- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption:
Medal Winner
Woodstock Academy senior Keenan LaMontagne sports his fourth-place medal earned in the shotput at the CIAC State Open indoor track championship Feb. 19. LaMontagne finished fourth to qualify for the New England championship on March 5. Photo courtesy of Gerry LaMontagne.
Woodstock senior Keenan LaMontagne knew if he could finish in the top six in the shotput at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference State Open Indoor Track championship, he would qualify for the New England championships.
That dream came true for LaMontagne Feb. 19 as LaMontagne tossed the shotput 47-feet, 4 1/2 – inches to finish fourth overall.
“Qualifying for New Englands was a huge goal of mine,” LaMontagne said.
“The New Englands (outdoor track championship) wasn’t hosted last (spring) so I never got the opportunity to go for the discus. You just can’t beat the atmosphere of a big meet like that.”
It didn’t start all that well for LaMontagne.
He fouled on the first of his six attempts, but it got better.
His second attempt went 47-2.
“That throw definitely gave me the confidence to start going for better. Once you hit a nice mark like that, you can start cranking your throws,” LaMontagne said.
His next three throws were 44-2 ¼, 45-3 ¼ and 43-10. He saved the best for last.
“It’s always exciting to get an athlete to the All-New England level. Keenan has worked very hard all season to become more consistent and is doing a great job in these high-pressure situations,” said coach Josh Welch.
The New England championships will be held at 10:30 a.m. March 5 in Boston.
LaMontagne almost had someone to make the trek north with him.
Junior Bella Sorrentino competed in the girls’ shotput at the State Open Feb. 19 and finished seventh with a 32-10 ¼ effort. She was 7 ¾ inches behind St. Bernard’s Lindsey Reilly who finished sixth.
“Bella is also showing tremendous improvement and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of them yet,” Welch said.
The credit for that, according to Welch, goes to Keenan’s father, Gerry, who is also Woodstock’s throwing coach.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
.