Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ varsity cross country teams both claimed first place at the Winding Trails Invitational, in Farmington, on September 26.

The Newtown girls had the top three finishers as Sarah Mawdsley won the race in a time of 19:14.0; Erin Tressler was runner-up in 19:24.5; and Olivia Hage was third in 19:28.8. Also for the Nighthawks, Emma Bayuk placed sixth in 20:05.2; Madison Findley was 16th in 21:25.2; Kelsey Miller came in 21st in 21:44.3; and Willow Pears was 23rd in a time of 21:53.6.

Brenden Reeds led the boys’ squad and finished fourth overall in a time of 17:09.3; Joel Duval came in fifth in 17:09.8; Riley Rising was sixth in 17:10.4; Ethan Burg placed seventh in 17:11.6; Christian Lestik was ninth in 17:21.2; Ryan Escoda placed 11th in a time of 17:23.5; and Josh Bent was 19th in 18:11.9.

Newtown’s boys’ junior varsity squad, with 15 of the top 20 finishers, also took first, and the NHS girls’ JV team was second in its division.

Both teams raced against host New Milford, along with Notre Dame-Fairfield, on September 29. The girls defeated New Milford 16-45 and Notre Dame 15-50, and the boys defeated Notre Dame 15-50 and lost 20-38 to New Milford.

The girls had the top four finishers, led by race winner Tressler, who came across the finish line in a time of 19:36. Mawdsley was second in 19:44, Bayuk placed third in 2 :50, and Miller was fourth in 21:41. Pears and Findley were sixth and seventh, respectively, with time of 22:01 and 22:23. Elizabeth Chiamec-Case and Sarah Lyon placed tenth and 11th, each coming across in 23:00. Claire Dubois was 12th in 23:29.

In the boys’ race, Newtown’s top runner was fourth-place finisher Rising, who came across the line in a time of 16:29. Reeds was fifth in 16:43, Duval placed seventh in 17:10, Burg came in tenth in 17:30, Lestik was 12th in 17:35, Escoda followed in 13th with a time of 17:39, Dylan Lew was 15th in 17:50, and Bent came in 17 with a time of 17:58.