The year 2021, not unlike in the past, was full of championships and record-setting performances in the Newtown athletics world. But the biggest success stories were, perhaps, simply returns to competitions for teams during a continuation of coronavirus-altered athletics during the past dozen months.

Rewind to the start of 2021 and school gymnasiums remained dark as Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH)/Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) guidelines delayed the start of school winter sports; the high school wrestling campaign was canceled altogether due to the high risk classification of the sport. Fast forward to the end of 2021 and there were lots of bright spots in the books, capped by the return of traditional 11 on 11 tackle football in the fall and high school wrestlers getting back on the mats for competition. In between were championship runs, record-setting track and swimming races, and a whole lot more. Let’s have a look back:

*Winter school sports for most squads got going in early February with game action almost two months after the traditional mid-December start with masks on for all competitions with some exceptions, such as swimming. There were no state tournaments held, but teams did participate in conference tourneys at the end of the campaign.

*The policy on fans at games changed as last winter gave way to spring. Initially, only a limited number of home team player relatives had a chance to see them in action during the winter months. Things loosened up for outdoor sports in the spring and gates were opened for all fans in the spring and again this fall.

*Newtown joined forces with New Fairfield for a co-op hockey team that went all the way to the conference championship title game. The season was highlighted by Phil Makris registering more than 100 points.

*The Newtown High gymnastics team called Vasi’s International Gymnastics its new home.

*In the swimming pool, the Nighthawks participated in a virtual conference championship.

*The NHS cheer and dance teams did not have championships but did have virtual competitions during the abbreviated season.

*In a modified track conference championship season in which individual event winners were crowned, Newtown High’s Elise Barricelli, Ally McCarthy, Ethan Appiah, and Sarah Nowacki all took home titles as did the sprint medley relay contingent of Joey Libero, McCarthy, Hannah Snayd, and Katelyn Zaniewski.

*Lauren Jacobs took first overall in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League Girls’ State Open.

*On the basketball courts, the Newtown High girls had their last four regular season contests canceled due to coronavirus protocol, but ended up rescheduling one contest before moving on to the postseason.

*A year after spring sports were canceled completely, the teams were back at it with masks off for outdoor games (masks were required for competition in boys’ volleyball, the lone indoor spring sport).

*Coronavirus protocol caused the NHS boys’ lacrosse team to miss much of preseason and begin the regular season in quarantine; the first game was postponed a week and a half.

*Haby Farah took over head coaching duties for the NHS boys’ tennis team. In girls’ tennis, there was a coaching flip-flop with Maureen Maher assisting Nancy Anderson. Shawn Tierney took on the role as head boys’ golf coach.

*In outdoor track, the 4x800 relay of McCarthy, Snayd, Emily Tressler, and Riley Powers set the school record during the season. In the South-West Conference championships, the 4x400 team of Barricelli, Riley Powers, McCarthy, and Snayd broke meet and school records, and Barricelli (200) and Nowacki (shot-put) won titles.

*Newtown High’s softball venue became known as the Lindell Hertberg Softball Field and Hertberg, a longtime coach in the program, was surprised with the honor following a state playoff game in June.

*The girls’ golf team concluded an unbeaten slate with a conference title behind Kendall Reed’s individual championship. The NHS boys’ volleyball and girls’ lacrosse teams were runner-up in conference championship matches.

*Newtown’s Eric Burbank, Alex Burbank, and Matt Carpenter were part of the state champion St. Joseph of Trumbull lacrosse team.

*Multi-sport athletes Emma Magazu and Jack Petersen were recognized as The Bee’s Newtown High School Athletes of the Year.

*In June, the Rooster Run returned to Fairfield Hills, marking the first in-person race to be held in Newtown since the start of the pandemic.

*During July, seven states were recognized by 145 athletes in the first NYA Sports & Fitness Center Pickleball Open.

*Also in mid summer, Newtown field hockey players were a hit in the Nutmeg Games as Shannon Kelleher, Reagan Schoen, and Katie Goyda helped their U18 squad win gold.

*Oliver Guzy participated in the National Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships in Houston, Texas; he qualified as the Northeast champ in the 100 hurdles.

*During the summer months, Newtown High School’s Blue & Gold Stadium underwent renovation with new turf put down and a jumbo video scoreboard installed just in time for the return of traditional football. The previous year, the sport was classified as high risk by the DPH and only a 7 on 7 flag football season took place. Newtown got back to tackle football with a 42-17 win over visiting Pomperaug of Southbury in early September.

*After missing the 2020 season, the high school golf team found itself playing twice in as many seasons due to the resumption of spring sports followed by golf being switched to a fall sport this year.

*Brianna Deierlein earned the SWC championship’s Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet award after adding to a season-long pileup of record-setting swims. Deierlein broke two individual records and was part of a relay record-setting effort in the state championships, and joined Cate Fischer, Grace Fischer, and Alexa Kwarcinski to reset their own school mark in the 200 medley relay event during the State Open.

*Celebration time! The NHS field hockey team won the conference championship. Newtown’s girls’ volleyball team pushed Weston to five games before falling in a close SWC title match.

*Back in 1981, Newtown High’s football team hoisted a state championship trophy, and players and coaches from that team were recognized at halftime of a varsity game this past fall to commemorate the 40th anniversary of that triumph.

*Newtown High School’s athletics department received the CIAC 2021 Fred Balsamo Sportsmanship Award.

*The fall featured the return of the Newtown Tennis Association’s Open and the first Junior Classic Tennis Tournament, put on by Farah and Brett Teolis.

*A trio of youth cheerleading squads made their marks in the state championship competition with the D10 and D12 squads winning titles and the D14s placing second; all three advanced to the regional competition.

*Newtown’s eighth graders reached the Shoreline Youth Football championship game.

*Former Newtown football standout Ben Mason was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and later signed on with the New England Patriots practice squad. Sandy Hook’s Mackie Samoskevich saw his hockey career take another big stride when he was selected in the first round of the NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers.

*Caddie Joe LaCava was honored with a selection to the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame this fall.

*Winter sports for the 2021-22 season started on time with wrestling back at it for the first time in two years. The Nighthawk grapplers had to wait a few extra days with the scheduled December 15 opener at New Fairfield called off due to coronavirus quarantine. The Hawk grapplers participated in the Guilford Invitational on December 18.

*Peter Horan helped the swim team get off to a fast start by breaking the pool and team record in the backstroke race during the December 21 season opener.

*The CIAC Winter Sports Plan came up late in the fall with the plans for vaccinated athletes in basketball, hockey, and track running events permitted to remove masks for competitions following the holiday break. That has since been altered by the DPH/CIAC with masks set to stay on (as best as they do in fact hold in place during competition). Masks are not required for certain sports, including wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, and track team jumping and throwing events.

Only time will tell what is in store for 2022. Fingers are crossed for plenty of game action to be held throughout the winter months. See you at the games!

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.