Making A Splash — NHS Swimmers Third In SWC Meet

By Andy Hutchison

MONROE — With perennial powerhouse Pomperaug of Southbury and always-tough Brookfield standing in the way, Newtown High School’s boys’ swimming and diving team was shooting for a third-place finish in the South-West Conference Championships this past week.

The Nighthawks got the job done, easily finishing third among 11 schools. Newtown accumulated 326 points to beat out its closest competitor — a Weston team the Hawks narrowly defeated during the regular season, which had 277.5 points. Pomperaug won with easy by logging 590.5 points and Brookfield had 462. With the state championships around the corner, the SWC meet also served as a tune-up for the swimmers and divers.

The diving portion of the SWC championships was held at Pomperaug High on February 24 and the swimming events were held on February 27 at Masuk High — one night after snow postponed the meet.]

In the 200-yard medley relay, Newtown’s team of Dan Hufziger, Abben Hung, Matt Iassogna, and Luke Fiore came in fourth in a time of 1:44.09.

Conor Donnelly placed 11th in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:55.48. Also in the 200 free, fellow NHSers Tom Mascher, Nate Crevier, and Sean Fahey were 21st, 22nd, and 26th, respectively, with times of 2:08.80, 2:09.44, and 2:11.65.

In the 200 individual medley, Newtown’s Nick Lafky made his final touch in 2:16.85 to earn 12th place. Harrison Buzzi also qualified in the 200 IM.

The Nighthawks had a strong showing in the 50 free with Hufziger earning second place (23.02) and Fiore following in third (23.16). Kyle O’Connor came in 17th in the 50 free in a time of 24.92, and Pat Milano and Andrew LaMarche also qualified in the event.

Iassogna finished 11th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 58.40. Also in the fly, O’Connor was 17th (1:01.23), George Delia was 20th (1:02.64), and Andrew Argraves was 25th (1:05.16).

Fiore took second in the 100 free, finishing in 49.72, Hufziger earned fifth in the event (51.54), and Mike Hubbard and Pat Milano were 15th and 16th, respectively, with times of 55.44 and 55.80. Logan Mammen and Jordan Simonds also qualified in the 100.

In the 500 free, Donnelly placed eighth (5:10.73), Delia was 14th (5:28.48), Mascher was 19th (5:46.15), and Fahey 22nd (5:48.70).

Newtown’s 200 free relay team, comprising Hufziger, Hung, O’Connor, and Fiore, was second in a time of 1:32.20. Newtown had a second relay team that participated in this event: Simonds, Mascher, Mammen, and Argraves.

In the 100 backstroke, Iassogna was 13th (1:04.42), LaMarche was 16th (1:05.85), Mammen 18th (1:09.11), Crevier 24th (1:01.13), and Frankie Biancardi also competed.

In the 100 breaststroke, Hung was runner-up in a time of 1:04.80. Hubbard came in eighth (1:06.50), Lafky was 11th (1:09.32), and Buzzi was 23rd (1:17.22).

The team of Donnelly, Lafky, O’Connor, and Hubbard placed sixth in the 400 free relay (3:40.52). Another NHS relay team competed in the 400: Delia, Iassogna, Mascher, and Crevier.

Newtown had six competitors and four point-accumulators in the diving competition. Maggie Korth was fifth among 17 scorers, with 275.85 points, Zack Bennett was tenth (246.90), Shaun Mangold came in 13th (231.50), Sam Freitas was 16th (199.05), and Canaan Brown and Allie DiDomizio also participated in the diving event.