Newtown High School’s boys’ swimming and diving and girls’ basketball teams both posted victories on January 5. The swim team earned an 89-40 triumph over the host Bunnell-Stratford co-op team, at Flood Middle School in Stratford. The basketball team pulled out a 22-20 nail-biter over visiting Weston.

The 200 yard medley relay team of Tommy Horan, Caelan Ritter, Peter Fagerholm, and Owen Gray was first in a time of 1:52.86.

Chris Lafky won the 200 freestyle race in 1:57.25; and David Lawrence placed third in the 200 free with a time of 2:03.15. Fagerholm took the top spot in the 200 individual medley event, making his final touch in 2:12.52. Newtown had a one-two-three finish in the 200 IM as Ritter was runner-up in 2:24.00, and Brandon Qiao came in third in 2:40.61. Gray had Newtown’s top finish in the 50 freestyle, placing second overall in 26.38; Xavier Williams followed with a third-place finish in 26.46.

There was no diving competition since there aren’t diving boards at the school. After a break in the action, Lafky led the way in the 100 butterfly race, finishing in 59.96; he was followed by teammates Matt Kretz (1:10.13) and McKinley Seaver (1:16.81) who officially placed second and third.

Bunnell-Stratford has only seven team members, and includes one swimmer from Notre Dame-Fairfield, Joe Robles, who had the second-fastest time in the butterfly race (1:08.30), but whose scores don’t count toward the Bunnell-Stratford team total. Robles, in effect, is his own team, but helps bolster the Bunnell-Stratford roster, and help fill out relay contingents.

Horan won the 100 freestyle event in 57.92. Newtown had the top three finishers in the 500 free as Fagerholm finished first in 5:14.52, Lawrence was second in 5:31.10, and Mike Annesley placed third in 5:45.06.

Newtown’s 200 free relay group of Williams, Ritter, Lafky, and Gray was first in 1:44.33. The Nighthawks clinched the team victory and exhibitioned the final three events.

Horan had the fastest time in the 100 yard backstroke race, making his final touch in 58.28. Ritter was the fastest swimmer in the 100 breaststroke event, finishing in 1:13.59. Newtown’s 400 free relay team of Fagerholm, Lawrence, Horan, and Lafky had the best time (3:48.81).

This was Newtown’s first meet since its December 21 season-opening victory over Masuk of Monroe, and the team members are getting back into their routines. Coach Zach Gauvin notes that times will drop as the team members continue to rack up the yardage in practices.

Newtown’s next meet is set for Tuesday, January 12, when New Milford visits for a 4 pm start.

Girls’ Cagers Battle Past Weston

The girls’ basketball team followed up its 38-27 win at Masuk, on January 2, by holding another South-West Conference foe in the 20s. Newtown also was limited to its lowest point total of the campaign, but managed to eke out the win by limiting Weston to just one point in the fourth quarter.

The Nighthawks led 6-2 after one quarter of play, trailed 11-9 at the half, and 19-16 after three quarters but outscored the Trojans 6-1 in the final frame.

Lauren Wilcox led the Nighthawks with eight points, Kelly Merrick scored six, Mali Klorczyk had five, Rylee Mulligan chipped in with two, and Katie Reilly added a free throw.

Newtown improved to 4-3 overall, and Weston fell to 1-4; this was the first official SWC game for both teams. The Nighthawks will host Brookfield on Friday, January 8, and Notre Dame-Fairfield on Tuesday, January 12 — both at 7 pm. These home contests will sandwich a Saturday, January 9, visit to Lauralton Hall of Milford, which tips off at 1 pm.