Newtown High School’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed in regular season-ending meets at New Milford High School on October 8.

The boys beat Oxford 15-50, edged Pomperaug of Southbury 26-30, and lost to New Milford 18-46 to finish the regular season with a record of 11-3. New Milford’s runners took eight of the top 11 spots so it quickly became about Newtown and Pomperaug.

Newtown’s Christopher Gamble had a strong race as usual, coming in fourth in 16:18. He was edged out by Pomperaug’s Sam DePalma and likewise, Tom Floros (12th in 16:51), who was  beaten to the line by Pomperaug’s No. 2 runner Tom DePalma.

Newtown’s pack, once again, was the difference with Grandon Smith taking 13th in 17:02. Joey Whelan then out-kicked Pomperaug’s No. 3 runner, to finish 14th in 17:03, one of the keys to victory. Nick Swenson (17th in 17:07) and Kevin Gorman (18th in 17:11) followed and were edged out by Pomperaug’s No. 4 but both well ahead of Pomperaug’s No. 5 to clinch the victory. Newtown’s Kyle Mangold came in 28th in a time of 17:32.

The girls were defeated by all three opponents, falling 30-26 to New Milford, 32-25 to Oxford, and 44-21 to Pomperaug. The Nighthawks, however, had a pair of top-ten overall individual finishes, and concluded the campaign with a 10-5 record. Newtown’s top finishers are as follows:

4. Brianne Moulder, 19:03; 6. Hannah Schwartz, 19:14; 17. Kathryn D’Alessandro, 20:41; 19. Kelly Coughlin, 20:58; 20. Sarah Mawdsley, 21:07; 21. Bridgit Spies, 21:10; 25. Valerie Kadysheva, 21:25; 26. Anna Pinckney, 21:26; 27. Kiera Elkow, 21:44.

The Nighthawks will resume race action in the South-West Conference championships, October 17 at Bethel High.