The 2014 calendar year featured a variety of shining moments in the local athletics scene. As has been the case in past years, there were record-setting efforts and championships. The past 12 months also featured more memorable regular-season games, including Newtown High School’s football team preventing an opponent from breaking a state record. A cheerleading squad claimed the spotlight — at the national level. There were also some changes made, including tweaking of the football schedule and approval for new varsity sports programs at the high school. Here’s a look at some of the most notable moments from the past year:

High School Champions

*Newtown High School’s dance and cheerleading teams showed their skill and athleticism as they earned South-West Conference championships, and the dance team also captured a state title in the Large Jazz division.

*On the ice, Newtown High’s hockey team heated up and won the Division III state championship.

*The high school’s wrestling team earned the program’s first Class LL state title in program history.

*Newtown High’s girls’ lacrosse team celebrated its tenth consecutive SWC championship, defeating Brookfield 12-8.

*It was double trouble for SWC lacrosse teams not from Newtown, as the Nighthawk laxmen also took home a conference trophy, defeating Brookfield 10-8.

*Newtown’s football team won its third straight SWC title game, blanking Brookfield 42-0.

Individual Winners, Record Setters, And Honors

*During the indoor track season, Newtown High’s Jenna Calandro pole vaulted to SWC, Class LL, and State Open titles and, in the process, set a Class LL record with a pole vault of 11-foot-7, and set a State Open record with her 12-foot effort. Calandro also won the spring SWC title with an 11-6 performance. She then set the Class LL pole vaulting record with an effort of 12-1. Fellow field events standouts Amy Anyoha and Micaela Nowacki finished one-two in the discus throw.

*Newtown High football player Julian Dunn broke the state’s receiving touchdown record, on a pass thrown by his brother Justin Dunn, and finished with 49. His record was broken by Southington’s Alex Jamele, who finished with 50, in a state championship game.

*In the pool, NHS senior Richard Huffman set three school records — in the 100 yard butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 500 freestyle — last season.

*The high school’s girls’ swimming and diving team had quite a fall as several team members shattered marks: Kari Djonne set the team and SWC record in diving, Amy Martinelli broke the school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, Mandy Mele also broke the 50 free mark at one point before it was shattered again by Martinelli, Megan McDonald set the school’s 100 backstroke record, and two relay teams also set marks. Martinelli, Mele, Eliza Eggleston, and Mary Hufziger set the 200 freestyle team and SWC records, and Mele, Eggleston, McDonald, and Annika Fagerholm broke the 200 medley team record.

*In the Newtown High wrestling team’s runner-up finish in the SWC, the team had a trio of first-place finishers as Anthony Falbo, Forest Speed, and Greg LaRussa all won their final-round matches. Falbo also captured Class LL and State Open triumphs and went on to place third in the New England championships — all in his freshman campaign. Falbo and James Leuci were the only individual champions in the state finals, showing what a deep and talented team the Nighthawks had. Nine grapplers went deep in the tourney and finished among the top six in their weight divisions.

*NHS tennis players Julia Frattaroli and Aimee Alexander won the doubles finals of the SWC individual tournament championship.

*Newtown High softball pitchers Gillian Galante and Lauren Wilcox both threw no-hitters.

*NHS wrestler James Leuci earned his 100th career win.

*The Newtown wrestling team set a program record with 11 pins in a season-opening victory over Bunnell of Stratford this winter.

*Kevin Hoyt won the Sandy Hook 5K, Mad Dash Adventure Race, Rooster Run, and Newtown Road Race.

*Mitchell Russo dethroned Hoyt, winner of last year’s Turkey Trot, by claiming first in this year’s Turkey Day 5K.

*Bill Flood, Newtown High’s boys’ golf coach, and head professional at Rock Ridge Country Club, was named the president of the state section PGA.

*Maura Fletcher, coach of the girls’ lacrosse team, and Marc Kenney, coach of the girls’ soccer team, both received Connecticut High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year accolades. Fletcher retired after winning her tenth straight conference championship.

*Steve George, coach of the NHS football team, was named the New York Jets High School Coach of the Week, presented by Chase, in October.

*Three-sport athletes Cassie Ekstrom (volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse), and Matt Mossbarger (soccer, and indoor and outdoor track; captain of all three) were selected as The Bee’s Newtown High School Athletes of the Year.

*Chris Kling, owner of CrossFit RedZone was drafted by the National Pro Grid League’s Boston Iron.

*Torrie Laros stepped down after six years as president of the Newtown Soccer Club, and was honored as The Bee’s Sportsman of the Year.

*2014 marked the 30th anniversary of Newtown High’s first girls’ soccer team. Members of that inaugural squad marched in the Labor Day Parade. It also marked the ten-year anniversary of Newtown’s state champion girls’ and boys’ soccer teams, and both were recognized during a soccer double header at Blue & Gold Stadium in the fall.

Notable Games And Competitions

*The NHS football team ended Ansonia’s winning streak at 48 straight — just one shy of Cheshire’s state record — in a 14-8 battle in October.

*On the softball diamond, the Newtown High squad defeated Immaculate of Danbury 25-0 and routed Notre Dame-Fairfield 21-0.

*Newtown High’s girls’ lacrosse team came from behind for an 11-8 win over a New Fairfield team that, the year before, ended Newtown’s six-plus season winning streak against SWC counterparts.

*You don’t usually see double-digit performances in hockey, but Newtown High skated to a pair of wins in which they scored ten goals: A 10-3 triumph over Shepaug-Litchfield-Nonnewaug and a 10-1 shellacking of the Eastern Connecticut Eagles.

*The NHS girls’ track and field team was edged out by Weston by a mere half point in the spring season SWC championship.

*Newtown High’s baseball team erased 8-0 and 15-6 deficits to shock Masuk of Monroe 16-15 in a game played at Bridgeport’s Ballpark at Harbor Yard.

*Newtown High’s golf team beat Pomperaug of Southbury for the first time in five years.

*The NHS wrestling team set a school record by winning 11 of 14 matches via pin fall in an 81-0 triumph over Bunnell of Stratford in the 2014-15 season opener.

Youth Sports Standouts

*Newtown’s D10 and D13 cheerleading squads won state championships. The 13s went on to win the regional and national competition.

*Newtown Youth Wrestling grappler Carter Jeffrey won a state championship.

*The Newtown Soccer Club held its 32ndannual Memorial Day Tournament and had nine division winners and a trio of runner-up finishers.

*As always, there were many in-house and area tournament champions for various sports, and some teams reached pinnacle battles out of town. The Wolfpack U12 soccer team got to the State Cup finals. The Wildcats baseball team won the 10-year-old district title, and Newtown’s 12-year-old baseball team captured the Cal Ripken District 5 title game. Newtown’s 9A travel baseball team won a Cal Ripken baseball championship. The Renegades baseball team won four straight district games to qualify for the Cal Ripken 11U state tourney. Newtown’s 16–18-year-old baseball team slugged its way to a Babe Ruth state championship, and Newtown’s 16U Babe Ruth team won the state’s Prep Division title.

*Fairfield County Captains baseball players Greg Brissette and Orlando Swift, both of Newtown, tossed no-hitters (Brissette’s was a perfect game) in a U14 tournament to benefit Sandy Hook Promise.

*Newtown hosted a pair of New England Regional tournaments this past summer, as 11- and 13-year-old Babe Ruth squads entertained some of the best competition from New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

*Newtown’s up and coming gridders had tremendous success in their first season of competition in the Shoreline Youth Football Conference as the fourth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade teams all won championships.

Changes

*Adam Carley took over as president of the Newtown Youth Football and Cheerleading program, and the teams switched from the Colonial League to the Shoreline Conference.

*The CIAC made some football practice and game schedule alterations. This year’s SWC championship game will be the last as teams scale back their player-on-player contact in an effort to minimize injuries.

*Girls’ golf and boys’ volleyball teams were approved to begin play at the varsity level this coming spring.

Mother Nature

While it’s been a mild start to the winter, a look back at how weather impacted things in 2014 is a reminder that snow can change the schedule at any time in the coming months. February snow postponed several games and postseason tournaments, including the wrestling, track, and gymnastics championships. Of course, we made it through this past October without any fluky snow or wind storms which impacted the sports schedules the previous couple of years. Only heavy rain, which postponed the SWC cross country championships by a day, was a factor in the schedule.

There’s no telling what’s in store for 2015, but sports in Newtown is always full of excitement, milestones reached, records broken, titles captured, and personal achievements earned. See you at the games!