By Kim J. Harmon

MIDDLETOWN – Thirty-two straight dual meet victories.

Two consecutive South-West Conference championships.

The Newtown High School swim team had accomplished so much in the past three years but even with the winning streak and the conference championships and a bunch of records that have overhauled the board hanging over the pool deck, the Lady Nighthawks still needed to accomplish one more thing.

Win a state championship.

And they did that last Wednesday at Wesleyan University in Middletown, setting five new school records and holding off Staples of Westport in the final event for a narrow 15.5-point win.

Defending CIAC Class L champ Ridgefield, which bested Newtown by 31 points last year, finished third.

The lead over Staples was oh so close heading into that final event, the 400 freestyle relay, but the ‘Hawks weren’t about to let the Wreckers anywhere near the championship plaque.

The two teams had pretty much isolated themselves from the rest of the field right from the beginning and were battling it out for the lead, with Newtown down as much as 41 points and up as much as 39 points through the first stages of the meet.

But when the Lady Nighthawks’ 33-point lead dwindled to 111/2  points following the 100 breaststroke, it was all on the line.

Newtown’s 400 freestyle relay team was a strong favorite with a qualifying time a half-second better than its nearest challenger (Conard) and 14 seconds better than Staples. It seemed improbable that the ‘Hawks would lose the championship that was within their grasp.

Still …

All the Lady Wreckers – seeded fifth in the event – did was shave more than 11 seconds off their qualifying time to finish fourth. But Jaclyn Van Waalwijk, Sally Tabler, Dana Gnerre and Abby Atkinson shaved almost three seconds off their qualifying time to finish first and secure their first state championship.

On top of the five new school records, seven swimmers were named All-State – Van Waalwijk, Tabler, Gnerre, Atkinson, Maricate Conlon, Shannon Kennedy and Melissa Metzger.

“Five school records and seven named All-State ... isn’t that incredible?” said head coach Mary Atkinson.

Staples finished first in the 200 medley relay to open the meet and Newtown finished third, putting the ‘Hawks in an eight-point hole. After a strong showing in the 200 freestyle, Staples expanded its lead to 41 points.

But with Atkinson finishing second, Tabler finishing fourth and Emma Atkinson finishing 10th in the 200 individual medley, the ‘Hawks were able to trim the deficit to only 10. The Wreckers recovered, however, by finishing third, fourth, 14th and 16th in the 50 freestyle and overcoming a second-place finish by Gnerre and 10th-place finish by Van Waalwijk.

At that point, the Staples lead was 39 points.

Then the diving was factored in.

The diving trials and finals had been held four days before at Cornerstone in West Hartford and while the Wreckers had no divers, the ‘Hawks had Kennedy finishing second, Metzger finishing third and Nicole Borruso finishing fourth and enjoyed a massive 78-point bump.

That put the ‘Hawks in the lead for the first time ... by 39 points. The Wreckers slipped to within four points after the 100 butterfly, though, even as Tabler was sixth, Carol Ann Smith was 19th and Dana Taylor was 24th for the ‘Hawks.

But in the 100 freestyle, Gnerre and Van Waalwijk finished seventh and eighth in the ‘A’ heat to offset a sixth-place finish by Staples and the ‘Hawks sprung ahead by nine. After Jen Iassogna finished 10th, Elizabeth Kroon finished 13th and Sarah Harmonay finished 14th in the 500 freestyle the Newtown lead had ballooned back up to 29 points.

From there, it was a matter of holding Staples off. And with a second-place finish by Conlon in the 100 backstroke, a third-place finish by Atkinson and the first-place finish by the 400 freestyle relay, the ‘Hawks did exactly that.

Last Saturday, the ‘Hawks finished off the 2005 season by finishing tied for ninth (with Manchester) at the CIAC State Open. The best individual finish came in the 100 breaststroke, where Atkinson earned eighth-place at 1:09.40 … a little over three seconds behind Aurora Lee of Fairfield Ludlow.

CLASS L MEET

 

TEAM SCORES: 1. Newtown 593, 2. Staples 571.5, 3. Ridgefield 478, 4. Conard 429, 5. Farmington 392, 6. Fitch 331, 7. Mercy 311, 8. Masuk 304.5, 9. Hall 268, 10. Bunnell 236, 11. Windsor 188, 12. Torrington 172, 13. New Milford 152, 14. Bristol Central 150, 15. Middletown 120, 16. Newington 115, 17, Enfield/Somers 110, 18. E.O. Smith 99, 19. Bulkeley 42, 20. Kennedy 28.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS

200 medley relay – 1. Staples 1:53.22, 2. Ridgefield 1:53.28, 3. Newtown (Maricate Conlon, Abby Atkinson, Sally Tabler, Dana Gnerre) 1:53.81*, 4. Torrington 2:00.17, 5. Farmington 2:01.09, 6. Bunnell 2:01.23, 7. Hall 2:01.35, 8. New Milford 2:01.61, 9. Bristol Central 2:06.09, 10. Enfield/Somers 2:06.29, 11. Conard 2:06.30, 12. Windsor 2:07.07, 13. Mercy 2:07.44, 14. Masuk 2:07.90, 15. Fitch 2:08.91, 16. Newington 2:09.71, 17. Middletown 2:09.73, 18. Bulkeley 2:24.69.

200 freestyle – 1. Clark (Farmington) 1:55.70, 2. Kearns (Conard) 1:57.08, 3. Kelly (Conard) 1:58.64, 4. Smith (Staples) 1:58.81, 5. Gallagher (Fitch) 1:59.26, 6. Sundel (Hall) 1:59.73, 7. Eldh (Staples) 2:02.10, 8. Honrath (Masuk) 2:03.20, 9. Semkuley 2:03.21, 10. Conlon (Newtown) 2:05.28, 11. Barlett (Conard) 2:05.69, 12. McCooe (Windsor) 2:07.08, 13. Chudwick (Farmington) 2:07.22, 14. Grant (E.O. Smith) 2:07.46, 15. Marriott (Staples) 2:07.47, 16. Jette (Mercy) 2:07.83, 17. Jen Iassogna (Newtown) 2:09.65, 18. Emily Futoma (Newington), 19. Mary Provencher (Conard) 2:13.95, 20. Howe (Masuk) 2:15.12.

200 individual medley – 1. McHale (Ridgefield) 2:11.03, 2. A. Atkinson (Newtown) 2:13.01, 3. Kelly (Conard) 2:14.93, 4. Sally Tabler (Newtown) 2:15.77, 5. Horrigan (Staples) 2:17.84, 6. Jordan (Hall) 2:18.46, 7. Purvis (Mercy) 2:20.61, 8. Pappas (Bunnell) 2:22.03, 9. Rothman (Ridgefield) 2:23.30, 10. E. Atkinson (Newtown) 2:24.92, 11. King (Farmington) 2:25.66, 12. Gleason (Bristol Central) 2:26.56, 13. Dignan (Fitch) 2:27.16, 14. Moore (Ridgefield) 2:27.36, 15. Sullivan (New Milford) 2:28.34, 16. Kursten (Staples) 2:28.92, 17. Bolduc (Windsor) 2:25.93, 18. Torelli (Kennedy) 2:27.69, 19. Zettergren (Middletown) 2:28.07, 20. Nickerson (Torrington) 2:28.23, 21. Dufraine (Enfield/Somers) 2:28.82, 22. Smoler (Staples) 2:29.17, 23. Drogosz (Farmington) 2:29.47, 24. Smith (New Milford) 2:29.73.

50 freestyle – 1. Smith (Ridgefield) 24.73, 2. Gnerre (Newtown) 25.03*, 3. Koelle (Fitch) 25.12, 4. Hennessy (Staples) 25.20, 5. Scott (Staples) 25.58, 6. Brown (Conard) 25.60, 7. Heyman (Ridgefield) 25.93, 8. Kokomoor (Fitch) 26.25, 9. Klucznik (Mercy) 26.05, 10. Van Waalwijk (Newtown) 26.12, 11. Chimielewski (Bunnell) 26.29, 12. Drogosz (Farmington) 26.35, 13. Donlon (Masuk) 26.64, 14. Lally (Staples) 26.67, 15. Noyes (Farmington) 26.94, 16. Stamm (Staples) 27.50, 17. Walsh (Ridgfield) 26.45, 18. Banulski (Bristol Central) 26.89, 19. Lang (Masuk) 26.91, 20. Ueki (Hall) 27.00, 21. Dalmeyer (New Milford) 27.32, 22. Welling (Mercy) 27.34, 23. Grenier (New Milford) 27.35, 24. Marrington (Farmington) 27.37.

Diving – 1. Pelletier (Conard) 300.40, 2. Kennedy (Newtown) 298.10, 3. Metzger (Newtown) 293.90, 4. Borruso (Newtown) 275.10, 5. Driscoll (Mercy) 272.70, 6. Lewis (Hall) 268.70, 7. Ringquist (Hall) 261.30, 8. Lindsay (Newington) 258.30, 9. Driscoll (Mercy) 252.00, 10. Ponte (Torrington) 251.10, 11. Serock (Masuk) 246.50, 12. Lovelace (E.O. Smith) 246.05, 13. Black (Fitch) 242.45, 14. LePore (Windsor) 238.50, 15. Schumann (Mercy) 224.30, 16. Perez (Torrington) 215.30, 17. DeVestern (New Milford) 209.70.

100 butterfly – 1. Smith (Staples) 58.62, 2. K. Lang (Masuk) 59.79, 3. Koelle (Fitch) 59.86, 4. Lozach (Ridgefield) 1:00.45, 5. Loftus (Staples) 1:02.48, 6. Tabler (Newtown) 1:02.87, 7. Heyman (Ridgefield) 1:03.38, 8. Bartlett (Conard) 1:03.45, 9. S. Lang (Masuk) 1:04.00, 10. Bolduc (Windsor) 1:04.88, 11. Smachetti (Bristol Central) 1:06.30, 12. Sullivan (New Milford) 1:06.33, 13. Dufraine (Enfield/Somers) 1:06.49, 14. Goldmen (Staples) 1:06.82, 15. Marrington (Farmington) 1:07.03, 16. Moore (Ridgefield) 1:09.91, 17. Harrigan (Bristol Central) 1:08.86, 18. Leonard (Newington) 1:09.12, 19. Smith (Newtown) 1:09.65, 20. Duffany (New Milford) 1:09.94, 21. Sitler (Mercy) 1:10.34, 22. Drogosz (Farmington) 1:10.66, 23. Harris (Mercy) 1:11.32, 24. Taylor (Newtown) 1:12.87.

100 freestyle – 1. Clark (Farmington) 53.02, 2. Gallagher (Fitch) 54.27, 3. McHale (Ridgefield) 54.63, 4. Brown (Conard) 54.98, 5. Kearns (Conard) 55.19, 6. Hennessy (Staples) 55.85, 7. Gnerre (Newtown) 55.93, 8. VanWaalwijk (Newtown) 56.29, 9. Chmielewski (Bunnell) 56.55, 10. Mesavage (Bunnell) 57.23, 11. Drogosz (Farmington) 57.58, 12. Klucznik (Mercy) 57.72, 13. Kokomoor (Fitch) 57.81, 14. Walsh (Ridgefield) 58.22, 15. Crowley (Newington) 58.48, 16. Noyes (Farmington) 59.90, 17. Fugger (Middletown) 58.10, 18. Lally (Staples) 59.12, 19. Welling (Mercy) 59.63, 20. Goodwill (Mercy) 59.84, 21. Burke Hall (59.99), 22. Ueki (Hall) 1:00.20, 23. Malave (Mercy) 1:00.25, 24. Foote Farmington 1:02.19

500 freestyle – 1. Sundel (Hall) 5:13.39, 2. Kelly (Conard) 5:18.79, 3. Lozach (Ridgefield) 5:20.32, 4. Honrath (Masuk) 5:22.06, 5. Pappas (Bunnell) 5:27.19, 6. Semkuley (Ridgefield) 5:29.38, 7. McCooe (Windsor) 5:38.63, 8. Marriott (Staples) 5:46.78, 9. Chudwick (Farmington) 5:38.56, 10. Jen Iassogna (Newtown) 5:43.05, 11. Jette (Mercy) 5:43.05, 12. DeVito (Kennedy) 5:47.27, 13. Kroon (Newtown) 5:51.21, 14. Harmonay (Newtown) 5:54.56, 15. Berg (Fitch) 5:57.31, 16. Demchaj (Masuk) 6:00.42, 17. Barthel (Fitch) 5:53.93, 18. Futoma (Newington) 5:55.09, 19. Harrigan (Bristol Central) 5:58.24, 20. Hartman (Windsor) 5:58.98, 21. Keating (Conard) 6:01.01, 22. Kursten (Staples) 6:04.43, 23. Roy (Middletown) 6:04.70, 24. Meyer (Torrington) 6:08.06.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Staples 1:41.90, 2. Conard 1:42.71, 3. Fitch 1:42.86, 4. Farmington 1:45.15, 5. Masuk 1:45.75, 6. Newtown (E. Atkinson, Hull, Gugino, Van Waalwijk) 1:45.75, 7. Hall 1:47.17, 8. Mercy 1:47.45, 9. Torrington 1:51.16, 10. Newington 1:51.31, 11. New Milford 1:52.00, 12. Middletown 1:52.60, 13. E.O. Smith 1:53.27, 14. Windsor 1:54.81, 15. Bunnell 1:57.02, 16. Bristol Central 1:57.20, 17. Enfield/Somers 1:57.29, 18. Bulkeley 2:01.14.

100 backstroke – 1. Purvis (Mercy) 1:01.28), 2. Conlon (Newtown) 1:01.37*, 3. Smith (Ridgefield) 1:01.69, 4. Mesavage (Bunnell) 1:04.13, 5. Loftus (Staples) 1:04.90, 6. Sava (Windsor) 1:05.86, 7. Dufraine (Enfield/Somers) 1:05.91, 8. Zettergren (Middletown) 1:06.14, 9. Smith (Newtown) 1:06.19, 10. Rothman (Ridgefield) 1:06.39, 11. Dignan (Fitch) 1:06.55, 12. Kroon (Newtown) 1:07.81, 13. Grenier (New Milford) 1:08.76, 14. Sitler (Mercy) 1:08.85, 15. Goldmen (Staples) 1:09.08, 16. Baron (Ridgefield) 1:09.51, 17. Campbell (Farmington) 1:09.21, 18. Smoler (Staples) 1:09.37, 19. Provencher (Conard) 1:10.77, 20. Smith (Newington) 1:11.56, 21. Nolan (Fitch) 1:11.63, 22. Ruby (Conard) 1:11.83.

100 breaststroke – 1. Eldh (Staples) 1:07.83, 2. Lang (Masuk) 1:07.83, 3. Atkinson (Newtown) 1:08.84*, 4. Kelly (Conard) 1:09.86, 5. Horrigan (Staples) 1:10.12, 6. Jordan (Hall) 1:10.77, 7. King (Farmington) 1:10.85, 8. Heyman (Ridgefield) 1:12.70, 9. Dyson (Farmington) 1:12.79, 10. Grant (E.O. Smith) 1:13.09, 11. Donlon (Masuk) 1:13.65, 12. Jacobson (Torrington) 1:13.86, 13. E. Atkinson (Newtown) 1:13.94, 14. O’Kelly (Staples) 1:14.14, 15. Smith (New Milford) 1:15.69, 16. Bartolotta (Farmington) 1:16.56, 17. Heyman (Ridgefield) 1:15.49, 18. Gleason (Bristol Central) 1:15.67, 19. Torelli (Kennedy) 1:16.76, 20. O’Connell (Farmington) 1:17.18, 21. Coster (Farmington) 1:17.18, 22. Wilson (Torrington) 1:18.06, 23. Sousa (Staples) 1:18.22.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Van Waalwijk, Tabler, Gnerre, Atkinson) 3:40.94*, 2. Conard 3:41.76, 3. Ridgefield 3:42.05, 4. Staples 3:46.26, 5. Fitch 3:47.82, 6. Farmington 3:51.51, 7. Bunnell 3:54.34, 8. Masuk 3:54.37, 9. Mercy 3:57.29, 10. Middletown 4:02.66, 11. Torrington 4:05.28, 12. Bristol Central 4:05.51, 13. Windsor 4:07.33, 14. E.O. Smith 4:09.49, 15. Hall 4:18.37, 17. Enfield/Somers 4:22.90, 18. Bulkeley 4:41.56.

* School record.

STATE OPEN

 

TEAM SCORES: 1. Greenwich 630, 2. Cheshire 543, 3. Darien 399, 4. Hand-Madison 343, 5. Amity Regional 258, 6. Suffield 201, 7. New Canaan 199, 8. Ridgefield 188, 9. Newtown 172, 9. Manchester 172, 11. Danbury 168, 12. Staples 162.5, 13. Hamden 154, 14. Wilton 130, 15. Haddam-Killingworth 122, 16. Conard 118, 17. Glastonbury 115, 18. Fairfield Ludlowe 114, 18. Naugatuck 114, 20. Farmington 104, 20. Fitch 104, 22. Westhill 99, 23. Seymour 95, 24. Trumbull 71, 25. Sacred Heart Academy 68, 26. Lauralton Hall 64, 27. Branford 58, 28. Shelton 56, 29. Norwalk/McMahon 55, 30. Masuk 52, 31. Fairfield Warde 50.5, 32. St. Joseph 49, 33. North Haven 48, 34. Watertown 38, 35. New Fairfield 35, 36. East Lyme 34, 37. Southington 32, 38. East Catholic 31, 39. Weston 30, 39. Brookfield 30, 41. Wethersfield 26, 42. Pomperaug 24, 43. West Haven 22, 43. Plainville 22, 45. Hall 21, 46. Mercy 19, 47. Waterford 9, 48. Norwich Free Academy 2, 49. Berlin 1.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(Winner/NHS finishers)

 

200 medley relay – 1. Greenwich 1:49.35, 13. Newtown (Conlon, Atkinson, Tabler, Gnerre) 1:56.14; 200 individual medley – 1. Lee (Fairfield Ludlowe) 2:07.39, 11. Atkinson (Newtown) 2:13.05, 19. Tabler (Newtown) 2:16.37. 50 freestyle – 1. Farrell (Amity) 23.84, 11. Gnerre (Newtown) 25.23; Diving – 1. Dougan (Southington) 370.35 points, 13. Kennedy (Newtown) 316.05, 16. Metzger (Newtown), 310.85, 22. Borruso (Newtown) 290.05; 100 backstroke – 1. Farrell (Amity) 58.10, 16. Conlon (Newtown) 1:02.34; 100 breaststroke – 1. Lee (Fairfield Ludlowe) 1:06.07, 8. Atkinson (Newtown) 1:09.40; 400 freestyle relay – 1. Hand 3:33.52, 10. Newtown (Van Waalwijk, Tabler, Gnerre, Atkinson) 3:44.94.