By Kim J. Harmon

Oh, coach Brian Reiff wanted this meet pretty bad and, no, not so much because of the acrimonious nature of the rivalry between Newtown and Weston, but because the Trojans have long been a powerhouse in the South-West Conference.

For the ‘Hawks, the power is now theirs. The 98-88 win over the Trojans has given the swim program something it hasn’t had in, oh, 24 years.

Unquestionable legitimacy.

“This is really something,” said an emotional coach Reiff. “We have not been tested so far this year and tonight we were strategically, defensively, and mentally tested like never before and we came out ahead.”

The win – the first over Weston in 16 years and undeniably the most important one of the season – runs the Nighthawks’ record to 10-0.

“This makes our winning streak legitimate,” said Ryan Eberts. “We really know now that whenever we put our heads together we can come out on top.”

This was one of the two victories that has eluded coach Brian Reiff every since he came to take over the program almost a decade ago and, as he said after the meet, it was nice to finally get one of those monkeys off his back.

“You build a program over eight years and try to do something positive,” said coach Reiff, “but then there’s two teams we’re never beaten. It’s exciting to finally beat one of those teams – a very, very good team.”

The first really good team the ‘Hawks have faced.

“I think we were a little scared at first,” said Kane Kunst, who finished first in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and then turned in a blistering 100-yard split in the 400-yard freestyle relay. “But once we got past their antics, we pulled out and swam as a team.”

The Trojans did what they could to disrupt the Nighthawks’ psyche prior to the meet – and even during the diving event – but the ‘Hawks remained cool to it and responded to break open a really close meet for the win.

“We knew all along it would be a close meet,” said Eberts, “but we also knew we had the advantage and would work to it.”

What the ‘Hawks had, besides a front line that rivaled Weston’s, was depth on the deck and the strongest diving tandem in the SWC. Even though the ‘Hawks won just five of 12 events, they made up for it by grabbing most of the seconds, thirds and fourth. And with diving, a 32-30 deficit turned into a 43-35 lead after Alyssa von Oy, Greg Simoneau and Kyle Neidig went 1-2-3 in the event.

It was a lead the ‘Hawks would not give up.

After the diving, the midway point of the meet, the ‘Hawks would win just the 500-yard freestyle (Kunst in 5:41.57), the 200-yard freestyle relay (in 1:41.14, thanks to a great second leg by Jeff Heller), and the 100-yard breaststroke (Tim Lux in 1:08.69), but swimmers like David Modzelewski, Mark Kalb, Heller, Karlis Griffiths, Kathleen Scharf, Joe Blanchard, Matt Peyton, Karen Bass, Matt Fries, and Matt Robinson scored what turned out to be the most important points of the meet – the back end points.

“Everyone wanted it,” said Eberts. “I think we wanted it more than they did.”

The ‘Hawks take their 10-0 record to New Fairfield next Tuesday, January 25, for their next huge test of the 1999-2000 season and, if nothing else, a win over Weston has the ‘Hawks truly primed for that one.

“I think this will really motivate us to step it up for New Fairfield,” said Kunst, “and give them a really good meet.”

Coach Reiff sure hopes so.

NEWTOWN           98

WESTON             88

200 medley relay – 1. Weston (1:47.87), 2. Newtown (1:48.51), 3. Newtown (2:02.98).

200 freestyle – 1. Kunst (N) 1:56.46, 3. Johnston (N) 2:04.15, 4. Fries (N) 2:07.94.

200 individual medley – 1. Simmerin (W) 2:17.15, 2. Lux (N) 2:28.05, 3. Chaddach (W) 2:30.00, 4. Poff (W) 2:31.13, 5. Kalb (N) 2:34.46.

50 freestyle – 1. Simons (W) 23.89, 2. Eberts (N) 24.33, 3. Griffiths (N) 25.22, 4. DiForrio (W) 25.82, 5. Heller (N) 26.32.

Diving – 1. Von Oy (N) 205.65, 2. Simoneau (N) 198.60, 3. Neidig (N) 147.60.

100 butterfly – 1. Simmerin (W) 1:01.16, 2. Johnston (N) 1:06.47, 3. Chaddach (W) 1:07.00, 4. Kalb (N) 1:07.76, 5. Modzelewski (N) 1:15.47.

100 freestyle – 1. Simons (W) 52.36, 2. Eberts (N) 52.80, 3. Griffiths (N) 56.22, 4. Cavanni (W) 57.45, 5. Heller (N) 58.13.

500 freestyle – 1. Kunst (N) 5:41.47, 4. Modzelewski (N) 6:27.26, 5. Scharf (N) 6:28.23.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (1:41.14), 2. Weston (1:47.25), 3. Newtown (1:56.20).

100 backstroke – 1. Simons (W), 2. Lochner (W), 3. Blanchard (N), 4. Fries (N), 5. Bass (N).

100 breaststroke – 1. Lux (N) 1:08.69, 2. Poff (W) 1:16.68, 3. Robinson (N) 1:18.97, 4. Peyton (N) 1:19.13, 5. Chon (W) 1:20.13.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Weston (3:33.69), 2. Newtown (3:34.93), 3. Weston (4:07.70).

 

In other meets:

Newtown defeated Brookfield on_Monday, 96-87, as Tim_Lux (200 freestyle), Alyssa von_Oy (diving), Kane Kunst (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke), and Ryan Eberts (100 freestyle)_all took first place.

Newtown also defeated Holy Cross of Waterbury last Friday, 97-892, as Kane Kunst (200 individual medley and 100 butterfly), Ryan Eberts (50 and 100 freestyle), Alyssa von_Oy (diving) and Tim Lux (100 breastsroke)_all won first-place finishes.