Newtown Swimmers Leave Brookfield And Bethel In Their Wake

By Eileen Byrnes

 Newtown 96-Brookfield 88

 The boys’ swimming and dive team hit the water Tuesday night and ended a long drought, beating rival Brookfield.

 No one on the team — not the swimmers, divers, nor the coach — had ever beaten Brookfield, so the taste of victory at the high school pool was particularly sweet.

 Captain Chris Fragoso called the win “great” and said it was the result of a team that has worked hard and improved over the years.

 “Everyone swam fast. Everyone got into it,” he said. “It shows how far we’ve come since freshman year. It’s a mark of accomplishment for our team.”

 Newtown started the night strong, breaking a three-year-old pool record in the 200-yard medley relay, which was the first event. Anthony Fiore, Allen Hubbard, Stefan Toi, and Wesley Hood were the winning foursome, barely edging out Brookfield.

 Coach Matt Childs said that victory set the tone for the night.

 “It was a great way to start the meet,” he said.

 From there, Newtown, which remains undefeated, went on to capture seven of the remaining ten swim events. The Nighthawks placed second and third in diving.

 Toi led the team with wins in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard fly, as well as the record-breaking relay. Fiore was right behind Toi in the 200 IM and got his best time of the year when he cruised to a victory in the 100-yard backstroke, qualifying him for an automatic bid at state championships. Tony Fragoso also swam his best time in the backstroke Tuesday.

 Alex Kron came out ahead in the test of endurance that is the 500-yard freestyle. Senior James O’Connor came in third, but had his best time of the year in this event and came close to matching his personal best.

 Childs said leadership from the seniors such as Toi and Fiore, who are tri-captains along with Fragoso, was a major factor in the victory.

 “Our seniors led the way and everyone feeds off of that,” he said. After the final score was announced, Toi pulled Childs into the pool for a celebratory dunking.

 Hubbard, another senior, was blazing in the 100-yard breaststroke, with freshman Abben Hung strong in his third-place finish with a personal-best time. Patrick Stein also issued a personal-best time in this event.

 While Hood, also a senior, was matching his own best time this year in the 50-yard freestyle, it was the fight for second place that brought the packed house to its feet and the noise level among the standing-room-only crowd in the balcony to a din. O’Connor beat his Brookfield opponent in the next lane by one hundredth of a second.

 Another Nighthawk who racked up a personal best was second-placed diver Ryan Hudock, a senior who is new to the team this year. Allison Jagoe, also a senior, was a strong third.

 Childs spent time at practice this week emphasizing to his team that while coming in first is the goal, the points accumulated for placing are equally as important. All night long, the squad heeded his words.

Brookfield captured the 100-yard freestyle, but Newtown actually grabbed more points by placing second, third, and fourth.

“That’s what we needed to do,” Childs said of finishing strong behind the winners. “When you do that, it puts you in a good place to win the meet.”

 The atmosphere on the pool deck, as well as in the stands, was intense from the moment warm-ups ended. Throughout the night there was constant cheering with both factions trying to drown out the other. The Brookfield swimmers, who dyed their hair a stark yellow for the meet, came out clapping and chanting. Newtown met their challenge with a huddle that ended in a cheer, the raising of a plastic sword and the sounding of a siren that was borrowed from the music department.

 It is the second time this season Newtown defeated Brookfield. When the girls’ swam this fall, it came down the last relay and Newtown proved victorious, putting the meet in the win column.

 Each year the boys’ meet is a benefit for the Leukemia Society in honor of Greg Chion, a Newtown captain who succumbed to the disease in 2000. Brian Reif, Brookfield’s coach, was at the helm in Newtown when Chion swam. It is the only Newtown meet where admission is charged and nearly $1,200 was raised Tuesday night from the overflow crowd. Childs noted that even the meet officials made a contribution.

 After all the handshakes and the congratulations, Childs told his team he was proud of them.

 “They swam great tonight. They were very fast,” the physical education teacher, who has been the head coach for four years. He later said, “It was a fun meet.”

 Last week, Newtown blew by Bethel, winning every event and taking the first three slots in all but a few events. The final score was 98-59, but Newtown swam the last three events exhibition to prevent a blow out. Bethel is a co-op team, consisting of both boys and girls.

 Matt Iassogna was a double winner, taking the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. Kevin Herring handily took the 100-yard freestyle, while Kron was an easy winner in the 200-yard freestyle.

 Newtown expects to have an easy time next week with a very sparse Oxford team that consists only of freshmen and sophomores. The following week, however, will be another story when the Hawks take on powerhouse Pomperaug.

Newtown vs Brookfield

200-yard medley relay – 1. Newtown (A. Fiore, Hubbard, Toi, Hood) 1:45.07, 4. Newtown (T. Fragoso, Hung, C. Fragoso, K. O’Connor) 1:53.38. 200-yard freestyle – 2. Fiore 1:55.03, 3. Kron 1:55.18. 200-yard individual medley – 1. Toi 2:07.30, 2. A. Fiore 2:09.56. 50-yard freestyle – 1. Hood 23.76, 2. J. O’Connor 24.42. 5. Herring 24.91. Diving 2. Hudock 143.35, 3. Jagoe 135.95. 100-yard fly – 1. Toi 54.91, 3. Iassogna 59.42, 5. C. Fragoso 1:04.90. 100-yard freestyle – 2. L. Fiore 51.13, 3. Hood 51.76, 4. Herring 54.77. 500-yard freestyle – 1. Kron 5:15.51, 3. J. O’Connor 5:39.33. 200-yard freestyle relay – 2. Newtown (Toi, L. Fiore, Kron, Hood) 1:36.22, 3. (Herring, K. O’Connor, C. Fragoso, J. O’Connor) 1:40.50. 100-yard backstroke – 1. A. Fiore 58.27, 4. T. Fragoso 1:04.29. 100-yard breaststroke – 1. A. Hubbard 1:07.97, 3. Hung 1:09.55, 4. Stein 1:11.30. 400-yard freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (A. Fiore, L. Fiore, Kron, J. O’Connor) 3:36.87, 3. Newtown (Herring, K. O’Connor, C. Fragoso, Parker) 3:47.55, 5. Newtown (Crevier, Batzer, Hoagland, Mascher) 4:22.23.

Newtown vs. Bethel

200-yard medley relay – 1. Newtown (Toi, A. Fiore, T. Fragoso, Hood) 1:49.46, 2. Newtowwn (C. Fragoso, donnelly, A. Hubbard, K. O’connor) 2:01.64, 3. Newtowwn (Delia, Hufzinger, Stein, Parker) 2:05.71 200-yard freestyle – 1. Kron 1:56.90, 2. J. O’Connor 2:05.51, 3. Herring 2:07.43 200-yard individual medley – 1. Iassogna 2:26.60, 2. Toi 2:28.04, 3. Parker 2:28.72 50-yard freestyle – 1. L. Fiore, 24.42, 2. C. Fragoso 25.50 Diving – Jagoe 128.20, Hudock 127.75, Korth 101.1 100-yard fly – L. Fiore 1:02.53, 2. C. Fragoso 1:06.30, 3. Parker 1:07.54 100-yard freestyle – 1. Herring 56.71, 2. Hung 57.26, 3. Villamil 1:01.12 500-yard freestyle – 1. Iassogna 5:53.57, 2. J. O’Connor 5:42.92, 4. A. Hubbard 6:15.15 200-yard freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Hood, J. O’Connor, Toi, Kron) 1:39.63, 2. Newtown (C. Fragoso, Herring, Hoagland, K. O’Connor) 1:46.18, 3. Newtown (Delia, M. Hubbard, Hufzinger, J. Jagoe) 1:48.89 100-yard backstroke – Exhibition A. Fiore 58.56, Donnelly 1:16.60, Delia 1:19.02 100-yard breaststroke – Exhibition Hung 1:11.79, Stein 1:12.40, T. Fragoso 1:12.54 400-yard freestyle relay – Exhibition Newtown (Donnelly, Iassogna, M. Hubbard, Villamil) 4:02.24, Newtown (Mascher, Baudish, O’Dell, Simonds) 4:39.19, Newtown (Waterhouse, Batzer, Hiteshew, LaMarche) 4:41.43.