Cross Country Teams Sweep At Home
Newtown High School's girls' and boys' cross country teams both earned wins over each of their three opponents in a home meet, on the Fairfield Hills trails adjacent to Reed Intermediate School, on a muggy September 20 evening.
The girls bested Brookfield 19-44, Joel Barlow of Redding 19-44, and Notre Dame-Fairfield 15-50. The boys beat Brookfield 17-44, Barlow 15-50, and Notre Dame 15-50.
Newtown's Lu Hage was the top girls' race finisher, coming across the 5K course finish line in a time of 21:49.
The Nighthawks also had the fourth- through tenth-place runners, as follows: Taylor Pare (22:38), Camille Johnson (22:48), Lauren Russo (22:55), Willow Pears (24:00), Allie Paynter (24:32), Maddie Findley (24:36), and Claire Dubois (24:51).
Other NHS runners among the top 20 overall were: 13. Caroline Condon (25:23), 14. Eirenie Athanasoulis (25:28), 16. Kai-li Davey (25:38), 17. Julia Klein (26:08), and 18. Maddy Albee (26:11).
On the boys' side, the Nighthawks had the top three placers and six of the fastest seven overall. Brenden Reeds led the way in a time of 18:00, Joel Duval was runner-up in 18:02, and teammate Ryan Escoda also finished in 18:02, a fraction of a second behind for third place.
Riley Rising came in fifth in 18:11, Nick Jacobs was sixth in a time of 18:12, and Christian Lestik placed seventh in 18:14.
Dylan Lew was tenth in 18:49, Josh Bent placed 14th in 19:07, and Joey Conrod was 15th in a time of 19:10. Dylan Bartlett cracked the top 20 by placing 19th in 19:27, and Jordan Klein finished 20th in 19:41.