By Kim J. Harmon

MILFORD – All coach Ed Obloj was looking to do in the season-opening meet last week at Foran High School was to shake the tree a little and see what fell out – and what fell out, judging from the two wins, was some pretty good stuff.

The ‘Hawks are basically near the start of that perpetual cycle that all high school sports are in – from rebuilding to stocked and back to rebuilding again. They entered the 2000 season having suffered a number of graduation losses and no one, not even the coaches, were quite sure what the team was all about.

They have a much better idea, though, after the ‘Hawks defeated Jonathan Law (871/2 – 621/2 ) and Foran (81-69). Those two wins, coupled with an 88-65 loss to Bethel, puts Newtown’s record at 2-1 to start the season.

“It surprised me a little,” said coach O’Bloj. “It’s a good start for us. The kids are really coming together.”

Kyle Tobin (110- and 300-meter hurdles at 16.6 seconds), Anthony Mentessana (long jump at 19-1), and Vinny Nitopi (discus at 114-4) swept their events over all three opponents, as did the 4x400 relay team. Mentessana defeated Foran and Law in the triple jump (32-61/2 ) while Nitopi defeated Law and Bethel in the shot put (42-0).

The performances give coach O’Bloj and assistant coach Carl Paternoster something to consider during a long, two-week layoff before the ‘Hawks next meet on May 2.

“I kind of like (the layoff) this year,” said coach O’Bloj. “We had a chance to shake the kids out a little and see what they can do. Now we have time to really work on the things we need to work on.”

The ‘Hawks will return to the track on Tuesday, May 2, traveling to Southbury to take on Pomperaug, Masuk and New Milford.

Newtown 81, Foran 69

Newtown 871/2 , Law 621/2

Bethel 88, Newtown 65

Track Events

4x800 relay – 1. Bethel 8:51, 2. Newtown (Iggy, Robinson, Bryant, Heller) 9:01, Foran 9:19, Jonathan Law 10:26.

4x100 relay – 1. Jonathan Law 47.2, 2. Bethel 47.4, 3. Newtown 47.6, Foran 47.6.

110 hurdles – 1. Tobin (N) 16.6, 2. Fragola (B) 17.3, 3. Hanson (JL) 18.1, 4. Giovanelli (JL) 18.8, 5. Schmedlin (F) 19.0, 6. Napoleone (N) 19.6.

100 meters – 1. Natter (F) 11.5, 2. Dasfores (B) 11.5, 3. Watterson (JL) 11.7, 4. Laney (JL) 11.8, 5. McAnus (B) 12.0, 6. Werbeck (N) 12.1.

1600 meters – 1. Perry (B) 4:45, 2. Simone (F) 4:53, 3. Heller (N) 4:55, 4. Zimmerman (B) 4:57, 5. Lennon (F) 5:04, 6. Iggy (N) 5:15.

400 meters – 1. Laplante (F) 55.0, 2. Craig (JL) 55.7, 3. Skryzpczak (B) 55.9, 4. Regan (N) 56.2, 5. Samander (JL) 56.9, 6. Rountos (B) 57.8.

300 hurdles – 1. Tobin (N) 43.7, 2. Fragola (B) 44.8, 3. Hanson (JL) 46.7, 4. Napoleone (N) 47.5, 5. Schmedlin (F) 48.1.

800 meters – 1. Kleinschmidt (B) 2:11, 2. Iggy (N) 2:14, 3. Batistelli (F) 2:16, 4. Bryant (N) 2:17, 5. Phillips (B) 2:28.

200 meters – 1. Natter (F) 23.7, 2. Watterson (JL) 23.9, 3. Dasflores (B) 24.0, 4. Loney (JL) 24.1, 5. Tobin (N) 24.3, 6. Laplante (F) 24.3.

3200 meters – 1. Perry (B) 10:08, 2. Simone (F) 10:38, 3. Heller (N) 10:40, 4. Knickerbocker (B) 11:17, 5. Lennon (F) 11:54, 6. Hoory (JL) 12:14.

4x400 relay – 1. Newtown 3:50, 2. Bethel 3:52, 3. Jonathan Law 3:55, 4. Foran 4:07.

Field Events

High jump – 1. Burke (B) 5-8, 2. Watterson (JL) 5-6, 3. Zulvaga (N) 5-2, 4. Cash (F) 5-2, 5. Regan (F) 5-2.

Long jump – 1. Mentessana (N) 19-1, 2. Natter (F) 18-8, 3. Skrzypczak (B) 18-8, 4. Laplante (F) 17-11, 5. Ambrogio (N) 17-8, 6. Mercauldi (JL) 17-7.

Javelin – 1. Perregaux (JL) 146-10, 2. Bugy (F) 135-7, 3. Benigno (F) 123-9, 4. Cash (F) 123-1, 5. Clancy (N) 120-4, 6. Mariano (B) 116-5.

Shot put – 1. Jordan (F) 42-11, 2. Nitopi (N) 42-0, 3. Regney (B) 39-3, 4. Caprichio (B) 39-2, 5. Bugy (F) 36-7, 6. Capello (JL) 36-2.

Discus – 1. Nitopi (N) 114-4, 2. Capello (JL) 102-2, 3. Mariano (B) 99-0, 4. Friedman (B) 98-10, 5. Maguire (N) 93-10, 6. MCAllen (F) 91-3.

Triple jump – 1. Burke (B) 37-21/2 , 2. Mentessana (N) 36-9, 3. Skrzypczak (B) 34-7, 4. Ambrogio (N) 34-3, 5. Laplante (F) 32-61/2 , 6. Mercauldi (JL) 31-7.