By Kim J. Harmon

BETHEL – There were no illusions about the race.

The Newtown High School boys’ cross country team knew it was not in the same league as New Milford (heck – no one was) and did not dream about finishing first at the South-West Conference championships last week in Bethel.

Instead, the Nighthawks focused on second.

And got it.

But they had to overcome a different nemesis – Pomperaug, which had defeated Newtown by three points during the regular season (on the Nighthawks’ own course at Fairfield Hills, no less).

“We were looking at second place all season long,” said head coach Rich Pesce. “But we were surprised when Pomperaug beat us at our own place. Today was a real test for us. Last time, I don’t think we were ready.”

New Milford – as expected – grabbed six of the top seven slots at the SWC meet (only the first five figured in the scoring). But in the midst of all that, Pomperaug got an early jump on Newtown by coming in fourth and eighth overall.

The first Newtown runner, Pete Dittmar, finished 10th overall at 16:43.

“I was trying to stay with the Green Wave as long as I could,” said Dittmar, “and I figured that would drag me along. I wanted to leave with no regrets and stay with that top group as long as possible.”

Even though Ted Varga of Pomperaug came in just six seconds behind Dittmar to grab 11th, Phil Zencey of Newtown finished 12th at 16:56. Alister Ratcliff was right behind Zencey, coming in 13th at 17:05.

With three runners from each team across the line, Pomperaug had a 23-35 lead on Newtown.

But on the back end is where the meet turned.

Newtown got a big boost as Jay Schunter came in 15th at 17:12 and Chris DeRoo came in 18th at 17:35. Pomperaug did not see another runner cross the line until DJ Romano came in 24th at 17:58 and by then it was too late.

The Panthers’ fifth and final runner finished 28th.

“We beat (Pomperaug) at the Bethel Invitational, but their best runner was out,” said coach Pesce. “We beat them at Wickham and, again, their best runner was out. So we were getting some false positives. This was a big leap for us.”

Dittmar agreed.

“The team is stepping up to the next level,” he said. “It feels good.”