caption, page 7:


Up the Hill
Linsey Arends climbing a hill with a little over a mile to go in the Eastern Connecticut Conference girls’ cross-country championship Oct. 18. Fellow freshman and eventual winner, Bacon Academy’s Jordan Malloy, is in the background. Photo by Marc Allard.

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Woodstock Academy girls’ cross-country coach Joe Banas has said all year long that his team is about a year away from being very competitive in both the Eastern Connecticut Conference and in Class MM.
Last week, the Centaurs showed they may be even closer than that.
Woodstock Academy finished second in the ECC girls’ cross-country championship race Oct. 18 at the Norwich Golf Course, losing out to only East Lyme, 57-83.
“We had two (Linsey Arends and Stella DiPippo) in the top five. Iris (Bazinet) ran well, Shannon (D’Alessandro) did her job,” said Banas. “My hat is off to (East Lyme coach) Mike (Flynn) and his team. He runs a nice program and all of his (runners) are coming back. We have to work between now and next year to close that gap.”
Arends and DiPippo were near the front the entire length of the 3.1 mile race. Both, however, had to contend with a fast pace at the start.
Montville senior and defending champ, Mady Whittaker, bolted out in front of the pack at the beginning of the race, trying to sap the will of some of her younger competitors.
It meant Arends had to adjust her strategy. She decided she had to stay in the hunt early, rather than hang back and save for the end.
“I wish I would have gone out a little slower, because I might have had more at the end to sprint up the last few hills. She definitely put the pressure on, turned the heat up, everyone wanted to stay up with her. She took off and everyone else wanted to take off after her,” Arends said.
DiPippo found the early pace to be a bit taxing.
“It was definitely tough the second the gun went off,” DiPippo said. “With all the hills that start out right away and when Mady went out super-fast, she brought everybody else with her. That made it really difficult from start to finish.”
Banas did have an accurate prediction.
He said he expected Whittaker might go out fast, but also expected her to possibly come back to the pack at the end.
The Montville senior did.
Arends stayed in second place until the final mile when fellow freshman, Jordan Malloy of Bacon Academy, passed her.
It was a battle that will likely be played out again many times over the next 3 ½ years.
“Probably, but I have Joe Banas as my coach and with him helping me, I can definitely beat her next time,” Arends said of Malloy.
Arends then was in the catbird seat to watch the battle between Whittaker and Malloy play out. Malloy saw her opportunity to pass the senior on the final incline of the race with about 600 meters left.
The Bacon Academy freshman completed the pass and took home what could have been considered the upset victory.
Arends remained in her spot, third place, in 20 minutes, 54 seconds.
“I’m pretty happy. I still think I could have done better. It definitely wasn’t my best race or my best time of the season, but it took a lot out of me and I think I did pretty good,” Arends said.
St. Bernard junior Brigid Kunka was able to pass DiPippo and the Woodstock Academy sophomore had to settle for fifth in 21:07.
“I ran faster than last year (when she finished third) which was my main goal this year. I was trying to beat (Kunka) at the end and go for fourth. I really thought I had her, but then she passed me again and I didn’t have any gas left. I’m happy with how I did,” DiPippo said.
Bazinet finished in 22nd with D’Alessandro in 26th and Megan Gohn 29th.
The Centaurs are back on the course this weekend when they travel to Manchester to take part in the Class MM state championship race at Wickham Park.
The Centaurs competed in the Class L state championship a year ago as they were three girls over the Class MM enrollment classification.
This year, they fell three girls under.
“To possibly make it into the State Open, it’s better to be in MM,” Banas said.
That’s from the competition side.
But there is an X-factor this year- the shape of the course.
Wickham Park and Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference officials normally allow teams to go to the course in the two weeks before to practice on it.
Due to the wetness of the grounds, that was disallowed this season.
The Centaurs will be running in the 12th, and final, race of the day Oct. 27 and the course could be a nightmare by that time.
“It’s beaten up and by the time our boys and girls race, there won’t be a ‘wild card’ of the 30 teams coming out of the ‘MM’ race,” Banas said.
The top two teams in each division by points automatically qualify for the State Open championship with eight “Wild Card” teams determined by overall team time.
Banas wants to see both of his young runners, Arends and DiPippo, break the top 12 which would qualify them as individuals for the State Open.
“I don’t want to put pressure on a 13-year-old, but I would love to see Linsey make it to New England’s, “Banas said. “It would be Manchester (CT) to Manchester (NH).”
Arends would have to finish in the top 25 in the State Open to accomplish that feat.
“I feel confident about States. I’m not sure how I will do, but I’m definitely nervous and excited. I hope to do well,” Arends said.
Her personal goal is to break 20 minutes in the race.

Boys’ cross-country
The Centaurs boys’ cross-country team had a healthy showing at the Eastern Connecticut Conference cross-country championship Oct. 18.
The Centaurs finished sixth out of the 19 teams in the conference.
“I am pleased with the sixth-place result. We only lost to teams that had previously beaten us during the season,” said coach Peter Lusa.
Only their three Division I opponents, East Lyme, Norwich Free Academy and Fitch, and two other schools, Bacon Academy and Waterford did better than the Centaurs who finished with a 191-point total.
Ethan Aspiras led the Centaurs with a 21st place in 18 minutes, 35 seconds.
He was followed across the line by Kenneth Birlin in 27th (19:12); Matthew Roethlein 48th (19:38); Hamilton Barnes 49th (19:39) and Christian Mink 54th (19:55).
“Nearly all the boys ran personal best times for the season on a difficult course. Our runners are peaking at the right time. I’m looking forward to the state competition,” Lusa said.
The Centaurs will compete in the last boys’ state championship race of the day at 3:10 p.m. Oct. 27 at Wickham Park in Manchester.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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The Woodstock Academy boys’ soccer team didn’t get the chance to celebrate taking a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II regular season title together.
After a win over Ledyard on Oct. 9 put the Centaurs in position to take a share of the title, disappointment set in when the Centaurs lost to Bacon Academy on Oct. 12.
But all hope was not lost.
The Centaurs had to beat Waterford Oct. 16 and hope that Bacon Academy beat Ledyard to create a three-way tie.
The Centaurs did their part with a 2-0 victory over the Lancers.
Then they had to wait.
The Bacon – Ledyard match went to double overtime before the Bobcats scored and posted a 3-2 win over the Colonels.
“Someone texted into our group chat right away and, everyone, as soon as they read it, started putting up ‘Let’s go boys.’ And congratulating each other. Even (Woodstock Academy grad) Jack Gelhaus (now at Coastal Carolina University) texted me and gave me an ‘Atta boy’,” said senior Ethan Holcomb.
The 3-way tie for the Division II regular season crown was the biggest thing that happened for the Centaurs in Holcomb’s four-year tenure on the team since he was a freshman. The Centaurs were the 10th seed in the ECC tournament in 2015 and surprisingly advanced to the league title match where they lost to Bacon Academy, 3-0.
Since then the Centaurs have been good, 13-6-1 in 2016 and 12-7-1 last year but had no banners to show for their effort until this season.
“It’s fantastic. It hasn’t been in the cards for the last two years,” said coach Paul Rearden who replaced Jared Morse as head coach in the 2016 season. “It’s nice to have a reward to show for the hard work and the belief they have shown in themselves. You can only say that they are doing really well and things are improving so many times, to actually have that confirmation is great for the boys.”
His only disappointment was learning of the accomplishment after the team had dispersed following the win over Waterford.
Rearden was on his way to a meeting when his wife phoned him.
“I was in my car and yelled, ‘Yes,’” Rearden said with a laugh. “It was a pity we didn’t find out at the field together, but, the difference between that and not winning (a title), I will take that.”
The game with Waterford was also Senior Day for the Centaurs.
As such, they got off to a slow start.
Rearden, who has 11 seniors on the team, started all 11 which made for a quiet first half before the Centaurs scored twice in the second half.
The Centaurs had just two first half shots.
“The seniors came in - some had spent most of the season on the bench - and did a really good job. Once we got our normal starters in, it took a while. It’s tough coming into a game when the other players already have the pace of it. Once we settled into the formation we wanted to play and got the rhythm of the passing going, from there, we slowly started to take over,” Rearden said.
Eric Phongsa was the catalyst.
Rearden had tried to get him into the match in the first half, but he stood on the sidelines waiting for a ball to roll out of bounds for 10 minutes.\
It never did.
Rearden finally got Phongsa on to the field in the second half.
“He has that unknown quantity, sometimes, he doesn’t know what he’s trying to do so for anyone to read it - it’s tough,” Rearden said. “When you get him around the area, though, he’s going to make opportunities and (Tuesday), he took it to goal really well.”
With Phongsa as the catalyst and Holcomb as the steadying influence, the Centaurs finally put something on the scoreboard.
“Just having (Holcomb) in there is a massive psychological lift for the boys. He’s been playing outstanding this season. Thankfully this season, he’s playing injury free. His presence and work ethic out there rubs off on other people,” said Rearden.
Huck Gelhaus put the Centaurs into the lead, 7 minutes, 6 seconds into the second half.
Gelhaus took a through ball and dribbled through the defense, firing it past keeper Anthony Sachatello for the 1-0 lead.
Just 14 minutes later, Phongsa broke through and scored an insurance goal for the Centaurs.
Woodstock Academy had to weather a late storm as the desperate Lancers (4-9, 1-6) did pepper keeper Jack Lotter with six shots late, but Lotter didn’t let anything through.
“Even in the games that we lost early in the season, I was happy with the performance. You have to look at the bigger picture. You can’t win every game, but I think the boys have given 110 percent and are trying to play the right way. They’re giving everything for their teammates - that’s all you can ask,” Rearden said.
The Centaurs, boosted by the news that they had tied Bacon and Ledyard for the Division II title, played one of their best matches of the season, in Rearden’s opinion, Oct. 18 when they rallied for a 2-1 win over Norwich Free Academy.
“It was phenomenal,” said Rearden. “We went down there, cold night under the lights, and it was NFA’s Senior Night so they wanted to put a good show on. They played a good game. It was 100 miles per hour from start to finish.”
Playing without defenders Chase Anderson and Aidan Morin, the Centaurs took the early lead when Holcomb delivered a through ball to Reid Butler who finished 12 minutes into the match. It was Butler’s fourth goal of the season.
The Wildcats tied the game four minutes into the second half when Micah Spruance scored.
But five minutes later, the Centaurs methodically worked the ball down the field. Phongsa delivered his second assist of the season, one-touching the ball to Alejandro Quintas Gonzalez who scored for a third time this season.
The Centaurs went into the final match of the season Oct. 22 with Windham (which ended too late for this edition) with a 9-5-1 record.
Later in the week, the ECC tournament gets underway.
“I can’t wait,” Rearden said. “I just want to keep the momentum going (vs. Windham) but we’re in great shape. I let (Anderson and Morin) rest versus NFA because they were tight and it was a cold night and I didn’t want them to tear anything. The last couple of years, we’ve been carrying injuries to important players going into the playoffs. We’re physically and mentally raring to go.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy

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caption, page 7:

New Decking
Putnam Rotarians, left to right: Karen Osbrey, Club Project Chair; Club President John Miller; and Jeff Rawson at the new decking at the Rotary Park Bandstand in Putnam. The club donated the funds for the materials and the town provided the labor for decking replacement. Courtesy photo.


Bandstand
gets new
decking
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM ---  The crown of Rotary Park, the bandstand, was  looking a little tarnished.
The number of events and performances that had taken place on the bandstand stage extension over the last 14 years had taken its toll.
The deck was made of simple plywood and after 14 years, there was warping, rotting and some wear and tear, said Parks and Recreation Director Willie Bousquet. "It was losing integrity," he added.
When the bandstand was first used, Bousquet said, the town realized that an extension was needed.
The stage extension has "just enhanced performances in the park," said Bousquet. But it needed replacing after so many years of service.
The Putnam Rotary Club joined with the town to get the stage extension decking replaced.  Karen Osbrey, the club's project chair, applied for a Rotary District 7890 grant. The club won a grant for $1,750 and added $2,000 from the Putnam Rotary Club's budget. That covered the materials, according to Bousquet. The town kicked in the labor to install the decking.
Osbrey, in her application for the Rotary grant, said the project would benefit the community because it would expose everyone to the arts --- free. Over the years, she said, the facility has hosted "both amateur and professional performances ... everything from high school band and choral concerts, dance recitals, martial arts demonstrations, acrobats and magicians to professional symphonies, opera performances, military bands and Shakespeare in the Park" and  more. "
The decking, which measures 32 by 16 feet,  was replaced with Trex. "It's a nice decking that will last for a long long time," Bousquet said.
"We'll continue to have the ability to accommodate large groups and the ability to accommodate performers," he added.

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