Woonsocket Principal Henderson joins RIIL's Principals' Committee on Athletics
*SEE SCHOOL EVENTS PAGE (UNDER THE NOVAN NEWSPAPER)
FOR ATHLETIC AWARDS BANQUET WINNERS
Track and Field
The Novan Newspaper stopped by a team practice to see Connor Fugere, Woonsocket High School Class of 2014 graduate helping out the team. On college break from Northeastern, Connor is also competing in shot put and weight throw for the university. The WHS team is led by the coaching staff of Mr. George Briggs, the Boys’ Head Coach, Mrs. Barbara Daluz, the distance coach, and Mr. Mark Piette, the Girls’ Head Coach. Coach Briggs is a graduate of Woonsocket High School’s Class of 1963. He taught Social Studies and English at WHS for 35 years. He works with the team on jumps, sprints, hurdles, and relays. Mrs. Daluz, a Woonsocket High School Alumna and Hall of Famer, is an undefeated All-American at Auburn who works with distance runners and is a tremendous asset to the team according to Coach Briggs. Mr. Piette, who is a Woonsocket High School Alumni, works with students on throwing.
Team Captains, who are like Assistant Coaches according to Coach Briggs are:
Jarod Briere, Sophomore
Kyle Beaulieu, Junior
Will Flores, Senior
Keith Gillette, Junior
Briannah Plasse, Senior
Tara Rochefort, Senior
Amanda Taft, Senior
In a recent interview with Coach Briggs, he told The Novan Newspaper that his team are the top students academically and are role models for others. An example of that is junior captain Keith Gillette who was voted Student of the Month in October by the RI Interscholastic League. The coaches have a young team this year that consists of 35 boys and 22 girls; they compete in Class A Large. The challenges facing the team include holidays, exams, flu season, the weather, after school jobs, and other activities students are involved in, it is very difficult to get time together. The third Saturday in February is the state meet and the first weekend in March is when the New England Championships are being held in Providence at the Providence Career and Technical Academy (PTCA) on Weybosset Street across from Citizens Bank.
ABOUT COACH DALUZ
Coach DaLuz graduated from WHS in 1988. She has been a special education science teacher at WHS since 2006. She told the Novan News, “I was hired by then Principal ,George Nasuti, who shook my hand and said, "Welcome back to the Woonsocket team!"
Coach DaLuz was inducted into the WHS Hall of Fame in 2009 for having held the RI state record for the 1500 meter dash for 22 years.She also won 9 state championship titles in cross-country and outdoor track (indoor track was not offered to women during that time) during her high school career at WHS. She competed in the TAC Junior Olympics during my high school career as well, which afforded her the luxury of traveling across the country (a big deal for a little girl living in Morin Heights with a single mother of three living on government assistance).
As a senior in high school Coach DaLuz was ranked number 2 in the country for women her age and this ultimately earned her a full athletic scholarship to the Division 1 school Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. She started receiving recruitment letters for schools across the country as a freshman in high school, and really could have gone to any school of my choice. She chose Auburn because when they flew her out there to visit their school and she fell in love with the facilities and equipment... everything was state of the art and Big Time!! She was the Auburn University MVP her freshman year, competed at the NCAA's, the Penn Relays, and still hold rankings in the school's records.
Coach DaLuz began coaching last year for the outdoor track team. She has always intended to coach the runners at the high school. However, when asked by coach Briggs and George Nasuti numerous times since 2006, she declined. She told the Novan News, “I am a single mother of three children and felt that I wouldn't be able to devote the time necessary to my athletes and fulfill my parenting duties at the same time.” This perspective changed following the untimely and tragic passing of my childhood and adult athletic, academic, and professional mentor, Mr. George Nasuti.
During the memorial services for Mr. Nasuti, she sat in the gymnasium along with hundreds of other people whom he had afflicted with his contagious and insatiable drive for excellence in all areas of life. She thought to herself, “My God, this man dedicated his whole life - hours of time and energy - to ensure that students such as myself ‘make it.’” I would not be the person that I am today, or as accomplished as I am today if it hadn't been for the dedication of the coaches and teachers right here at the Woonsocket High School!!” She sat there and listened to Mr. Henderson and Mr. Benjamin and adult after adult whom all had a similar story to her own to tell, and thought to herself, “It's time.... Now is the time...... I need to give back now..... I needed to make it happen....” She felt that she needed to continue to maintain and preserve the great programs that Mr. Nasuti had worked so hard to establish, maintain, and save throughout the years. She needed to step up to the plate and do her part as a member of the WHS family.
At that very moment she decided with absolute conviction that it was time to go to Coach Briggs and announce that she was ready to coach the young men and women runners at Woonsocket High School. That is just what she did following the memorial services that Coach Briggs was also in attendance for ..... another childhood and now adult mentor of hers... who had made it clear to her many times that he would love nothing more than to coach with her and wouldn't be able to retire peacefully unless he knew that the right person was going to take his place. However, she have informed him that he will never be able to retire unless he can't physically work a stop watch!! She hopes that Coach Briggs and she will have many years together. He has always been her number one fan and she has always been his. It's a nice partnership; they really compliment each other. She does all of the running around chasing fundraisers and owed uniforms and he is a fantastic historian in a sort of "Rain-man" way. He never ceases to amaze her. She says, “No matter what course we ran or what track we went to...Coach Briggs would recite to me my personal achievements from back in the 80's! He always said he knows more about what I have done than I do!” In addition, Coach Briggs tells her that she’s always been that way... “I never quite knew exactly how good I was and never bragged or talked about my accomplishments.” She goes on to share more about Coach Briggs, “He is the only man that I know to have worked as a teacher at WHS for 32 years and retire with perfect attendance!!! All while being a single dad raising three young daughters, coaching, and being a dedicated parishioner at his church!”
ABOUT COACH PIETTE
Coach Piette started coaching indoor track in December of 2007 and outdoor track in April of 2008 as an assistant coach (throws coach) for both boys and girls. He became the girls indoor and outdoor track head coach beginning in the 2012-13 school year and also remained assistant throws coach for the boys team.
He started teaching physical and health education district wide during the 2008-2009 school year. He graduated from WHS in 2000 and was a four year athlete on the football, indoor and outdoor track teams! He went on to go to the colleges URI, CCRI, RIC and participated in track at all three schools!
Starting in 2012-2013 track season Coach Piette started a new venture with his coaching and that was traveling to huge meets with any athletes that have qualified. In 2012-13 he brought three athletes to New York for Indoor Nationals and two to Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina and another three to New York for the New York Relays. Also, he brought one athlete to NC for Junior Olympic Championships, and one to Illinois for USA Youth Nationals!
Last year, he took six athletes to Indoor Nationals in New York, six to New York relays in New York, six to North Carolina for Outdoor Nationals, and three to Junior Olympic championships in Houston, Texas! All in all he has had four All Americans, nine athletes finishing in the top 10 at the National Championships and another in 14th!
The throwing program at WHS is currently the most successful athletic group in the school! They won both Student Athletes of the Year at WHS last year and both received big athletic scholarships, Connor Fugere (Northeastern ) and Cheyenne Nalle (Texas A&M Kingsville)!
Currently, Coach has six highly ranked weight throwers in the country on the WHS team:
- Jared Briere #26 in country and #3 sophomore in country
- Dilyn Cote #55 in country and #7 sophomore in country
- Jacob Greenless #65 in country and #8 sophomore in country
- Tara Rochefort #48 in country
- Ashley Martinez #72 in country
- Amanda Taft #81 in country
Team Captains, who are like Assistant Coaches according to Coach Briggs are:
Jarod Briere, Sophomore
Kyle Beaulieu, Junior
Will Flores, Senior
Keith Gillette, Junior
Briannah Plasse, Senior
Tara Rochefort, Senior
Amanda Taft, Senior
In a recent interview with Coach Briggs, he told The Novan Newspaper that his team are the top students academically and are role models for others. An example of that is junior captain Keith Gillette who was voted Student of the Month in October by the RI Interscholastic League. The coaches have a young team this year that consists of 35 boys and 22 girls; they compete in Class A Large. The challenges facing the team include holidays, exams, flu season, the weather, after school jobs, and other activities students are involved in, it is very difficult to get time together. The third Saturday in February is the state meet and the first weekend in March is when the New England Championships are being held in Providence at the Providence Career and Technical Academy (PTCA) on Weybosset Street across from Citizens Bank.
ABOUT COACH DALUZ
Coach DaLuz graduated from WHS in 1988. She has been a special education science teacher at WHS since 2006. She told the Novan News, “I was hired by then Principal ,George Nasuti, who shook my hand and said, "Welcome back to the Woonsocket team!"
Coach DaLuz was inducted into the WHS Hall of Fame in 2009 for having held the RI state record for the 1500 meter dash for 22 years.She also won 9 state championship titles in cross-country and outdoor track (indoor track was not offered to women during that time) during her high school career at WHS. She competed in the TAC Junior Olympics during my high school career as well, which afforded her the luxury of traveling across the country (a big deal for a little girl living in Morin Heights with a single mother of three living on government assistance).
As a senior in high school Coach DaLuz was ranked number 2 in the country for women her age and this ultimately earned her a full athletic scholarship to the Division 1 school Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. She started receiving recruitment letters for schools across the country as a freshman in high school, and really could have gone to any school of my choice. She chose Auburn because when they flew her out there to visit their school and she fell in love with the facilities and equipment... everything was state of the art and Big Time!! She was the Auburn University MVP her freshman year, competed at the NCAA's, the Penn Relays, and still hold rankings in the school's records.
Coach DaLuz began coaching last year for the outdoor track team. She has always intended to coach the runners at the high school. However, when asked by coach Briggs and George Nasuti numerous times since 2006, she declined. She told the Novan News, “I am a single mother of three children and felt that I wouldn't be able to devote the time necessary to my athletes and fulfill my parenting duties at the same time.” This perspective changed following the untimely and tragic passing of my childhood and adult athletic, academic, and professional mentor, Mr. George Nasuti.
During the memorial services for Mr. Nasuti, she sat in the gymnasium along with hundreds of other people whom he had afflicted with his contagious and insatiable drive for excellence in all areas of life. She thought to herself, “My God, this man dedicated his whole life - hours of time and energy - to ensure that students such as myself ‘make it.’” I would not be the person that I am today, or as accomplished as I am today if it hadn't been for the dedication of the coaches and teachers right here at the Woonsocket High School!!” She sat there and listened to Mr. Henderson and Mr. Benjamin and adult after adult whom all had a similar story to her own to tell, and thought to herself, “It's time.... Now is the time...... I need to give back now..... I needed to make it happen....” She felt that she needed to continue to maintain and preserve the great programs that Mr. Nasuti had worked so hard to establish, maintain, and save throughout the years. She needed to step up to the plate and do her part as a member of the WHS family.
At that very moment she decided with absolute conviction that it was time to go to Coach Briggs and announce that she was ready to coach the young men and women runners at Woonsocket High School. That is just what she did following the memorial services that Coach Briggs was also in attendance for ..... another childhood and now adult mentor of hers... who had made it clear to her many times that he would love nothing more than to coach with her and wouldn't be able to retire peacefully unless he knew that the right person was going to take his place. However, she have informed him that he will never be able to retire unless he can't physically work a stop watch!! She hopes that Coach Briggs and she will have many years together. He has always been her number one fan and she has always been his. It's a nice partnership; they really compliment each other. She does all of the running around chasing fundraisers and owed uniforms and he is a fantastic historian in a sort of "Rain-man" way. He never ceases to amaze her. She says, “No matter what course we ran or what track we went to...Coach Briggs would recite to me my personal achievements from back in the 80's! He always said he knows more about what I have done than I do!” In addition, Coach Briggs tells her that she’s always been that way... “I never quite knew exactly how good I was and never bragged or talked about my accomplishments.” She goes on to share more about Coach Briggs, “He is the only man that I know to have worked as a teacher at WHS for 32 years and retire with perfect attendance!!! All while being a single dad raising three young daughters, coaching, and being a dedicated parishioner at his church!”
ABOUT COACH PIETTE
Coach Piette started coaching indoor track in December of 2007 and outdoor track in April of 2008 as an assistant coach (throws coach) for both boys and girls. He became the girls indoor and outdoor track head coach beginning in the 2012-13 school year and also remained assistant throws coach for the boys team.
He started teaching physical and health education district wide during the 2008-2009 school year. He graduated from WHS in 2000 and was a four year athlete on the football, indoor and outdoor track teams! He went on to go to the colleges URI, CCRI, RIC and participated in track at all three schools!
Starting in 2012-2013 track season Coach Piette started a new venture with his coaching and that was traveling to huge meets with any athletes that have qualified. In 2012-13 he brought three athletes to New York for Indoor Nationals and two to Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina and another three to New York for the New York Relays. Also, he brought one athlete to NC for Junior Olympic Championships, and one to Illinois for USA Youth Nationals!
Last year, he took six athletes to Indoor Nationals in New York, six to New York relays in New York, six to North Carolina for Outdoor Nationals, and three to Junior Olympic championships in Houston, Texas! All in all he has had four All Americans, nine athletes finishing in the top 10 at the National Championships and another in 14th!
The throwing program at WHS is currently the most successful athletic group in the school! They won both Student Athletes of the Year at WHS last year and both received big athletic scholarships, Connor Fugere (Northeastern ) and Cheyenne Nalle (Texas A&M Kingsville)!
Currently, Coach has six highly ranked weight throwers in the country on the WHS team:
- Jared Briere #26 in country and #3 sophomore in country
- Dilyn Cote #55 in country and #7 sophomore in country
- Jacob Greenless #65 in country and #8 sophomore in country
- Tara Rochefort #48 in country
- Ashley Martinez #72 in country
- Amanda Taft #81 in country
Varsity Girls' Volleyball Game
A very entertaining series, just like the JV series, though a lot of mistakes were made on both sides. Games 1 and 2 were a tale of two teams; game 1 was about a dominating Novan squad and game 2 was basically a Novan team playing catch up the entire game. Game 3 was by far the most entertaining with back and forth action by both teams. It was tough down the stretch considering that the Burrillville Broncos had an answer for every move the Novans made. They pulled it out with a few clutch plays to get the lead and hold it at the end. But winning wasn’t meant to be with Burrillville taking games 4 and 5 with a combined total of 40 to 23. Woonsocket looked out of gas and out of sync after that tough game 3 win. The coach, Mrs. Schmidt, was happy they hung in there but would have liked if they would have won. “We don’t have a lot of experience on the team,” she said, “there were a few mistakes, but the biggest thing was confidence”. Hopefully the Novans improve next time.
- Dennis Castillo
Jv Girls' Volleyball Game
This JV Novan team hadn’t exactly been doing so well prior to the game against Burrillville , though they did win their last game. Coach Schmidt had been changing lineups to hopefully instill confidence. “They lack confidence and don’t have enough belief in themselves,” she said. They also had a lack of practices that week and some players were out due to illness. The Lady Novans had a decent night winning 2 out of 3 games, scoring high numbers in both games. A lot of errors were made however (out of bounds due to bad hits/serves), but overall better communication on both sides with a few good saves to go with it on the defensive side. Not to say that the games were perfect (Burrillville scored 15 in both matches), defensively there were a few miscues and on offense not much was getting done with strong serves going out of bounds or weak serves hitting the net. Either way the Broncos were too late to stage a comeback, being down early. “We played very well, there was better communication on both sides,” said Coach Schmidt. According to Coach, the third game was, “just new players getting used to the game and the style of play.” Let’s see if they can keep it going.
- Dennis Castillo
Goodbye Mr. November
As his final days were counting down, Derek Jeter was waiting for the end, at least it looked like it. After a 20-year venture in Yankee pinstripes, the Captain called it a career. As I go through the memories from the four titles in five years to “Mr. November”, I have nothing but praise for Number 2. In an era full of drugs in baseball, Jeter was the one who had success and was clean at the same time. Never tied to PED’s (performance enhancing drugs) or scandal, he still managed to be one of the best shortstops in the league for 20 years, Jeter long ago became a Hall-of-Famer but still continued to amaze us with clutch hits and countless milestones like the 3,000th hit versus the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011. That moment brought everything together with that homer; when you have 3,000 hits with one team, and them being the Yankees, you’ve done something right. But that was Jeter being Jeter as usual which is what we’re accustomed to as the years have come and gone. He was doing nothing different than he had been doing for these last two decades; playing every game like his last.- Dennis Castillo
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Mr. I'm Sorry and the reality of the Yankee Middle Lineup
Alex Rodriguez is back, yay! not really. Honestly at this point i’m speechless and i don’t accept his apology letter (yes he wrote a letter, decent handwriting to say the least). I don’t want to hear “I’m sorry” out of his mouth again, it’s not valid anymore. Just go and play, forget the roids and the lies because regardless of what he is still in pinstripes for the next 3 years worth 61 million dollars. Granted he cheated and he’s wrong for it, but the Yankees aren’t going to cut him because of what I just mentioned. Being a Yankee fan has been rough enough, and I’m not saying that he’s in the clear because he’s not. All I’m saying is he’s here might at well play him. If he can help us (and Lord knows we need it) then that’s all i’m asking. I mean what do we have? Teixiera?, Beltran?, Ellsbury?. All 3 of those guys were hurt last year and we missed the playoffs again. Tex has been hurt since he signed in 2009 (not really it just feels like it), Beltran had an elbow issue and played with it later in the year. Got signed for 3 YEARS and somewhere around 40 million bucks, and he’s 36 turning 37. Great. Then there is the Ellsbury deal, 7 years 153 million dollars. First off is that the deal is 4 years too long, and 103 million dollars too expensive. And really that’s it but i will say he isn’t really a power hitter other than his 2011 season which was 4 years ago. So i am hoping that he can help a middle lineup that needs a lot more than one person. -Dennis Castillo