By Kim J. Harmon

Head coach Ed Obloj isn’t going to lose too much sleep over that one loss the Newtown High School boys’ track and field team suffered in its 2003 season opener on Monday afternoon.

That’s because he has some perspective.

The Nighthawks lost some solid sprinters, a few good distance men, and one of the top shot putters in the South-West Conference. So a lot of the focus this year has been on seeing who the new guys are and seeing how they fit in.

The ‘Hawks defeated Foran (83.5-67.5) and Notre Dame (122-26), but lost a heartbreaker to Jonathan Law (79.5-70.5) when the 4x400 relay team was edged out at the finish line.

“We could have won (over Law) so many different ways,” said coach Obloj, “but I wasn’t disappointed in them. This is a young team and they gave a good effort in their first meet.”

Peter Terrance (100 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles), Matt Miller (pole vault) and Mike Nastri (800 meters) were all individual winners, but the ‘Hawks also got superb performances from Dan McIlrath (800 meters), Phil Zencey (3,200 meters), Pete Dittmar (800 meters) and Tim Carlisle, John Kostecki and Eric Taylor (all in the hurdles).

“Dan (McIlrath) had been a sprinter,” said coach Obloj, “but he had a great leg in the 4x800 and in the 800 he came in third overall – barely missing second. I think that symbolized the entire meet for me: a lot of kids were new at it, but they gave it their all.”

The ‘Hawks will travel to Brookfield next week to take on Brookfield, Bunnell and Pomperaug.

Results:

TEAM SCORES: Jonathan Law 79.5, Newtown 70.5; Newtown 83.5, Foran 67.5; Newtown 122, Notre Dame 26.

TRACK EVENTS

4x800 relay – 1. Newtown 9:11, 2. Foran 9:27, 3. Jonathan Law 9:31, 4. Notre Dame 9:47.; 4x100 relay – 1. Foran 46.5, 2. Jonathan Law 46.9, 3. Notre Dame 56.0; 100 high hurdles – 1. Terrance (N) 15.9, 2. Carlisle (N) 17.6, 3. Kostecki (N) 19.1; 100 dash – 1. Kopp (L) 11.7, 2. Emerling (F) 11.8, 3. Ruggiero (F) 11.9, 4. Plude (L) 12.3; 1,600 meters – 1. Simeone (F) 4:39, 2. Sorenson (ND) 5:02, 3. Dittmar (N) 5:04, 4. Ratcliff (N) 5:21; 400 meters – 1. Kopp (L) 51.7, 2. Konneker (N) 55.2, 3. Borden (L) 55.9, 4. Collins (N) 56.0; 300 intermediate hurdles – 1. Terrance (N) 41.8, 2. Carlisle (N) 44.7, 3. Taylor (N) 44.7; 800 meters – 1. Nastri (N) 2:11, 2. Kilgore (L) 2:15, 3. McIlrath (N) 2:16, 4. Maloney (F) 2:21; 200 dash – 1. Kopp (L) 23.2, 2. Terrance (N) 23.5, 3. Emerling (F) 23.8, 4. Plude (L) 24.6; 3,200 meters – 1. Simeone (F) 10:09, 2. Zencey (N) 10:59, 3. Dittmar (N) 11:06, 4. Cater (ND) 11:09; 4x400 relay – 1. Foran 3:38, 2. Newtown 3:39, 3. Jonathan Law 3:39.

FIELD EVENTS

High jump – 1. Barbara (F) 6-0, 2. Slater (L) 5-6, 3. Robinson (N) 5-4; Long jump – 1. Norvez (L) 20-5.5, 2. Slater (L) 19-0, 3. Schwartz (F) 17-11; Javelin – 1. Markbach (ND) 145-10, 2. Hannon (L) 141-0.5, 3. Robinson (N) 131-5.5; Shot put – 1. Ayala (L) 38-8, 2. Krom (F) 37-9.25, 3. Marsden (N) 35-9; Discus – 1. Chernesky (ND) 122-4.5, 2. David (F) 118-5, 3. Krom (F) 116-8.5; Triple jump – 1. Barbara (F) 40-9, 2. Slater (L) 37-5, 3. Robinson (N) 36-5, 4. Guarino (F) 35-11; Pole vault – 1. Miller (N) 10-6, Slater (L) 10-6, 3. Robinson (N) 10-0.