Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: TOMW

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Boys-Track-History

Full Text:

Boys' Track History

Newtown High School fielded a track team since the very beginning of the

Western Connecticut Conference era, but wasn't able to win a meet until 1966.

The early sixties, the Indians were led by the efforts of such star athletes

as Don Steisel, John Loggie, and Rich Carlson as they competed against any

competition they could find under head coach Roger Streeter.

In 1965 a junior named Joel Nezvesky came along and broke the school's single-

season record for points scored - previously held by Loggie - when he totalled

89 points. Nezvesky also won the WCC title in the high jump clearing a

then-school-record 5-feet-9-inches.

Nezvesky returned in 1966 and helped the Indians to win their first ever dual

meet against Abbott Tech. He was then voted the team's most valuable athete

for the second straight year.

The year 1967 saw the emergence of a junior-transfer named Bruce Jenner.

Jenner had played football and basketball at NHS already that season, but was

about to make his mark in the sport that would eventually make him a

house-hold name all across the world.

Even with Jenner, the 67 team didn't have enough depth to win track meets, but

was able to post its first winning record the following year when Jenner

became a senior.

In 1968, Jenner broke school records in the high jump (6-2) and pole vault

(12-9), while shattering Nezvesky's points-scored record of 89 by scoring 301.

With Jenner and Mark Hopkins, Newtown accumulated a 7-3 record that season and

placed fourth in the WCC.

Jenner, himself, won the state championship in the pole vault enroute to his

second team MVP award.

The 1969 NHS track team posted another 7-3 record, this time behind such

athletes as Rainer Ertl, Ross Gallichotte, Dave Boan, Wayne Lucas, and Klaus

Obendorf. Rich Kascack threw the discus 130-feet-5-inches to highlight the

1970 season while teammates Ertl and Joe Gallo also helped NHS to a

fifth-place standing in the conference.

Gallo would star again in 1971, but things were getting worse for the team

before they were getting better.

The 72 squad was led by Marty Smith in the throwing events and posted a

winning record of 7-4.

Tom Saint, Byron Wickham, and Tim Craft were the team stars in 1973 as the

team went 6-5 and all three would return the following year to lead the 74

Indians to the team's best record to date, 9-2. The 74 team also saw such

stars as Warren Allen, who broke Jenner's high jump record with a jump of 6-3.

Wickham, Saint, Pete Meier (165-8 javelin throw), and Ed Schierloh all took

runs at school records that season.

Meier threw the javelin 179-10 as a sophomore in 1975 while Wickham set a

school record in the hurdles with a 41.6 and the 440-yard-relay team of Steve

Gallo, Mike Whelan, Ken Richardson, and Perry Esposito broke another NHS

standard with a 44.2 in the event.

The team suffered through losing seasons in each of the two years that

followed as another throwing star, Pete Ertl, came along. Ertl threw the

javelin 186-9 in 1977 and threw the shot 43-1, becoming WCC champion in both

events. Steve Gallo, meanwhile, set a school record with a 21-4 long jump

winning the WCC title in that event along with the triple jump. Gallo then

went on to win the state championship in the long jump for NHS, breaking his

own school record with a 21-foot-8-inch leap.

Speedsters Steve Goodridge and Tim Mulligan also starred for the Indians that

season. In his senior year in 1978, Pete Ertl threw the javelin an amazing

194-feet-3-inches to set an new school record and win the WCC title, but the

team that year was only 6-5.

A 7-4 season would follow and then a 3-8 year in 1980, as coach Streeter

picked up the 100th victory of his 19-year career. Lew Craven and John Cennamo

were WCC champions that season and Streeter resigned his post having coached

the team in three decades.

l  Deanne LeBeau moved from coaching the successful girls' track team over to

the floundering boys' team in 1981, but couldn't turn things around.

Streeter then returned in 82 and saw the team go 7-4 as Dave Lawrenson broke

the school record in the intermediate hurdles (39.4) and Chris Eitapence

nipped Warren Allen's high jump record by an inch, clearing 6-feet-4 to win

the WCC. Scott Trapp also earned a WCC title that year with an 11.3 in the 100

meters. Eitapence would win another WCC high jump title in 1984 but it was the

last bright spot in what would be three years of less than mediocrity.

Russ Weiss took over the coaching reigns in 1986 and went 5-4 while building

up a team nucleus. The team improved by two victories the following year and

in 1988 was ready to excel.

In 88, though, Weiss was forced to take a leave of absence with a viral

infection in his heart, and handed the team to Ridgefield High School coaching

sensation, Rick Medve.

Medve proceeded to guide Newtown to the finest season in school history.

Medve's team went unbeaten that season at 10-0 and brought home NHS's

first-ever WCC title when it beat out its nearest competitor by a full 30

points in the conference finals.

Joe Smith starred for the Indians that spring, copping WCC gold in the 1600

and 3200 meters. Shane Chontos won the discus event, Matt Medve the javelin,

and Ian Ramsey the 800 meters as 15 different NHS athletes scored points.

Weiss returned in 1989 and although Ramsey and Chontos defended their WCC

crowns at the big meet, the Indians placed third there.

Not to worry, though. Despite a sub-par 5-4 record in 1990, Weiss and his

Indians were able to recapture their conference title at Bethel. Marcus Love

won the 1600 and 3200 meter titles that June while Shane Chontos threw the

shot 47-feet-3-and-a-half-inches as he defended his WCC shot and discus titles

for a third-straight season.

Newtown wouldn't win another WCC championship during the years 1991 through

1994, as four new coaches would come and go, but those four seasons were

significant to NHS track and field history as they as they saw the emergence

of the school's finest all-around athlete since Bruce Jenner.

Before Sean Martins would finish his four-year varsity career at NHS, he would

win a total of eight individual WCC titles (including a WCC-best four in his

senior year), two state championships, and a pair of school records in the two

hurdling events. With his pair of WCC hurdling titles, Martins ended his

career having won his last 55 hurdling events without a loss.