By Steve Bigham

MANCHESTER – Jeff Heller and Erin Kostecki both finished in the top 20 of their respective races during Saturday’s CIAC Class L state meet at cold and windy Wickham Park in Manchester and both seniors qualified for this week’s State Open.

Heller was ninth overall, covering the 3.1-mile course in 17:06. Kostecki finished 18th overall in her race, completing the 2.5-mile course in 17:07. Both runners earned all-league honors for their performances this season.

As a team, the girls finished 11th overall out of 17 teams, but the unfavorable conditions made it difficult for them to meet their goal of 89 minutes, which is required for State Open qualification. Newtown’s top five finishers ran in a total of 91:31. Fitch of Groton was the overall winner, followed by Guilford, Simsbury, Rockville, Ledyard, Mercy-Middletown, Ridgefield, Staples, William Hall-West Hartford and New Milford. Masuk finished 15th.

Angela Shannon finished 47th overall and second for Newtown in 18:07. She was followed by NHS runners Jen Russell (58th, 18:36), Tracy Ravetto (62nd, 18:40), Jessica Snow (76th, 19:06), Sarah MacKnight (77th, 19:08), and Laura Reid (78th, 19:10).

Conard’s Chelsea Lenge ran away from the pack, finishing in 15:08. Allison Puppo of New Milford finished 13th in 16:54.

Last weekend’s state meet marked the end of a very successful season for the Nighthawks, who finished fourth at the South-West Conference (SWC) meet October 19. Newtown was 13-3 during the regular season.

“I am still very impressed with the girls this season. Their hard work over the summer has paid off and I am looking forward to an even better year in 2001,” said Coach Marsha Caine.

The boys’ squad took 13th overall in its meet, considered to be the toughest class of all. Ridgefield dominated the event, capturing the team title as well as having Steve Mucchetti finish as the overall winner in 16:02. Ridgefield’s Lucas Meyer was second in 16:03.

Also finishing for Newtown were Ryan Ignatius (78th, 18:47), Brandon Kirch (94th, 19:23), Dan Maxwell (95th, 19:24), Andrew Lysaght (109th, 20:12), and Dana Robinson (118th, 20:43).

For Coach Rich Pesce, the state meet marked the end of what has been a challenging season for both his players and himself. A lack of depth put Newtown behind the eight ball as it struggled to gets its first five runners in before other teams did the same. The Nighthawks finished a disappointing sixth at last week’s SWC meet after completing an 11-3 regular season.