schoppe, Gabriel Weidele
Recognition: Jacob Benzie, Shea Bernier, Cole Dignam, Michael Ellis, Abigail Fitts, Kaylee Goding, Cameron Lowell, Sullivan MacDonald, Spencer Northup, Emerald Perry, Angelina Porter, DeAnn Pringle, Tegan Saucier, Shaina Sudol, Bailey Touchette, Jacob Tremblay, Ruby Vargas, Amy Vongvirath.
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Inducted
BATON ROUGE, La. — Jacob Harwood of Chepachet was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Harwood was initiated at University of Massachusetts.
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Chicken BBQ
N. GROSVENORDALE — The Knights of Columbus will hold a Chicken Barbecue — take-outs only — from noon to 7 p.m. April 25 at the hall on Riverside Drive. 860-923-2967
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Maybe it was Shaquille O’Neal. Maybe it was Bob Pettit. Or Stromile Swift. Or Glen Davis. Maybe it was all of them.
Regardless of who the main draw was, Josh Gray liked the history Louisiana State University’s basketball program has with big men.
And Gray, Putnam Science Academy’s 7-foot dominant post player, thought that as much as anything else was a good enough reason to commit to LSU over West Virginia, Seton Hall, Providence College, and Auburn.
“They put together a presentation that was really good,” Gray said last weekend from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Some of the other schools that offered me along the way, their bigs never developed to the point where they were able to continue on. I want to continue to hone my skills for the next level and I think LSU is the best place for me to do that.”
The Mustangs went 36-4 this season and won a share of their second national championship in the last three years thanks in large part to Gray’s performances. He averaged 9.8 points to go with 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, both team highs. He had nine double-doubles, including performances of 16 points and 20 rebounds, 17 and 14, and 18 and 15. He also had 12 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocks in a conference tournament victory over Thetford.
“Josh was just a dominant player for us,” said PSA coach Tom Espinosa. “He worked really hard to get that point for us, and when he did … he was just unstoppable. He’s such a physical presence and he’s going to keep getting stronger. He had games for us that were just unbelievable.”
Gray, who built a strong relationship with LSU head coach Will Wade during the recruiting process, said he’s been told to expect 10-15 minutes of playing time at the start.
“But it’s like it was here in Putnam,” he said. “If you do what you need to do, you’ll earn more time. I feel like this year I improved on my physicality. That’s really going to prepare me for the next level.
“And I created bonds with people and coaches. Even though I’m leaving, I think I’ll be always be close with (Espinosa) and the other coaches. They’ve helped me tremendously to get to this point.”
Gray joins Hassan Diarra (Texas A&M), Mekhi Gray (NJIT), Julian Dozier Jr. (Fordham), Vlad Goldin (Texas Tech), Marty Silvera (St. Peter’s), Terrell Ard. Jr. (Alabama-Birmingham), D’Maurian Williams (Gardner-Webb), and Melvyn Ebonkoli (Missouri State) as other Division I commits from this season’s team.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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