Boys Sweep Competition In Opener

By Kelley Baylis

Newtown High School’s boys’ outdoor track and field team hosted Immaculate of Danbury, Brookfield, and Joel Barlow of Redding, and defeated all three teams in the season opener at Blue & Gold Stadium on Tuesday.

The Nighthawks defeated Immaculate 102-38, beat Brookfield 87-58, and defeated Barlow 95-31.

Sam Boland, a sophomore, finished first against Immaculate in the 110 meter hurdles in a time of 17.9 seconds. “I thought it was good to see a lot of new kids stepping up and trying their best at the meet. I think altogether we did really well as a team,” Boland said. Boland also brought in some points for third place for the 300 meter hurdles.

Senior captain John Hampford was first in the 200 hurdles against both Immaculate and Brookfield, finishing in 44.1.

Returner Jake Feinstein did not fail to impress at the first meet. Feinstein finished first place in both the 1600 (4:37) and 3200 (9:53).

Another returner that did not fail to bring in some wins for Newtown was senior Mac Morlock. He brought in first-place finishes in both the shot-put and discus events. Morlock had a throw of 40-10 in the shot and a toss of 101-6 in the discus event.

Senior captain Anthony Pagett was first place in the javelin throw against Barlow, with a toss of 111-6. Spencer Erhardt was first overall in the pole vault event with a 11-6 effort. Brandon Capaldo was first against Barlow in the 200 (25.0).

Senior captain Dieter Gutbrod won the 800 in a time of 2:06. Fellow senior captain Peter Kerns ranked first in the 400 meter (52.7) and second in the 100 meter 12.6).

Another senior captain, Brandon Capaldo, was first in the long jump against Barlow with a leap of 18-2.5.

“All and all the meet went very well it showed us not only how much potential we have this year but also some kinks that need to be worked out,” Kerns said.

Newtown’s 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams both took first place overall.