Roundup
Girls’ track
gets 3rd in
State MM;
6th at Open
Rain and Saturday just seem to go together this spring.
The past two weeks certainly offered up that combination and on both dates, the Woodstock Academy boys’ and girls’ track teams were affected.
The two teams were supposed to compete in the Class MM state championship in New Britain on May 31 but that was pushed back to last Tuesday by inclement weather.
It didn’t seem to bother the Centaurs girls all that much as they finished third as a team.
It did, however, mean a shorter time to prepare for the State Open championship which was run on Saturday, this time, in the rain.
The Centaurs girls finished sixth overall at the Open.
Things were going really well early for the track team at the Class MM state championship Tuesday.
In one of the first events to finish, junior Avery Plouffe won an individual state championship in the shotput with a throw of 39-feet, 1-inch. That was followed shortly thereafter by fellow junior Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain winning a state title in the javelin with a throw of 122-4.
“It definitely felt good, especially back-to-back; it feels like I kind of belong now. You always get that little imposter syndrome having just picked up javelin last year (and winning a state title). It felt good to win and even better for the team to sweep the throws,” D’Alleva-Bochain said.
A little later on, Lily Morgis captured first in the discus with a heave of 125-08.to complete the sweep of the throwing events for the Centaurs.
“That was a cool moment for all of us,” D’Alleva-Bochain said.
But getting first place finishes after that was much more difficult and the Centaurs finished with 75 1/2 points, third best in the state behind Hillhouse (94) and Mercy (79).
“The third-place team finish shows the consistency in our team over the last few years. We’ve been up and in the meet and clearly a team to beat for a while now,” coach Josh Welch said. “I’m always hopeful it will be our day at the top but both Hillhouse and Mercy had excellent performances throughout the meet and just had a bit of better day then we had”
Still, Welch was more than pleased with the performance of his throwing trio.
“The sweep at the throws was awesome and made up almost half the points on the meet so that really helped us stay up top. Definitely something we knew was possible going into the meet but each of the throwers really clicked to make that happen. Lily hitting the school record in the discus in the process was definitely a special bonus there. Avery Plouffe also bettered her school record by a few inches,” Welch said.
On the track, the Centaurs did get several second-place finishes. Senior Juliet Allard did so in the 200-meter (25.34 seconds) and in the 300-meter hurdles (45.35).
“Juliet missed first by 1/100th of a second in the 200m and 5/10ths of a second in the 300m hurdles so both were very narrow misses for her. Both were also improvements on her school records. So clearly she was at her best, as was the competition,” Welch said.
Junior Emma Weitknecht also posted a runner-up finish in the 100-meter hurdles (15.4).
The 4x400-meter relay team of Bella Amlaw, Weitknecht, Allard and Elise Coyle earned a third-place finish. The quartet set a school record, finishing in 4 minutes, two seconds, and was just a half-second out of first place.
“That half of a second the 4x400 alone would have put us second as a team. Can’t ask for much more than the best the girls have ever done, but it shows how close the meet really was in the top few teams,” Welch said.
Ella Lidonde was fifth in the triple jump as she cleared 34-6.
Saturday was the State Open championship. There were no individual firsts for the Centaurs.
Plouffe did take a second in the shotput and the foursome of Allard, Amlaw, Weitknecht and Coyle placed second in the 4x400m relay.
The Centaurs also captured the school record with that effort in the relay as they finished in 3:57.64.
Allard also broke her own record in the 300m hurdles where she placed fourth and qualified for the New England Championship in 45.33 seconds.
Whether or not Allard and other seniors who have qualified for the New England championship will compete or not is still up to question. The New England Championship meet is scheduled for this Saturday at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.
Graduation ceremonies for Woodstock Academy also take place on Saturday.
Morgis finished third in the discus and D’Alleva-Bochain was sixth in javelin with the junior qualifying for the New England’s in the process.
Girls’ Golf
The girls’ golf team picked a good day to have a great day. The Centaurs put up their best score of the season, a 188 total, and finished second to Norwich Free Academy in the ECC championship tournament Wednesday.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. We had our best score of the year; three of our four players had their best round of the year. I knew (Norwich Free Academy) would be a load to get by and it turned out that they were. They played really well,” said coach Earl Semmelrock. “Second place is more than respectable.”
NFA finished with a 173 total to place first in the event with Killingly in third at 193.
Sophomore Reagan Scheck, as she has been most of the season, was the medalist for the Centaurs as she carded a season-low 39.
That was just one stroke back of Wheeler High freshman Sakura Downing. The youngster doubled bogeyed the seventh hole but leapfrogged Scheck, Kendra St. Marie of Killingly and Caroline Godaire of NFA, all three of whom finished with a 3-over par 39, by getting birdies on the last two holes.
“I’m very happy with that score,” Scheck said. “This is my lowest score. I’m just happy to break 40. It was kind of hard because the past week has not been great. I pulled myself together to a competitive state and just played golf.”
One advantage for Scheck which was shared by Godaire, St. Marie and Stonington’s Adilyn Risley, who shot a 44, was that everyone in the foursome played well.
“I think if I have competition, it makes me perform better and everyone else just performs better,” Scheck said.
She thought her driver and putter worked pretty well for her over the nine holes.
“She excels with the driver and is learning to be a better wedge player. She really likes competition and when you turn the bright lights on; she can find a way to show up and can really help the team. She had been struggling a bit lately with her irons so I didn’t expect what she did (Wednesday). She just found a way to get around the golf course and put together her best score of the year,” Semmelrock said.
Junior Lilliana Moran placed second for the Centaurs with a 45 which was also a season low.
“She has improved so much over the last 8-10 weeks. I just have to have some time with her so that she understands how good she can be,” Semmelrock said of Moran.
Bella Mawson, the only senior on the roster, finished with a 50 and freshman Colbie O’Connor added a 54.
“This year, we had no idea what we were getting into and to finish in second in the ECC (tournament) and getting second-place myself, just feels awesome,” Scheck said.
The season is not over for the Centaurs. They finished seeded 12th in CIAC Div. II and were due to compete in the state tournament on Tuesday in Trumbull.
“We already have the letter, booked the hotel rooms and we’re headed down,” Semmelrock said with a smile. “It’s going to be really good for those like Reagan who want the competition. She will see what it’s like. The big difference is, it’s 18 holes, and the girls have only played nine. That’s nine more chances to make a mistake, nine more balls to lose, or on the flip side, it’s nine more chances to have good holes. It’s a great learning experience for them.”
What’s even better, only Mawson will not be around to remember it next year.
“All the girls seem to be excited about improving and coming back. I would say the future is bright,” the coach added.
Scheck was named a first team ECC All-Star with Moran getting honorable mention. Scheck was also the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete with Finlay Hamilton being named the ECC Sportsmanship recipient.
Baseball
It was a daunting task. Go on the road to face the top-seeded team in the Class L state tournament knowing that your ace pitcher is not available.
The baseball team was up to the task.
Unfortunately, the Brookfield Bobcats were as well and held off the defending state champs, 1-0, in a Class L state tournament second-round game.
“What more can you ask for? Sometimes, you lose games,” Woodstock Academy coach Connor Elliott said. “They didn’t give us the game; we didn’t give them the game, it was just two good teams playing. If that is a seven-game series, it could have gone 3-3 and be decided in Game 7. It was just the luck of the draw.”
The loss ended the Centaurs 12-game win streak and their season with a 17-8 final record.
Logan Coutu pitched well, allowing only one run in five innings, for the Centaurs.
Both of those came in the fourth inning when Brookfield senior captain Matt McDowell drew a lead-off walk.
Matt Ackerly followed with the only hit off Coutu, a double that put runners at second and third with no one out.
Phil Colla delivered the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly as Coutu got out of the jam with a line out and strikeout.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs could do little against McDowell who pitched the first five innings, allowed two hits and struck out eight and Michael Graham who pitched the final two innings and allowed only one hit.
The only Centaurs threat came in the third inning when Will Bushey had a one-out single. One out later, Brady Ericson moved him over to third with a single but was caught trying to steal second base.
“Quite frankly, that might have been a little too aggressive on my part. I should have held it back a little bit but my thought is always that you have to make them stop us first and they did. We just didn’t have too many other chances to do something different,” Elliott said.
Tanner Graham had the only other hit, a single, in the seventh and stole second but was stranded there.
Woodstock had advanced to the second round of the tournament with a 4-0 win over Masuk. As Ericson goes, so go the Centaurs — Ericson went a long way. In one swing.
Batting leadoff, the senior fought back to a 2-2 count against Masuk starter Justin Fanning.
The righty then gave Ericson the pitch that he was looking for and in his first at-bat in his last game in a Woodstock Academy uniform, Ericson took him yard over the right field fence for a lead-off homer.
“The best part about pitching is also hitting. I was confident in my pitching out there and I knew if I could lead off, get us a run, get us something on the board, it would just bring the team energy up. We ended up putting two more runs in that inning and stole another later. Getting us going from the jump is something I have been working on all year,” Ericson said.
It was just Ericson’s second home run of the season, and first at Bentley this season.
“It woke me up,” said left fielder Bradley Blair with a smile. “I didn’t get much sleep last night but that got me up and ready for the game.”
Caleb Simoneau followed by drawing a walk and stole second. Hayden Maloney singled to put runners at the corners and Matt Hernandez followed with an RBI single, his 14th RBI of the year which tied him for team best with Simoneau. Maloney also came around on the play on an error to give Ericson a 3-0 lead.
Masuk (14-9) didn’t have a chance.
Ericson was sparkling again as he pitched a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts.
“I thought that was the best performance I have seen from him,” Elliott said. “Obviously, the state championship performance on three day’s rest was something special. I’ve seen him strikeout 20 guys in a game and pitch a no-hitter but I thought this game was better in terms of control, the mix of pitches and keeping (Masuk) off balance. Masuk is a very good team, they handed Brookfield their only loss. That’s a team that can swing it and he was in total control.”
The Centaurs got Ericson one more run in the fourth inning when Blair singled, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Cam Nason single and scored on a balk call.
Blair went 3-for-3 at the plate with two singles and a double.
“I was letting it travel (Monday). The other day, I had some at-bats where I should have done some things and I didn’t. I knew if I just stayed back, let it travel and trust myself, it would work. It did,” Blair said.
Maloney was the only other player with a pair of singles.
“This was just a special, special group,” Elliott said of his seniors. “All the accolades that Brady and the other seniors have received. Four years in the program, four (Eastern Connecticut Conference) championship games, two ECC championship titles, the state championship. We won a couple of divisions in there, too. It’s the class that has defined Woodstock Academy baseball, the class that other classes will be compared to, and a standard that they will have to try and achieve in the future.”
Boys’ Track
Breaking records at Woodstock Academy has almost become old hat for senior Christian Menounos.
It seems like every event he takes part in, he brings home, at least, one more place where his name will appear in the school record books for boys’ track and field.
On Saturday at the CIAC State Open. Menounos improved on two of his own marks already in the books.
He finished third overall in the 1600m race at the State Open in a record 4 minutes, 14.78 seconds.
He got a quick drink and was back on the track 45 minutes later to compete in the 800m.
He finished in ninth overall with another new school mark(1:54.64).
Colton Sallum also brought home a school record from the State Open as he finished the 3200m in 9:32.32.
Earlier in the week, Menounos had a fine day at the Class MM state track championship..
Menounos picked up a pair of second-place finishes in both the 800-meter race (1:57.22) and the 1600-meter (4:18.32). Sallum was third in the 3200-meters (9:38.19). Eli Manning placed fourth in the javelin and eighth in the discus as the Centaurs finished 10th as a team in the competition.
“I think the same idea applies to all three of them. Their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm for what they do has really come together for them in the past couple of weeks,” said coach Gerry LaMontagne. “It hasn’t been easy for any of them but coach (Josh) Welch has done tremendous work preparing and guiding Christian and Colton. Eli has really come into his own this season as well. From a coaching perspective, it’s very gratifying to watch them have this success at this point in their track careers and we are really enjoying watching them compete and flourish in the biggest meets of the season.”
Boys’ Volleyball
The experience was the key for the boys’ volleyball team.
The youthful Centaurs, ranked 10th in the Class M state tournament, lost to No.7 Pomperaug in a second-round match, 3-1.
That was the bad news.
The good news was that the majority of the team, with the notable exception of senior Nathan Billings, returns next season.
“We have all sophomores and to get to this level and the championship match of our (Connecticut Volleyball League) tournament, is just going to help them learn and get better,” said coach Adam Bottone. “While it stinks to lose, and they’re upset about it, this will help them for sure.”
The nice thing, Bottone will not have the majority of this team for one year, but rather two.
“Everyone whom we have been playing against has been saying they will be watching out for us. They know we’re up-and-coming, that we will be good and will be competing. Even one of the officials the other day said that they’re keeping us on their radar for the future. This is definitely a fun group, partially because my son (Brayden) is there but I’ve gotten to know the guys pretty well. A lot of them are close-knit, good friends,” the coach said.
Evan Chernik had six kills and 13 service points for the Centaurs in the loss while Owen Budd led the team with 11 kills and Brayden Bottone added six.
Christian Hart again paced the defense with 12 digs.
“Pomperaug was a solid team with really good hitters, a solid middle who blocked a lot of balls. They were beatable. They made a lot of errors and we took a set from them and were competitive. It’s just time and experience. I think we need a little of each,” Adam Bottone said.
Brayden Bottone led the team in kills this season with 216 while Budd added 187 and had a team-best 46 blocks. Jake Henderson finished with 470 assists, Hart had 277 digs and 45 aces. Billings topped the team with 145 service points and 31 aces.
Boys’ Golf
It wasn’t what the boys’ golf team wanted at the ECC championship tournament. “There was a lot of struggling going on out there,” said Centaurs coach Rich Garceau.
It wasn’t only Woodstock, other teams too were paying the price for the first 90-plus degree day since August of 2024, which came when teams had to play 18 holes.
The one team that did not struggle was Norwich Free Academy which finished with a 322 total, 10 strokes better than East Lyme to win the league title.
Waterford was 10 strokes back of the Vikings with Griswold (345) in fourth.
The Centaurs had to settle for an eighth-place tie with Fitch and Bacon Academy with a 359 total.
“I don’t know if it was our best effort but we tried, tried very hard. To that end, I actually believe that they were trying too hard. They were trying to force things to happen, they wanted to win and I know there was a lot of frustration out there, because they are a team that probably could have (won), but they struggled,” Garceau said.
Senior Jayden Fuller was best for the Centaurs with a 12-over par, 84, tied for 14th.
“He played well, had some struggles, too, We did struggle on the greens a bit. The greens were pretty quick, quicker even than Quinnatisset believe it or not. Jayden was a real shining star for us as he has been all year,” Garceau said.
Fellow senior Logan Rawson was five strokes back of his teammate.
“He started out a little slow but kind of pulled it together which was pleasing. I think the guys learned a lot from (Thursday) that, hopefully, they can carry over and redeem themselves in the state tournament,” Garceau said.
The Centaurs are ranked eighth in Div. II and played in the state tournament on Monday.
“I think they’re ready,” Garceau said. “We have not had a chance to go and play a practice round there so they will be going in with a clean slate. I’m kind of happy that they haven’t seen it and, hopefully, they go in with a completely different mindset and do really well.”
Rawson was the only ECC All-Star for the Centaurs with Fuller named as the recipient of the team’s ECC Sportsmanship Award and Brady Hebert is the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete.
Softball
The volleyball team wasn’t not the only one hoping that state tournament experience would benefit the program in the future, the same sentiment was being echoed by the softball team.
After missing out last year, the Centaurs qualified for the Class L tournament this season as the 27th seed.
The run didn’t last long as they had to play No. 6 Ledyard for a third time this season and for a third time, the Colonels prevailed, this time by an 11-6 score.
“Especially after missing the state tournament last year, I was thrilled we got into it this year and lengthen our season even if it was for just one game,” said first-year coach Hannah Burgess. “I do wish we would have pulled through the first round to continue even farther. Being a competitor, winning and moving forward really was the goal so just making it there wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for. That being said, the team proved that wasn’t what they wanted either when we began a two-out rally in the bottom of the 7th trying to chip away at our deficit. Although the outcome was not in our favor, I could not have asked for better fight and persistence from the team in our final game of the season.”
The Centaurs gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning but halved the deficit in the top of the second when senior Kaya Nichols came around to score on a base hit by freshman Ella Chitmanotham
Ledyard put the Centaurs deep in the hole, however, when it scored four times in the bottom of the inning and once more in each of the following two innings.
Woodstock responded with a run in the sixth when Ellary Sampson doubled and came home later on a ground out.
The Colonels added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth but the Centaurs weren’t quite ready to go home yet.
Faith Sortwell led off the seventh with a triple and Chitmanotham drove her in with a base hit.
Two outs later, Sampson walked and Maddie Bloom drove in both Chitmanotham and Sampson with a triple. Grace Delsanto then singled in Bloom in her last at-bat as a Centaurs before a strikeout ended their comeback hopes.
“After having played Ledyard three times, I am definitely happy with our efforts against them this past game. Our prior two games we scored little to no runs and being able to put up six runs especially those runs coming in the bottom of the seventh with two outs was really exciting. There were definitely some plays on the field, where a couple of their runs should not have scored, and I believe that was truly a determining factor in if we won or not. But overall, I am really happy with our efforts, grit, and determination when we showed up in the bottom of the seventh to try to win the game,” Burgess said of the late rally.
The loss ended the season for the Centaurs who finished with an 8-13 overall record.
“The season definitely showed progress that will help for next year. In regard to leadership, our four juniors took on roles of leadership this year that I am 100% sure they will continue into their senior season. Moreover, we had three freshman starters on the varsity team this year who I know will continue to contribute to this team and efforts to win next year,” Burgess said.
There will be some holes to fill especially in the pitching circle as both Delsanto and Nichols graduate on Saturday.
“I think that’s a really exciting opportunity to see who will step up and dominate the circle next year. I also know that we will be having a lot of incoming freshmen next year, which is very promising for our program since we will definitely have some spots on the field open to compete for,” Burgess said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
2025 Woodstock Academy girls golf: The Woodstock Academy girls’ golf team celebrated at the Quinnatisset Country Club last week after a 2nd-place finish in the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship tournament. (Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy)
Brady H jpg: Woodstock Academy sophomore Brady Hebert chips on to the green at the 13th hole during the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship tournament at the Connecticut National Golf Club. (Photo by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy)
Logan.jpg: Eastern Connecticut Conference All-Star, Logan Rawson, a senior at Woodstock Academy tees off on the 13th hole at the Connecticut National Golf Club during the ECC championship tournament (Photo by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy)
123.1: Those who helped the Woodstock Academy boys and girls track team score points during the State Open Championship gathered together at the end at Willow Brook Park in New Britain. (Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.
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