By Kim J. Harmon

When Greg Simoneau nailed a 21/2  pike on his final dive and all but leaped out of the water with his highest score – 217.75 points – it was but one small example of the end results of the challenge that head coach Brian Reiff issued his team prior to its South-West Conference meet with arch-rival Bunnell on Tuesday.

Despite a 4-0 start, coach Reiff thought his team had been a little too easy on itself. He shouldered a lot of the blame for that himself, but told the team from that moment on it was basically no-holds-barred.

It was time to go all out . . . and go all out in did, crushing the Bunnell/Stratford Co-Op team, 116-68, to raise its record to 5-0.

Simoneau’s effort in diving – where he was the No. 1 man in the absence of Alyssa von Oy – was a shining example of the effort coach Reiff desired from his team. Already in the lead with 163 points, Simoneau still had the 21/2  pike – a 2.6 degree of difficulty dive – to do and all he did was coolly nail it, receiving a trio of 7.0 scores that vaulted him to his stunning 217.75 finish.

“Greg is diving at an extremely high level right now,” said coach Reiff. “It was just a phenomenal performance.”

And that was in the middle of the meet.

The challenge from coach Reiff achieved rousing benefits immediately, in the first event of the night. The 200-medley relay ‘A’ team of Kane Kunst (backstroke), Tim Lux (breaststroke), Karlis Griffiths (butterfly) and Ryan Eberts (freestyle) – perhaps the best foursome he could put together – had been hovering around 1:51 all season and broke 1:50 for the first time last week, against Watertown. But on Tuesday, that relay exploded for a 1:48.63 . . . only about a second off the school record.

Then, later on, there was newcomer Kyle Neidig qualifying for the CIAC Class L state meet with a tidy 161.30 finish in diving (coming in second), Kunst nailing a 57.04 in the 100 butterfly (coming in second) and Eberts achieving a 52.97 in the 100 freestyle (coming in first) – all, perhaps, a product of the challenge issued by coach Reiff.

“They were challenged and they responded,” he said. “We knew we needed to get better and they wouldn’t have done that if they didn’t feel it in their heart. Just because we’re winning in convincing fashion doesn’t mean we don’t go out and swim.”

Freshman Tim Lux – who stunned coach Reiff back in December by setting a new school record in the breaststroke in his first official event with the Nighthawks – was a double winner on Tuesday, taking first in the 200 individual medley at 2:11.91 and then first in the 100 breaststroke at 1:05.56. Eberts was also a double winner, taking first in the 50 freestyle at 24.77 and first in the 100 freestyle at 52.97.

Kunst (200 free) and Simoneau (diving) were single-event winners while the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams were also winners.

“The score is what it is,” said coach Reiff, “but this meet tested us because their front line is pretty good.”

The ‘Hawks move on now to face Sacred Heart of Waterbury (at the Kennedy High School pool on Highland Avenue) on Friday and then will be home next Tuesday, January 11, to square off against local rival, Brookfield.

NEWTOWN 116

BUNNELL 68

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown (Kunst, Lux, Griffiths, Eberts) 1:48.63, 2. Newtown 2:01.49, 3. Bunnell 2:07.99.

200 freestyle – 1. Kane Kunst (N) 1:56.02, 2. Mushin (B) 1:57.18, 3. Howard (B) 2:09.97, 4. Mark Kalb (N) 2:15.55, 5. Matt Fries (N) 2:18.16.

200 individual medley – 1. Tim Lux (N) 2:16.91, 2. Heyer (B) 2:12.73, 3. Howard (B) 2:11.91, 4. Drew (B) 2:35.42, 5. Joe Blanchard (N) 2:35.80.

50 freestyle – 1. Ryan Eberts (N) 24.77, 2. Karlis Griffiths (N) 25.46, 3. Carroll (B) 25.51, 4. Doug Johnston 25.62, 5. Ross (B) 29.12.

Diving – 1. Greg Simoneau (N) 217.75, 2. Kyle Neidig (N) 161.30, 3. Greg Taylor (N) 128.30, 4. Howard (B) 94.90.

100 butterfly – 1. Rushin (B) 56.55, 2. Kane Kunst (N) 57.04, 3. Doug Johnston (N) 1:08.14, 4. Drew (B) 1:09.06, 5. Joe Blanchard (N) 1:14.43.

100 freestyle – 1. Ryan Eberts (N) 52.97, 2. Carroll (B) 56.39, 3. Doug Johnston (N) 56.49, 4. Jeff Heller (N) 1:00.92, 5. Ross (B) 1:08.92.

500 freestyle – 1. Howard (B) 5:58.67, 2. Mark Kalb (N) 6:10.23, 3. Garrett Swink (N) 6:29.42, 4. Kathleen Sharf (N) 6:36.61.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Johnston, Lux, Kunst, Eberts) 1:38.04, 2. Bunnell 1:38.22, 3. Bunnell 2:35.45.

100 backstroke – 1. Heyer (B) 1:02.39, 2. Matt Fries (N) 1:09.23, 3. Lauren Bass (N) 1:18.87, 4. John Modzelewski (N) 1:26.25, 5. Sliva (B) 1:33.53.

100 breaststroke – 1. Tim Lux (N) 1:05.56, 2. Matt Peyton (N) 1:16.42, 3. Howard (B) 1:17.82, 4. Tim Robinson (N) 1:22.00, 5. Fielding (B) 1:29.15.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Bunnell 3:51.70, 2. Newtown (Heller, Kalb, Fries, Griffiths) 3:58.19, 3. Newtown 4:31.91.

NEWTOWN 89,

WATERTOWN 87

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown 1:49.34, 2. Watertown 1:58.31, 3. Newtown 2:03.42.

200 freestyle – 1. Doug Johnston (N) 2:07.65, 2. Kaz (W) 2:08.31, 3. Matt Fries (N) 2:13.90, 4. Brian Kotwicki (N) 2:22.62, 5. McQuade (W) 2:25.45.

200 individual medley – 1. Marcucio (W) 2:05.32, 2. Kane Kunst (N) 2:13.80, 3. Joe Blanchard (N) 2:36.01, 4. Mark Kalb (N) 2:36.10, 5. Sanzone (W) 3:00.67.

50 freestyle – 1. Ryan Eberts (N) 24.62, 2. Karlis Griffiths (N) 25.57, 3. Jeff Heller (N) 26.59, 4. Calabrese (W) 26.81, 4. Kasfelat (W) 28.68.

Diving – 1. Alyssa von Oy (N) 244.05, 2. Greg Simoneau (N) 192.25, 3. Kyle Neidig (N) 123.70, 4. Berube (W) 123.45.

100 butterfly – 1. Doug Johnston (N) 1:07.21, 2. Mark Kalb (N) 1:10.62, 3. Calabrese (W) 1:12.15, 4. Jeff Heller (N) 1:13.51, 5. Sabol (N) 1:21.15.

100 freestyle – Newtown swam unofficially.

500 freestyle – 1. Kane Kunst (N) 5:32.55, 2. Sanzone (W) 5:37.85, 3. McQuade (W) 5:48.09, 4. Kathleen Sharf (N) 6:36.85, 5. Adam Hopkins (N) 7:03.21.

200 freestyle relay – Newtown swam unofficially.

100 backstroke – Newtown swam unofficially.

100 breaststroke – 1. Marcucio (W) 1:03.17, 2. Tim Lux (N) 1:06.91, 3. Tim Robinson (N) 1:17.62, 4. Matt Peyton (N) 1:19.35, 5. Blanchard (W) 1:48.11.

400 freestyle relay – Newtown swam unofficially.