By Kim J. Harmon

MONROE – With swimmers like Christina Bladek of Lauralton Hall and Lauren Honrath of Masuk in the mix, it was pretty clear that its almost unfathomable depth would have to carry the Newtown High School swim team to its first-ever South-West Conference championship.

But while the depth was evident – oh boy, was it ever – the Lady Nighthawks flexed their front-line strength, too, and cruised to the SWC title last Saturday at Masuk High School. The ‘Hawks not only won four events (and were .39 seconds away from winning a fifth), but finished one-two in two of those and crushed second-place Lauralton Hall by more than 100 points.

“We knew we had what it takes to win,” said Atkinson, “but we thought it could possibly come down to the last relay.”

Atkinson captured three titles – the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay – to lead the way for the ‘Hawks, who finished the dual meet season undefeated and currently own a 22-meet winning streak. Maricate Conlon added a 100 backstroke title into the mix while Sally Tabler (200 individual medley) and Carol Ann Smith (100 backstroke) chipped in with second-place finishes.

“It feels great,” said Conlon. “We have been working so incredibly hard for it and to win it like that, by more than 100 points, is amazing. I knew we’d have to work our hardest and swim our best, but I thought it would be really close.”

With the diving competition held Wednesday, November 3, the ‘Hawks got off to a great start with Shannon Kennedy (fourth), Melissa Metzger (fifth), Kim Mayers (seventh) and Nicole Borruso (eighth) all finishing in the top 10 and staking their team to 32-point lead over Lauralton Hall.

But in the swim portion of the championships last Saturday, the Crusaders captured first in the 200 medley relay … even though the ‘Hawks set a new school record in the event.

“I think we erased the ‘second place’ and just thought about the record,” said Tabler, who – along with Conlon, Atkinson and Jaclyn Van Waalwijk – broke the nine-year-old mark of 1:57.92 set by Caragh Reilly, Jamie Ryan, Jess Carino and Sarah Brodbeck back in 1995.

Lauralton Hall then went one-four in the 200 freestyle to grab a two-point lead, 112-110. But when Atkinson and Tabler went one-two in the 200 individual medley, the rout began.

“It was so awesome,” Tabler said this week. “Everyone was talking about it in school and it brought all of that pride back. I didn’t think it would be so extreme but it truly showed what we were all about this year.”

Sophomore Maggie Hemingway had helped stem the Lauralton Hall surge by finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle and then freshman Emma Atkinson helped jump-start the rout in the 200 individual medley, finishing first in her heat and slipping into a fifth-place finish of her own.

Heading into the second-half of the meet, Newtown had a 46-point lead on Lauralton Hall and increased that to 65 after Conlon and Tabler went three-four in the 100 butterfly. Smith (ninth) and Dana Taylor (13th) helped the ‘Hawks out-score the Crusaders 44-22.5 in the event.

But head coach Mary Atkinson was not ready to celebrate.

“It’s not enough,” she said after being told her girls had a 65-point lead. “We still have the relays and (Hall’s) 500 is very strong.”

The Crusaders’ 500 was strong, but grabbing second and fourth only allowed them to pick up modest ground on the ‘Hawks as Jen Iassogna finished fifth and Sarah Harmonay finished ninth. The ‘Hawks regained all of that lost ground, and more, with a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

And when Conlon and Smith went one-two in the 100 backstroke, the meet was well and truly over.

“We had been supporting each other all year,” said Conlon, who was third in the event as a freshman, “and it was an amazing feeling to realize we contributed so much to the team.”

But the ‘Hawks were not finished. Obviously, Atkinson was focused on winning another 100 breaststroke championship, but the ‘Hawks went into the final event – the 400 freestyle relay – seeded second and proceeded to blast top-seeded Masuk by more than a second.

“Our 400 free relay wants to win – not matter what,” said Atkinson, who anchored the relay behind Amy Robinson, Tabler and Hemingway. “We really wanted that one.”

While Hemingway grabbed a pair of fifth-place finishes (200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke), senior Amy Robinson earned a pair of sixth-place finishes (50 and 100 freestyles) in addition to sharing in that 400 free relay title.

While the ‘Hawks won’t have to contend with powerhouse Cheshire for a CIAC Class L state championship, they will have to contend with Ridgefield. And that gets underway on Saturday at the Orange Center.

NOTE: Counting every swimmer that finished an event, the ‘Hawks dropped a combined 38.52 seconds off their personal best times at the SWC championship. Harmonay dropped 6.21 seconds in the 200 freestyle and 6.02 seconds in the 500 freestyle while Lucy Remitz dropped 6.96 seconds in the 500 freestyle.

TEAMS – 1. Newtown 439, 2. Lauralton Hall 334.50, 3. Weston 274.5, 4. Pomperaug 233.5, 5. Masuk 233, 6. New Fairfield 171, 7. New Milford 157, 8. Bunnell 113, 9. Barlow 110.5, 10. Stratford 80, 11. Brookfield 77.

Individual Events

200 medley relay: 1. Lauralton Hall 1:56.69; 2. Newtown 1:56.80; 3. Weston 1:58.94; 4. New Milford 2:01.64; 5. New Fairfield 2:03.63; 6. Pomperaug 2:03.99. 7. Brookfield 2:04.13; 8. Joel Barlow, 2:07.83; 9. Masuk 2:08.60; 10. Stratford 2:13.47; 11. Bunnell 2:19.23.

200 freestyle: 1. Christina Bladek (LH) 2:00.58; 2. Lauren Honrath (M) 2:00.97; 3. Virginia Bette (P) 2:01.78; 4. Dana Vernal (LH) 2:03.96; 5. Maggie Hemingway (N) 2:04.58; 6. Ellen Hewitt (LH) 2:05.98; 9. Jen Iassogna (N) 2:09.72; 16. Sarah Harmonay (N) 2:13.33. Also competing: 21. Dana Taylor (N) 2:15.83

200 individual medley: 1. Abby Atkinson (N) 2:17.42; 2. Sally Tabler (N) 2:20.75; 3. Kristin Williams (BR) 2:24.63; 4. Kristen McKnight (W) 2:26.25; 5. Emma Atkinson (N) 2:26.79; 6. Alexi Greenberg (W) 2:29.21; 16. Lucy Remitz (N) 2:34.26.

50 freestyle: 1. Emily Covelli (NM) 25.81; 2. Ashley Bottger (W) 25.93; 3.Lauren Cerruli (M) 26.20; 4. Rachel Heyer (S) 26.40; 5. Sara Chmielewski (BU) 26.43; 6. Amy Robinson (N) 26.57; 7. Jaclyn Van Waalwijk (N) 26.25; 15. Liz Gugino (N) 27.43. Also competing: 27. Lauren Kotwicki (N) 28.40.

Diving: 1. Erika Ferri (LH) 353.30; 2. Carolyn DiMarco (W) 339.65; 3. Christine McAulay (P) 336.35; 4. Shannon Kennedy (N) 332.05; 5. Melissa Metzger (N) 309.00; 6. Mallory Miller (P) 296.50; 7. Kim Mayers (N) 293.73; 8. Nicole Borruso (N) 271.25.

100 butterfly: 1. (tie) Karrah Hurd (LH), Chanelle Bergeron (JB) 1:03.28; 3. Maricate Conlon (N) 1:03.91; 4. Sally Tabler (N) 1:04.46; 5. Sarah Lang (M) 1:05.23; 6. Alexi Greenberg (W) 1:05.45; 9. Carol Ann Smith (N) 1:08.02; 13. Dana Taylor (N) 1:09.85.

100 freestyle: 1. Christina Bladek (LH) 55:38; 2. Virginia Bette (P) 56.00; 3. Ashley Bottger (W) 56.62; 4. Lauren Cerulli (M) 56.90; 5. Rachel Heyer (S) 58.39; 6. Amy Robinson (N) 59.00; 8. Liz Gugino (N) 59.26; 9. Jaclyn Van Waalwijk (N) 59.31. Also competing: 22. Annie Hull (N) 1:02.19.

500 freestyle: 1. Lauren Honrath (M) 5:21.99; 2. Dana Vernal (LH) 5:28.16; 3. Brittany Honrath (M) 5:32.20; 4. Ellen Hewitt (LH) 5:32.27; 5. Jen Iassogna (N) 5:47.11; 6. Hannah Phillips (W) 5:50.32; 9. Sarah Harmonay; (N) 5:55.05. Also competing: 22. Lucy Remitz (N) 6:19.61.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Weston 1:45.54; 2. Newtown 1:45.92; 3. 1:47.92; 4. Pomperaug 1:48.57; 5. New Milford 1:49.01; 6. Lauralton Hall 1:50.07; 7. Bunnell 1:50.54; 8. New Fairfield 1:51.46; 9. Stratford 1:56.94; 10. Joel Barlow 1:57.21; 11. Brookfield 1:59.18.

100 backstroke: 1. Maricate Conlon (N) 1:02.53; 2. Carolann Smith (N) 1:04.10; 3. Kristen McKnight (W) 1:04.57;4. Jessica Cullen (LH) 1:06.03; 5. Diedra Golino (LH) 1:06.85; 6. Rachel Sullivan (NM) 1:07.27; 15. Jackie Gutbrod (N) 1:12.44. Also competing: 18. Sarah Hemingway (N) 1:14.19

100 breaststroke: 1. Abby Atkinson (N) 1:11.91; 2. Kristin Malski (LH) 1:12.26; 3. Kristin Williams (BR) 1:12.73; 4. Ashley Stockman (NF) 1:13.24; 5. Maggie Hemingway (N) 1:13.50; 6. Sarah Walker ((NF) 1:14.64; 15. Emma Atkinson (N) 1:17.68; 16. Jessica Remitz (N) 1:18.14.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Newtown 3:49.56; 2. Masuk 3:50.79; 3. Pomperaug 3:57.68;4. Weston 4:01.55; 5. Bunnell 4:02.74; 6. Lauralton Hall 4:06.12; 7. Brookfield 2:04.13; 8. Joel Barlow 2:07.83; 9. Masuk 2:08.60; 10. Stratford 2:13.47; 11. Bunnell 2:19.23.

NOTE: Swimmers listed as ‘also competing’ did not score points in the event.