It may be that the only thing that prevented Newtown High School’s girls’ golf team from either winning a championship or finishing runner-up in the South-West Conference a year ago was the fact the season was canceled due to the coronavirus.

After winning three titles and earning a pair of second-place finishes in five consecutive seasons, culminating with a 2019 runner-up finish to Masuk of Monroe, the Nighthawks are again looking to contend for a championship.

“Extremely excited to have the season this year. Proud of all the kids did virtually last season,” Coach Jeremy O’Connell said. “We will miss [graduate Gigi Marino] tremendously, but we hope to compete for an SWC title.”

Senior captains are Nidhi Mukka, Abby Watson, Summer Wilmot, and Bradyn Smith.

Other returners are juniors Kendall Reed, Christina Savo, Norah Kolb, Catherine Murray, Naiya Amin, and Maggie Breault.

Newcomers are sophomores Caitlin Briggs, Aidan Herbstman, and Madison McGoldrick, along with freshmen Emma Early, Izzy Caron, Sofia Verdi, and Madalynn Watson.

Tough competition stands to come from Joel Barlow of Redding and Masuk, O’Connell said.