Centaurs finish 3rd in Class M state championship
The Woodstock Academy gymnastics team put together its best team score of the season.
But even that was not enough to carry the Centaurs to the top of the state this season.
The Centaurs finished third in the Class M state championship meet Saturday at Jonathan Law High School in Milford.
Woodstock Academy posted a 137.45 total, which fell short of winner Ellington/Tolland (142.575) and Fairfield Warde (138.1).
The third-place finish ended a run by the Centaurs that saw them win 11 consecutive state titles.
“This was definitely a really tough division,” said Woodstock Academy coach Kasey Tocchio. “The girls, honestly, had a great meet. That’s all you can hope for is that it is a great day and you walk away proud and we did that (Saturday).”
The Centaurs were not the favorites going in.
They were ranked fourth.
“There are just some teams that have more depth than we do with start values and the like. It’s hard to keep up in a sense, but I’m so proud of the girls for their execution of the routines they had,” Tocchio said.
Sophomore Olivia Aleman had a fine performance as she finished first on the floor (9.55) and bars (9.5) and tied for first in vault (9.35) for a 37.075 All-Around total.
No individual awards are given at the state championship meets.
“She had a great day. She had a little mistake on the beam but other than that, she dominated as usual,”
Tocchio said.
Tocchio thought freshman Julia Kerr hit all four of her events as she finished tied for third on the floor with a 9.45 and also scored a 9.0 on beam which helped her finish with a 35.35 All-Around total.
“Everybody hit all of the routines that they did,” Tocchio said. “Maddy (Martinez) probably had her best meet of the season. Emma Long put in a new pass on floor so I really felt like all six kids really contributed (Saturday) and did their absolute best.”
The season is not over for the Centaurs as the team qualified for the State Open championship this Saturday at New Milford High School as the fourth seed.
