Newtown High School's girls' track and field team won the South-West Conference championship for the second straight year, edging rival Weston 138.50-125.50, at Bunnell High on May 23.

"It was an unbelievable team win. This team, all year, has continually picked each other up. We obviously had a tough week and were dealing with some injuries and so many girls stepped up in big spots today," said Rich Marcello, head coach of the NHS girls. "We won the meet with all the little points we accumulated from girls that just had huge days. I'm so proud of them. They have worked incredibly hard all year. They deserve this."

The Newtown boys had a solid showing, scoring 97 points to place third behind champ Bunnell (113) and runner-up New Milford (111).

The Nighthawks had first-place individual performances from Carly Swierbut and Marley Marston, who combined to win five events. Aiden Jasinksi won the pole vault competition, Brett Deri was first in the 300 hurdles, and Zach Crebbin won the high jump competition to lead the boys.

Swierbut was first in three events. She came out on top in the 100 meter dash, finishing in a time of 12.51, took the top spot in the 400 with a time of 57.58, and won the 200, clocking in at 25.88.

Marston won two events, claiming first in the discus throw with a toss of 108 feet, and first in the shot-out event with a throw of 34-08.50.

Newtown's 4x800 relay contingent of Emily Tressler, Sydney Howard, Laura Augenbraun, and Camille Johnson was fifth in a time of 10:08.85.

The 4x100 relay of Brianna Lovely, Swierbut, Grace Pettinelli, and Emma Curtis came in second in 50 seconds.

Audrey Benson placed fourth in the 100 hurdles, logging a time of 17.34, and Jackie Matthews was sixth in 17.71.

Curtis placed sixth in the 100 dash, sprinting across the finish line in 13.01. Pettinelli came in seventh in the 400 with a time of 1:01.52. Sarah Dowling had a sixth-place finish in the 300 hurdles, clocking in with a time of 50.34.

Sydney Howard placed ninth in the 800, finishing in 2:31.87. Curtis was sixth in the 200 in 27.22.

Tressler was ninth in the 3200 with a time of 12:06.86.

The 4x400 relay of Jackie O'Leary, Johnson, Pettinelli, and Dowling was third in 4:10.08.

In the javelin throw, Sarah Nowacki was third with a throw of 101-03, and Erin Burns placed seventh with a throw of 97-02.

Burns and Nowacki gave the Nighthawks a three-four finish in the discus throw with distances of 97-04 and 88-08. Alea Willis was sixth with a throw of 83-06. With Marston's first-place result, Newtown had four among the top ten in the discus event.

Burns was runner-up behind teammate Marston in the shot-put throw with a distance of 32-11, and Nowacki came in fourth with a throw of 31-00.50.

In the final regular season meet of the campaign, Zach Crebbin high jumped 6-6, and Todd Perrin had a time of 50.6 in the 400 to shatter his personal record and qualify for the state championships.

Dowling came in fourth in the long jump with a leap of 15-09.25, and Matthews was seventh with a jump of 15-04.75. In the triple jump Libby Poseno was fourth with an effort of 32-09.75.

Sarah Tressler placed fourth in the high jump event, clearing the bar at 4-08.

Boys Third

Jasinski cleared 13 feet to claim the pole vault title. Deri won the 300 hurdles in 39.85. Crebbin cleared the bar at 6-02 to claim first in the high jump competition.

Newtown's 4x800 relay of Christian Lestik, Ryan Escoda, Nick Jacobs, and Justin Halmose was second in 8:16.14.

The 4x100 relay of Todd Perrin, Connor Marlin, Grant Moxham, and Tom Shkreli was third in 44.64.

In the 110 hurdles Brett Deri placed second in 15.39.

Escoda was runner-up in the 1600 with a time of 4:36.03. Lestik and Jacobs finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in 4:41.38 and 4:43.15.

Perrin came in fifth in the 400 in 51.38, and Grant Moxham was seventh in 52.21.

Lestik came in ninth in the 800 in 2:04.85. Shkreli was ninth in the 200 in 23.41.

Escoda was fourth in the 3200 with a time of 9:54.03, and Halmose was ninth in 10:03.62.

The 4x400 relay of Deri, Perrin, James Barden, and Grant Moxham was fourth in 3:30.44.

Ryan Williams placed third in the javelin throw with a distance of 152-08. Williams was second in the discus throw with a toss of 146. Yanni Kousidis was ninth with a throw of 89-07. Williams came in ninth in the shot-put with a throw of 40-07.50. Williams finished ninth in the high jump with a leap of 5-06.