By Kim J. Harmon

REDDING – Janelle Tracy sure knows how to go out in a blaze of glory.

Tracy capped an absolutely brilliant South-West Conference track and field career by winning two individual titles (100- and 200-meter dashes) and anchoring two winning relay teams (4x100 and 4x400) Monday at the SWC Championship Meet at Joel Barlow High School in Redding.

Her performance – along with that of freshman Caitlyn Elf, who set a new school record in winning the 400-meter race and who handed the baton off to Tracy in the 4x100, which also set a school record – helped lead the Nighthawks to a surprising third-place finish.

The old guard and the new guard.

“It feels really good,”_said Tracy. “But the thing I take pride in the most has to be the 4x400. I_didn’t run it all year, but my teammates convinced me I_could do it.”

Tracy was unbeaten in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes this season and kept that marvelous streak alive on Monday. But the effort was not without its drama, as Tracy ran a 12.7 in the 100 dash qualifier and then a 12.98 in the final, just edging out Valerie Ambrose of Notre Dame by 12/100ths of a second.

“I_was a little nervous about the 100,”_she said, “because of Valerie Ambrose. She broke 13 this year and I_knew I couldn’t just go out there and expect to win.”

Even as Tracy winds down her high school track career, Elf gives the ‘Hawks a lot of hope for the future after capturing the 400 meter championship with a school-record time of 59.66, shattering the mark of 1:00.4 set by Janis Berls back in 1971. And Elf was the third leg (Cara Delvecchio was first and Allison Frobey was second) in the 4x100 relay team which also captured first and set a new school record time of 51.28, breaking another 29-year-old mark set by Diane Lawrence, Janis Berls, Paulette Pimpenello and Nancy Nunes.

Delvecchio, Frobey, Elf and Tracy all got together again for the 4x400 relay and captured first in 4:11.68, better than 10 seconds ahead of Weston.

It was a stunning effort for the ‘Hawks, who finished 7-8 on the season but took third SWC at the Championship Meet with 62 points, just four behind second-place Masuk and three ahead of fourth-place Joel Barlow.

“It was amazing,” said coach Marsha Caine, “to think that just four girls scored all those points for us. We had a really small team this year and I think the fact that they didn’t get much credit early on is what egged them on.”

Coach Caine had decided to keep Elf, Frobey and Delvecchio out of the jumping events to help the team on the track.

“They are all much better runners when they don’t jump, too,” said coach Caine, “and we were hoping they could score a lot of points for us (on the track).”

Frobey added a third-place finish in the 800 meters, which also helped the ‘Hawks hold off Joel Barlow for third. The Lady Falcons could have edged out Newtown for third had one of their own placed in the shot put (one of the final events to be scored).

“We were sweating it out there at the end,” said assistant coach Dave Foss.

And what an end to an admittedly up-and-down season for the two-time defending SWC champions.

“Even coming off last season and losing so many people,” said coach Caine, “we knew we could still do well. We still considered ourselves a championship team. Dave and I are more happy with that third-place than anything else.”

Tracy, Frobey, Elf and Delvecchio will be heading on to states now, with Tracy aiming to participate in the 200, 4x100 and 4x400 (giving up the 100 to concentrate on the relay).

“I_want to concentrate on the things that will take us the farthest,”_said Tracy.

Elf will continue in the 400 and 4x100, while Frobey will compete in the 800 and 4x100 and Delvecchio will participate in the 4x100, 4x400 and 300 intermediate hurdles.

TEAM RESULTS

1. Bethel 79, 2. Masuk 66, 3. NEWTOWN0 62, 4. Joel Barlow 59, 5. Bunnell 48, 6. New Milford 32, 7. (tie) New Fairfield and Weston 28, 9. Pomperaug 24, 10. Brookfield 211/2 , 11. Jonathan Law 19, 12. Notre Dame 18, 13. Lauralton Hall 151/2 , 14. Stratford 14, 15. Foran 10.

TRACK EVENTS

4x100 relay – 1. Newtown (Delvecchio, Frobey, Elf, Tracy) 51.28, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Bethel, 4. Masuk, 5. Joel Barlow, 6. Stratford.

4x400 relay – 1. Newtown (Delvecchio, Frobey, Elf, Tracy) 4:11.68, 2. Weston 4:21.99, 3. New Fairfield 4:22.86.

4x800 relay – 1. Bethel 10:10.40, 2. Joel Barlow, 3. Masuk, 4. Lauralton Hall, 5. Pomperaug, 6. Weston.

100 meter dash – 1. Tracy (N) 12.98, 2. Ambrose (ND) 13.10, 3. Williams (M) 13.55.

200 meter dash – 1. Tracy (N) 26.43, 2. Williams (NM) 27.88, 3. Crumb (Be) 27.9.

400 meters – 1. Elf (N) 59.66, 2. Marks (NM) 1:00.89, 3. Micik (W) 1:01.25.

800 meters – 1. Mahon (Be) 2:27.96, 2. Smith (LH) 2:28.22, 3. Frobey (N) 2:30.42.

1,600 meters – 1. A. Duffy (M) 5:23.81, 2. K. Duffy (M) 5:23.87, 3. Salottolo (Be) 5:29.

3,200 meters – 1. A. Duffy (M) 11:35.62, 2. K. Duffy (M) 11:35.68, 3. Salottolo (Be) 11:46.95.

100 meter high hurdles – 1. MacLean (JB) 16.37, 2. Helwig (Bun) 16.93, 3. Williams (Brk) 17.63.

300 intermediate hurdles – 1. MacLean (JB) 48.77, 2. Helwig (Bun) 49.93, 3. Hill (F) 50.22.

FIELD EVENTS

High jump – 1. Miller (JL) 5-6, 2. Clemik (JB) 5-4, 3. Martinik (M) 5-0.

Discus – 1. McNiff (Bun) 106-4, 2. Dommermuth (NF) 99-4, 3. Kalanik (Bun) 98-0.

Triple jump – 1. Breault (P) 37-6, 2. Boyd (Brk) 31-0, 3. Delinger (S) 31-4.

Shot put – 1. Dommermuth (NF) 36-5, 2. Bradstreet (P) 34-5.

Javelin – 1. Schroeder (Be) 112-4, 2. Roehm (W) 106-5.

Long jump – 1. Czernik (JB) 17-4, 2. Miller (JL) 16-8, 3. Bloyd (Brk) 15-9.