Newtown High School’s boys’ swim team lost its season finale, falling 88-82 to visiting New Milford on Senior Night, February 22. Seniors Collin and Deagan Granville, Matt Irving, and Elliot Lurie were honored.

The 200 yard medley relay team of Peter Horan, Grant Carson, Gabe Petertonjes, and Connor Kwarcinski was first in a time of 1:46.73.

In the 200 freestyle race, Matt Irving placed second in 1:59.22. Grant Carson had Newtown’s fastest finish in the 200 individual medley race, clocking in at 2:23.63, good for third. In the 50 free, Horan was a close second with a time of 22.41, just behind New Milford’s winning time of 22.30.

Petertonjes was third in the 100 butterfly event, making his final touch in 59.38. New Milford’s Ian Lee won the 100 fly in an NHS pool record-setting time of 52.66.

Kwarcinski won the 100 free in 51.59. Horan took first in the 500 with a time of 5:17.18. The teams were tied at 55 after this event.

The 200 free relay of Kris Luci-Bernard, Max Luci-Bernard, Horan, and Irving was second in a time of 1:35.18.

In the 100 backstroke race, Petertonjes came in second in 1:02.97. Carson won the 100 breaststroke race in 1:11.39. NHS trailed 80-76 heading into the final event.

Newtown’s 400 free relay of Kwarcinski, Irving, Petertonjes, and Max Luci-Bernard came in second in 3:34.36. New Milford’s first-place relay time of 3:31.64 locked up the team victory.

“We knew it was going to be tough. They outswam us today,” Newtown Coach Adam Fielding said. “They out-touched us in a couple races and it just went their way.”

Fielding was happy to have Petertonjes back in the pool after missing some action due to injury and said he swam well.

Newtown had a strong regular season, losing only one other meet — to perennial powerhouse Pomperaug of Southbury. The Nighthawks defeated host Bunnell-Stratford, Fielding’s former team, 92-67 on February 15. Newtown will now turn its attention to the South-West Conference Championships; swimming events will take place at Masuk High in Monroe on Friday, March 4, at 5 pm.

“We’ve got some work to do to get ready for SWCs,” Fielding said.

The Newtown coach anticipates a battle for second between his Nighthawks, New Milford, and Brookfield. Fielding noted that the Hawks had a bit more depth than Brookfield to prevail in their regular-season matchup and that New Milford had a bit of a deeper lineup than his in this most recent competition. Depth does not carry as much weight in the SWC meet since the top 18 finishes count toward team scores and are spread out between the nine competing schools, plus individuals from schools without teams. An advantage Brookfield has over both NHS and New Milford, Fielding notes, is having one diver in the fold, so his Nighthawks will have to make up points in swimming events as they managed to do in the regular season clash.

While Pomperaug needs to earn the win, that team is well-regarded as the favorite, and earning the runner-up spot will come down to his team’s second-tier swimmers out-touching their closest competitors to pick up key points here and there, Fielding believes.

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