By Kim J. Harmon

It was somewhat of an emotional night for the Newtown High School swim team as it paid tribute to its seniors and the memory of Greg Chion (who would have been a senior) and that emotion helped the Nighthawks slip past New Milford on Tuesday night.

The win pushed the ‘Hawks record to 5-8, 4-4 in the South-West Conference.

And it was another solid effort by those swimmers whom the ‘Hawks have relied upon all season – swimmers like Kane Kunst, Jeff Heller, Matt Fries, Lauren Bass, Bryan Kotwicki, Kathleen Scharf, and Tim Robinson (to name a few).

“We’re swimming about as well as I expected,” said head coach Brian Reiff, who will take his team to the South-West Conference meet on Saturday, February 24, at Pomperaug High School in Southbury. “In some cases, we’re swimming even better than I expected.”

In the 99-82 win over New Milford, Fries (100 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and Kotwicki (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle) were double winners while Kunst (200 freestyle) and Heller (100 butterfly) were solo winners.

Kotwicki swam a 5:55.46 in the 500 free, one of his best efforts, while Kunst swam a strong 1:56.81 in the 200 freestyle. Caitlin Sullivan continued her nice improvement on the diving board with 131.50 points while fellow diver Steven Truitt had his best performance with 122.15 points.

The Nighthawks put the meet away by sweeping two of the first three events to take a quick 36-10 lead.

“It’s been one of those seasons,” said coach Reiff. “The wins haven’t been there like they have in the past, but the kids have given me 50 times what I’ve given them. It’s a great group. Kotwicki has been great, Fries has been superb, Heller is having a strong season, and Kane has been phenomenal.”

And speaking of Kotwicki, Fries, Heller, and Kunst – that is a foursome which is on the verge of snapping a school record (they are just two seconds off the pace with a finish of 1:37.38 in a loss to Trumbull).

“Our 200 freestyle relay team is probably one of our best relays ever,” said coach Reiff. “I think, when they shave, they can break the school record and that would be a great thing for this group to do.”

The ‘Hawks defeated Masuk last Wednesday (the meet had been scheduled for Tuesday, but the snowstorm pushed things off a day) and the following day fell to Trumbull. The win over New Milford gave the ‘Hawks a solid push to the SWC Championship meet.

“The kids are really swimming well,” said coach Reiff. “I like our chances.”

In the win over Masuk, Kotwicki (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle) was a double winner while Sullivan had her best night on the diving board yet this season, scoring 138.4 points to capture first.

In the loss to Trumbull, Fries had an exceptional meet with a 2:00.92 (second place) finish in the 200 freestyle and a 54.50 (second place) finish in the 100 freestyle. Heller also went 1:03.76 (third place) in the 100 butterfly while Kunst was a double winner by taking the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.

The results:

NEWTOWN        88

MASUK              66

 

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown (Fries, Robinson, Heller, Kotwicki) 2:17.40, 2. Newtown (L. Scharf, Peyton, Swink, Modzelewski) 2:34.91.

200 freestyle – 1. Pierce (M) 2:13.83, 2. K. Scharf (N) 2:13.98, 3. Swink (N) 2:22.55, 4. L. Scharf (N) 2:23.78, 5. Bancowski (M) 2:43.91.

200 individual medley – 1. Kotwicki (N) 2:43.23, 2. Heller (N) 2:50.94, 3. Bass (N) 2:58.48.

50 freestyle – 1. Fries (N) 25.39, 2. Smith (M) 26.18, 3. Elliott (M) 26.93, 4. Modzelewski (N) 28.38, 5. Rutkin (M) 29.55.

Diving – 1. Sullivan (N) 138.4 points, 2. Truitt (N) 118.20 points, 3. Randlov (N) 109.2 points.

100 butterfly – 1. Modzelewski (N) 1:18.70, 2. Peyton (N) 1:36.21, 3. Bass (N) 138.95.

100 freestyle – 1. Smith (M) 58.08, 2. Heller (N) 58.24, 3. K. Scharf (N) 1:02.65, 4. Robinson (N) 1:06.51, 5. Doyle (M) 1:11.54.

500 freestyle – 1. Kotwicki (N) 6:02.61, 2. Swink (N) 6:06.88, 3. N. Pierce (M) 6:09.23, 4. C. Pierce (M) 7:25.99, 5. Sparacino (N) 7:45.98.

With an 88-27 lead at this point, Newtown swam the remainder of the meet unofficially.

 

NEWTOWN        87

TRUMBULL        97

 

200 medley relay – 1. Trumbull 1:51.94, 2. Newtown (Kunst, Robinson, Heller, Kotwicki) 1:52.66, 3. Newtown (L. Scharf, Peyton, Swink, Modzelewski) 2:06.91.

200 freestyle – 1. Dunn (T) 2:00.77, 2. Fries (N) 2:00.92, 3. K. Scharf (N) 2:15.92, 4. Swink (N) 2:18.94, 5. Ronge (T) 2:29.11.

200 individual medley – 1. Kunst (N) unavailable, 2. Palatiello (T) 2:17.38, 3. Hannigan (T) 2:29.50, 4. Heller (N) 2:36.10, 5. Otero (T) 2:42.78.

50 freestyle – 1. Meeker (T) 22.65, 2. Mancini (T) 24.70, 3. Kotwicki (N) 25.52, 4. Robinson (N) 26.81, 5. Zuckman (T) 27.87.

Diving – 1. Bergantz (T) 133.55 points, 2. Ditullio (T) 124.65 points, 3. Marcato (T) 122.70 points, 4. Truitt (N) 115.75 points, 5. Sullivan (N) 99.35 points.

100 butterfly – 1. Meeker (T) 58.14, 2. Dunn (T) 1:03.15, 3. Heller (N) 1:03.76, 4. Mancini (T) 1:05.57, 5. Swink (N) 1:09.34.

100 freestyle – 1. Palatiello (T) 52.86, 2. Fries (N) 54.50, 3. Riccio (T) 54.64, 4. Kotwicki (N) 57.52, 5. Achenkei (T) 57.90.

500 freestyle – 1. K. Scharf (N) 6:09.80, 2. Bass (N) 6:40.92, 3. Zuckman (T) 6:48.00, 4. Morlath (N) 7:11.58, 5. Wu (T) 7:23.08.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Trumbull 1:36.30, 2. Newtown (Kunst, Heller, Kotwicki, Fries) 1:37.38, 3. Newtown (Morlath, Sparacino, Swink, Scharf) 2:02.42.

100 backstroke – 1. Kunst (N) unavailable, 2. Riccio (T) 1:04.20, 3. Hannigan (T) 1:08.08, 4. L. Scharf (N) unavailable, 5. Modzelewski (N) 1:14.77.

100 breaststroke – 1. Schenker (T) 1:09.91, 2. Robinson (N) unavailable, 3. Ronge (T) 1:18.84, 4. Peyton (N) unavailable, 5. Bass (N) 1:22.54.

With a 97-75 lead, Trumbull swam the final even – the 400 freestyle relay – unofficially.

 

NEW MILFORD 82

NEWTOWN      99

 

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown (Fries, Kunst, Heller, Kotwicki) 1:53.01, 2. New Milford 2:00.95, 3. Newtown (L. Scharf, Robinson, Swink, Modzelewski) 2:04.25.

200 freestyle – 1. Kunst (N) 1:56.81, 2. K. Scharf (N) 2:16.22, 3. Swink (N) 2:18.13, 4. Van Buskirk (NM) 2:20.06, 5. Bendrick (NM) 2:37.37.

200 individual medley – 1. Kotwicki (N) 2:38.69, 2. L. Scharf (N) 2:42.75, 3. Peyton (N) 2:43.67, 4. Wojciechowski (NM) 2:45.95, 5. O’Brien (NM) 3:04.77.

50 freestyle – 1. Buckley (NM) 24.88, 2. Heller (N) 25.34, 3. Gallas (NM) 25.64, 4. Weiss (NM) 30.27, 5. Morlath (N) 30.80.

Diving – 1. Hauser (NM) 154.85 points, 2. Sullivan (N) 131.50 points, 3. Kennedy (NM) 130.75 points, 4. Truitt (N) 122.15 points, 5. Randlov (N) 96.30 points.

100 butterfly – 1. Heller (N) 1:05.17, 2. Swink (N) 1:05.19, 3. Healy (NM) 1:10.53, 4. Modzelewski (N) 1:13.20, 5. Riebeling (NM) 1:27.18.

100 freestyle – 1. Fries (N) 54.89, 2. Ferrier (NM) 57.36, 3. Gallas (NM) 57.61, 4. K. Scharf (N) 1:01.78, 5. Kennedy (NM) 1:03.83.

500 freestyle – 1. Kotwicki (N) 5:55.46, 2. Bass (N) 6:31.20, 3. O’Brien (NM) 7:06.62, 4. Riebeling (NM) 7:33.83, 5. Bull (NM) 7:51.53.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Robinson, Kunst, Heller, Kotwicki) 1:42.71, 2. New Milford 1:48.34, 3. Newtown (Bass, Sparacino, Morlath, K. Scharf) 1:59.73.

100 backstroke – 1. Fries (N) 1:03.15, 2. Buckley (NM) 1:03.88, 3. L. Scharf (N) 1:09.55, 4. Modzelewski (N) 1:17.59, 5. Wojciechowski (NM) 1:17.59.

With a 99-57 lead at this point, the Nighthawks swam the final two events unofficially.