Newtown High School’s girls swimming and diving team traveled to the Brookfield YMCA and lost a hard-fought 96-80 decision to the Joel Barlow-Immaculate-Bethel squad on October 10. The Nighthawks hung in there and trailed by just six points heading into the last event, the 400 yard freestyle relay, before their counterparts took the top two spots in the race to solidify the win. Despite the outcome, there was plenty for the Hawks to be pleased about.

“The girls put up a good fight against a team that was almost twice our size. Our captains Zoe Petertonjes and Maddie Marcisz did a great job leading the team in the pool. We also saw several new SWC and State cuts from our girls. Unfortunately we didn’t have the depth that they did but we are really proud of how hard the girls worked for every point,” Nighthawk Coach Lisa Irving said.

Things started with an ultra-close finish in the 200 yard medley relay as Sierra Marx, Marcisz, Petertonjes, and Indigo Land finished in 1:58.91, narrowly edged out by the Barlow co-op’s contingent, which finished in 1:58.78. So close.

Petertonjes won the 200 freestyle race in a time of 2:09.96, Marcisz won the 200 individual medley in 2:22.60, and Land earned the top spot in the 50 free in 26.69. The Barlow squad got second and third in each of those races to build up its score and carry a 34-28 lead into the diving competition. Newtown had the only diver, and Aliyah Reuther’s score of 169.12 earned six points and got the score even.

It remained tied at 50 points apiece after the next two races behind a first in the 100 butterfly by Petertonjes, who clocked in at 1:01.31, and a 100 freestyle win by Marx in 57.62. Twice more, second and third went to the host team as depth continued to match Newtown’s race wins.

Emma Sheehan took second in the 500 free, making her final touch in 6:25.92. The 200 free relay team of Marx, Land, Marcisz, and Pertertonjes was first in 1:47.60. Second- and third-place finishes put the Barlow team up 67-63. The lead grew to a dozen points as the Barlow group went one-two in the 100 backstroke race; Marx came in third in 1:08.61. Newtown pulled to within six at 84-78 behind a one-two finish of its own in the 100 breaststroke event as Marcisz completed her race in 1:15.47 and Land finished in 1:20.67, less than a second ahead of the Barlow team’s fastest finisher.

On to the 400 free relay where Newtown’s best result was a mere second behind the Barlow team’s second-place swimmers; Ella Murphy, Ella Viau, Sheehan, and Reagan Garvin placed third in 4:24.78.

The Nighthawks will look to post more South-West Conference- and State Championship-qualifying times in their final two regular-season meets: October 17 at New Fairfield and October 21 at Brookfield, both at 4 pm. Then it is on to the postseason, beginning with the conference championships; the diving competition will be held at Pomperaug in Southbury on Wednesday, October 29 starting at 5:30 pm with the swim finals at Masuk of Monroe on Saturday, November 1 starting at 10 am.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.