By Kim J. Harmon

By KIM HARMON

Published: May 30, 2003 12:00 am

By Kim J. Harmon

BETHEL â More than halfway through the South-West Conference boysâ track and field championships, the announcer in the booth was reading off the current standings and head coach Ed Obloj waited to hear the word Newtown.

But eighth place was called and then seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth and coach Obloj started to get nervous thinking the Nighthawks were languishing somewhere in ninth place or, gasp, even lower.

âI thought we had scored more points than that,â he said.

Oh, they had.

At that point, with 14 events completed, the âHawks were in second place. Just a trifle amazing and by the end of the meet they had slipped just one notchâ¦finishing third overall behind New Milford and Weston.

Finishing third at the SWCs had been a goal of the âHawks before the season started, but mostly it had been just something to shoot for.

âOh, no â we didnât think were getting that,â said senior Peter Terrance, who earned the 300 intermediate hurdle title. âWe didnât have anybody who could get into the shot, discus and javelin (finals) and thought weâd be getting knocked back because of that.â

But with Terrance finishing first in the 300 hurdles; the foursome of Adam Konneker, John Collins, Evan Forstrom and Terrance finishing first in the 4x400 relay; Matt Miller finishing second in the pole vault;l and the host of back-end finishers the âHawks did what some thought wasnât possible.

âThe kids were so pumped,â said coach Obloj, âbecause they knew they were underdogs.â

But underdog performances from guys like those named above and other guys like Tim Robinson, Tim Carlisle, Dan McIlrath, Pete Dittmar and Mike Nastri helped propel the âHawks.

Terrance did a lot, himself, to propel the âHawks. Besides his first-place finish in the 300 intermediate hurdles and running the anchor leg for the first-place 4x400 relay, the senior also took xxth in the 110 high hurdles.

âI was a little hesitant (about the 300 hurdles) because I hadnât done it in three weeks,â said Terrance. âBut I knew everyone in the final heat and I was not as nervous. I was a little disappointed with the 110, though, because I thought I had a shot at second.â

No one was disappointed with the 4x400 relay. For Terrance â and for Konneker, Collins and Forstrom â it was a crowning achievement to a fine season.

TEAM SCORES

1. New Milford 105, 2. Weston 73, 3. Newtown 62, 4. Pomperaug 58, 5. Foran 44, 6. Jonathan Law 42, 7. Joel Barlow 37, 8. Bunnell 36, 9. Bethel 25, 10. New Fairfield 24, 11. Stratford 23, 12. Brookfield 15, 13. Masuk 3, 14. Notre Dame 2.

Track Events

4x100 relay â 1. New Milford 45.2, 2. Pomperaug 45.5, 3. Brookfield 45.7, 4. Jonathan Law 46.2, 5. Foran 46.3, 6. Masuk 46.5; 4x400 relay â 1. Newtown 3:32.70, 2. Jonathan Law 3:34.37, 3. Weston 3:36.67, 4. New Milford 3:37.15, 5. Masuk 3:38.01, 6. Joel Barlow 3:38.32; 4x800 relay â 1. New Fairfield 8:23.7, 2. Weston 8:32.9, 3. New Milford 8:38.9, 4. Newtown 8:39.0, 5. Notre Dame 8:50.1, 6. Bunnell 8:53.1; 100 dash â 1. Ken Fraser (P) 11.55, 2. Ian Sanford (Bu) 11.65, 3. Alex Ivanov (S) 11.70, 4. Mike Russo (NM) 11.83, 5. Matt Clady (NM) 11.89, 6. Jared Emerling (F) 11.96; 110 high hurdles â 1. Vladimir Foster (Bu) 15.12, 2. David Janofsky (Be) 15.75, 3. Peter Terrance (N) 15.75, 4. Max Kramer (P) 16.32; 300 intermediate hurdles â 1. Pete Terrance (N) 40.38, 2. David Janofsky (Be) 40.38, 3. Tim Carlisle (N) 42.16, 4. Max Kramer (P) 42.84, 5. Ian Babington (Be) 43.07, 6. Nick Anderson (NM) 43.34; 200 dash â 1. Jason Kopp (JL) 23.40, 2. Ken Fraser (P) 23.93, 3. Jared Emerling (F) 24.03, 4. Peter Terrance (N) 24.03, 5. Matt Clady (NM) 24.32, 6. Andrew Bellon (NM) 24.38; 400 meters â 1. Jason Kopp (JL) 50.46, 2. Andy Porter (W) 53.01, 3. Adam Konneker (N) 53.09, 4. Travis Hood (NM) 53.23, 5. Dudley Iaporte (S) 53.61, 6. Evan Forstrom (N) 53.94; 800 meters â 1. Max Feldman (JB) 2:01.74, 2. Josh Barbara (F) 2:04.18, 3. Reid McEwan (NM) 2:04.56, 4. Chris Atkinson (W) 2:05.23, 5. Nick Decrescenzo (NM) 2:06.62, 6. John Freeman (NM) 2:06.82; 1,600 meters â 1. Max Feldman (JB) 4:19.1, 2. Ben Danton (NM) 4:22.7, 3. Reid McEwan (NM) 4:25.7, 4. Ken Simeone (F) 4:28.5, 5. Ian Foley (JB) 4:29.2, 6. Nick Decrescenzo (NM) 4:34.1; 3,200 meters â 1. Ben Danton (NM) 9:43.05, 2. Brendan McNeish (P) 9:51.24, 3. Ken Simeone (F) 9:58.36, 4. Pat Vickland (NM) 10:13.43, 5. David Hunt (NM) 10:19.15, 6. Bryan MacWilliams (NM) 10:27.56.

Field Events

Javelin â 1. Luke Dudley (W) 165-1, 2. Chris Shaw (NM) 154-4, 3. Vladimir Foster (Bu) 151-7, 4. Dave Bartkus (Be) 150-4, 5. Steve Ging (NM) 150-0, 6. Ken Fraser (P) 148-2; Shot put â 1. Doug Pet (NM) 50-0Â½, 2. Jamie Richard (W) 49-0, 3. Brett Schneider (NF) 47-6Â½, 4. David Powell (W) 45-3Â¼, 5. Dudley Iaporte (S) 44-3, 6. Vladimir Foster (Bu) 43-10; Discus â 1. Doug Pet (NM) 145-9, 2. Brett Schneider (NF) 124-2, 3. Dimitrios Bletsas (JB) 122-9, 4. Frank Dube (Be) 122-8, 5. Kevin Dawid (F) 119-8, 6. Matt Fogarty (S) 114-9; High jump â 1. Vladimir Foster (Bu) 6-0, 2. Tim Keeghan (P) 5-10, 2. Josh Barbara (F) 5-10, 4. Josh Susco (Br) 5-10, 5. Ben Schwartz (F) 5-8, 6. Matthew Risch (W) 5-8; Long jump â 1. Steve Narvaez (JL) 20-7Â½, 2. Tim Keeghan (P) 20-0Â¼, 3. Andy Porter (W) 19-9Â¼, 4. Josh Susco (Br) 19-4Â½, 5. Alex Ivanov (S) 18-10Â½, 6. Evan Forstrom (N) 18-9; Triple jump â 1. Stebenson Jean-Baptiste (S) 40-3Â¾, 2. Stephen Papen (W) 39-9Â¾, 3. Josh Barbara (F) 39-3, 4. Tim Robinson (N) 39-1Â¼, 5. David Thompson (P) 39-1, 6. Josh Susco (Br) 38-7Â½; Pole vault â 1. Matthew Risch (W) 12-0, 2. Matt Miller (N) 11-6, 3. Shawn Surbey (JB) 11-6, 4. Tim Robinson (N) 11-0, 5. Ryan Whitaker (JB) 11-0, 6. Adam Chiara (Be) 11-0.

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The editorial took no position on the budget going up or down so you're reading things into the editorial that simply aren't there. The turnout is tied to the lack of passage, in that people who came out to vote last time did not this time, indicating a lack of support on their part. Perhaps it wasn't spelled out clearly enough, but that's what the editorial was driving at, people showing lack of support by not casting a vote. The editorial did address likely concerns among voters that may have led to lack of support and lack of turnout. This lower turnout also follows increasing turnout over the past four referendums in three years (meaning it is an aberration from that), and increased turnout is something that I do push for regularly in editorials. Any disappointment you might be seeing is at the break in that trend, not at whether the budget passed or not. I'd rather see more people come out and vote "no" then not vote at all.

Lower Turnout Results In Two Budget Defeats

Clearly, property owners no longer want to bear the burden of expenses while the state does not meet it’s responsibilities. Rising costs must be addressed by actions that do not include yearly increases of property owners’ taxes. The state of CT must meet its share of the educational costs, and other costs.

Town And School Budgets Fail At Referendum

This feels like an oddly misleading headline and narrative, particularly coming from the Editorial Board. The headline "Lower Turnout Results in Two Budget Defeats" pushes a misleading narrative regarding voter turnout, and then seeks to tie the outcome of the referendum to that misleading narrative. Sure, voter turn out for this year's referendum, 18%, was lower than last year's. However, last year's turnout, 25.4%, represented the highest turnout in the most recent 10 budget referendums. If you take the time to examine turnout percentages between 2017 and 2026 (2017: 19.9, 2018: 15.7, 2019: 17, 2020: 0, 2021: 8.98, 2022: 7.7, 2023: 8.8, 2024: 15.1/17.49, 2025: 25.4, 2026: 18), this year's turnout was actually the third highest in the past 10 cycles. Perhaps the headline of this article should say "Lower Voter Turnout Than Last Year", which is more accurate, rather than creating an impression that this year's turnout is some type of aberration - a narrative that the turnout numbers, in all their binary glory, simply do not support. Further, the headline of this article appears to tie the "lower turnout" to the defeated budgets. Sure, that could be true. But, perhaps, its more likely that Newtown residents are feeling the squeeze of multiple economic influences. In Newtown, we've experienced property revaluations and increased municipal spending. Eversource continues to raise rates. The state legislature gives PURA the authority to impose Public Benefit charges that benefit a tiny percentage of the public (and subsequently burdening the rest of us). At the national level, inflation has run rampant for years and many of those costs remain high to this day. In short, the data tells a far less dramatic—and far more honest—story than the headline suggests. This wasn’t an electorate vanishing in apathy; it was a fairly typical turnout delivering an verdict that, perhaps, some at the Editorial Board didn't like. At some point, it’s worth considering that residents aren’t confused, disengaged, or misled by turnout; they’re simply doing math at their kitchen tables and concluding that “no” is the only responsible answer left.

Enjoyed the forum which only confirmed my support for Brandon Moore as the Democratic candidate to run for the state representative position. Brandon Moore did not waiver about his duty to all the people, if elected, when an issue presents itself that requires that he voice a difference of opinion for the wellbeing of Newtown residents. If Michelle Ku’s 16 years have led to her loyalty being to other elected officials, as she implied, then Newtown is going to continue to witness actions that do not protect its residents. She could not unseat republican, Mitch Bolinsky, during a Blue Wave, and once again, will not do it now. Winning that seat is critical for all. That explains why her previous campaign committee now campaigns for Brandon Moore. It explains all the endorsements he has received from local elected democratic officials. It’s why we need Brandon Moore to be the democratic candidate to run for state representative.

Second Newtown DTC, League Of Women Voters Candidates Event Planned

Appreciated the opportunity to hear from both candidates as we were present for the College Dems forum but only heard from Brandon Moore. It was an opportunity to see who can unseat the Republican incumbent and there is no doubt that Brandon Moore should be the Democratic candidate. One concerned parent posed a question about discrimination unaddressed by the school district and interestingly enough, Michelle Ku, who proudly speaks of her Board membership years, said little, while Brandon Moore passionately addressed the issue along with his experience as an Apache Helicopter Commander. This family is supporting Brandon Moore. We need change and someone who is not afraid to disagree, especially about the rising costs of living in Newtown.

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