Newtown High School’s boys’ swimming team earned a 96-78 win over visiting Brookfield, for its first win of the campaign, on January 9.

Coming off losses to tough South-West Conference foes Pomperaug of Southbury and Weston, the Nighthawks were in control with seven first-place finishes and a trio of second-place outcomes in the 11 swim events.

“As important as the win is seeing the guys really gel as a team,” Newtown Coach Ryan Eberts said. “We’re seeing some personal bests already. We’re seeing very good leadership from our seniors, and our freshmen are focused on improvement and dropping time — we love to see that.”

In the Brookfield meet, the 200 yard medley relay team of James Guerrieri, Finn Clancy, Gabe Petertonjes, and Connor Kwarcinski was first in a time of 1:56.75, three seconds faster than Brookfield’s second-place relay.

Guerrieri earned second in the 200 freestyle race in 2:05.53. Petertonjes won the 200 individual medley in 2:17.11, narrowly edging his closest Brookfield competitor who came in with a time of 2:17.73. Kwarcinski sprinted to first in the 50 free in 22.56, two-plus seconds ahead of Brookfield’s second-place finisher.

After the diving break, Petertonjes won the 100 butterfly race, clocking in at 59.05, more than three seconds faster than the number two, from Brookfield. Kwarcinski won the 100 free in 50.62, easily outpacing the top Brookfield swimmer and second-place finisher by six seconds. Johnny Barzetti took second in the 500, making his final touch in 5:52.96.

Newtown’s winning 200 free relay was a little more than a second ahead of the runner-up quartet from Brookfield. Warren Ache, Hayden Bobowick, Brady Wennerholm, and Kris Luci-Bernard finished up in 1:45.91.

Guerreri was second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.67. Clancy was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.98. The 400 free relay contingent of Petertonjes, Guerrieri, Luci-Bernard, and Kwarcinski was first in 3:42.23, almost nine seconds in front of the next relay.

The Nighthawks were beaten 96-77 by host Pomperaug of Southbury on January 5; Kwarcinski won the 100 free in a time of 50.55. The Hawks lost their season opener to visiting Weston 97-77 on December 21; Kwarcinski won the 100 in 50.67 and the 200 free relay of Petertonjes, Guerrieri, Wennerholm, and Kwarcinski was first in 1:39.09.

Newtown visits Joel Barlow of Redding-Bethel at the Brookfield YMCA on Tuesday, January 16 at 5:30 pm. The Hawks return home to take on Masuk of Monroe Tuesday, January 23 at 4 pm.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.