By Ryan Rumrill,
Town Crier Sportswriter
March 12 The Woodstock Academy girls’ gymnastics continue their reign of dominance as they took home first place at the New England High School Gymnastics Championship at Woodstock Academy.
The Centaurs captured the team championship on their home floor. Senior Paige Stuyniski led the way for the Centaurs as she finished first place in the bars routine with a score of 9.75, and first place in beam with a 9.9 and was crowned as the all-around champion with a total of 39.0.
Her senior teammate Grace Logan followed her in third place all-around with a total of 37.7 after she placed second in the bars event with a score of 9.6 and third on the floor routine with a 9.775.
A rallying moment for the Centaurs was when Ali Crescimanno encountered a minor slip-up in the vault event due to an ankle injury, but persevered and scored a 9.25 on the bars and scored 11th. She set the tone for the others to be on their top notch best. Lydia Taft finished fourth in the beam and seventh all-around for the Centaurs as three scored in the Top 10, and swept the season.
Woodstock won the Class S, State Open and now the New England Open.
March 5
Marianapolis 52
Choate Rosemary Hall 44
Marianapolis was led by sophomore Olivia Summiel who had a monster game in the NEPSAC Class A championship as she posted a double-double recording 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, as she was named the Most Valuable Player of game as the third ranked Golden Knights take down the top-seeded Choate Rosemary Hall by eight points.
Saoirse Power-Cassidy had 13 points to go towards the win while coming up with four steals. Nicole Anderson added 12 points for Marianapolis, who finished the season with a 16-10 record and NEPSAC Class A champions.
March 9
Norwich Free Academy 40
Trumbull 45
The Wildcats rallied from being down by 14 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit backed by the scoring of Hailey Conley, who finished the game with 23 points and also grabbed five rebounds and three assists. Mackenzie Burke added eight points and dished out seven assists for the Wildcats.
Makayla Poirier-Vaughters added six points and a couple rebounds. Trumbull was led by Taylor Brown with 16 points and five rebounds, and Claudia Tucci had 13 points and five assists.
March 7
2 Daniel Hand 60
10 Woodstock 33
The Lady Centaurs faced off against second-ranked Daniel Hand who controlled the pace against Woodstock from the second quarter and carried the momentum throughout the rest of the game.
Daniel Hand was led by Gabby Martin who scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed four rebounds, and Emma Sullivan with 11 points, while Colleen Caruth with nine, Gabby Egido with eight points. For Woodstock, Olivia Perry was the leading scorer with eight points, and Jamie Woods had seven points and three rebounds, and three assists, while both Kali Dinqui and Mackenzie Cayer had six points respectively.
Fund-raising
The Woodstock Academy baseball team held a celebrity bartender evening at The Crossings Restaurant and Brew Pub in Putnam in support of the team’s trip to Cal Ripken Training Facility in Maryland. The evening raised more than $7,000. Left to right: Glenn Senecal, John Schiffner, Angela O’Connor and Ron Coderre. The group had the best shift of the evening, raising $1,050. Courtesy photo.
caption:
Leaders of the Pack
The Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center led participants in the HMF FitKids Wee Miler in warm-ups before their 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile races. Courtesy photo.
Now in its sixth year, the Courthouse O’Putnam hosted more than 1,000 runners who braved frigid temperatures with a festive attitude March 12.
The 5K and HMF FitKids Wee Mile races were produced by the Hartford Marathon Foundation and sponsored by The Courthouse Bar and Grille.
Kicking things off, the 2-11 year-old participants in the HMF FitKids races were led in a warm-up by the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center before running their ¼ mile or ½ mile events.
Runners in the 5K were supported on the course by many volunteers, including a large group from the Natchaug River Young Marines.
After running their 3.1 mile race, runners funneled up to Main Street to enjoy corned beef sandwiches provided by Courthouse Bar & Grille, with a beer and additional re-fueling snacks provided as part of post-race festivities.
Michael Stadolnik of Plainfield, won in 17:25, followed by a tight race between Connor O’Marra of Dayville, who edged out the second-place spot with a time of 18:25, and Todd Bennett of Colchester, who placed third in 18:27.
Setting a new women’s course record, Victoria Cronin of Tolland, came in at 19:49, followed by Linda Spooner of Sturbridge in 20:35, and Jaclyn Sullivan of Jewett City, in 20:48.
Winter Sky
Clockwise from top left: Pomfret field. Rt. 169 in Woodstock. East Putnam. Audubon Society of Connecticut in Pomfret.