Youth Runners Break Course Record

Five girls and two boys broke the course record in the Newtown Hawks Intermediate/ Middle School cross country meet behind Reed School on September 27. Newtown’s girls’ and boys’ squads both improved to 6-0 in Western Connecticut Conference action this year with a trio of wins.

The girls, led by second-place finisher Maggie Beardsley (13:40) and fifth-place finisher Maddie Findley (13:52) — both of whom broke the old course mark of 13:59 — had 28 points and defeated Bethel (72), and Wilton and Whisconier of Brookfield (both with 80).

Hawk runner Riley Rising led the entire boys’ field with a time of 12:15, and teammate Joel Duval was runner-up in 12:16; both broke the boys’ course record set by Hawks runner Tyler Dullinger (12:19). The boys, as a team, had 21 points. Wilton had 54, Whisconier had 79, and Bethel had 111.

Coach Eileen Fish says that while the course, altered because of construction, is flatter, she is confident the records would have been broken anyway. Fish has been impressed with the fast times put up by the young runners this fall.

Other top Newtown finishers are as follows: Girls — 6. Olivia Hage, 13:54; 8. Rylee Mulligan, 14:30; 11. Julia DiMartino, 14:55; 16. Madeleine Meier, 15:24; 23. Megan Nahmias, 16:31; 27. Aniko Walsh, 16:52. Boys — 5. Connor McNerney, 12:39; 6. Peter Fagerholm, 12:50; 10. Jacob Steinebrey, 13:15; 11. Dylan Bartlett, 13:16; 21. Jeff Nugent, 14:15; 32. Conor Villamana, 15:02.