Girls Track Team Ninth Overall At Class LL State Meet

By Kelley Baylis

Newtown High school’s girls’ track and field team participated in the Class LL state championship meet in Manchester on May 30. The Nighthawks finished ninth overall, bringing in a total of 27 points. Norwich Free Academy took first place with 110.5 points. NHS Coach Doug Russell was more than pleased with the outcome of the meet. Many of the athletes representing Newtown had spectacular races and stood out in the meet.

“We had a very good day in the hurdles with both Melissa Buccino and Zoe Eggleston finishing in the top 8 in the 100 meter hurdles and Melissa finishing sixth in the 300m hurdles,” Russell said. “Reagan Cerney also had a great day in the 800 finishing third and qualifying for state opens.”

Cerney finished third in the 800 with a time of 2:18.56. Newtown was well-represented in the hurdles with top finishes from Buccino and Eggleston. In finals for the 100 meter hurdles, Buccino finished seventh with a time of 16.41, while Eggleston came in eighth in 16.75. In the 300 meter hurdles, Buccino finished sixth, and Eggleston finished 15th.

 “Our 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams both improved their times from their seed times yesterday,” Russell said. The 4x100 meter relay, run by Kyra Murray, Shelby Tolla, Jenna Calandro, and Brooke Newton finished 16 overall. The 4x400 relay was run by Eggleston, Taylor Zingaro, Tolla, and Cerney, and finished 15th.

On the field, the girls did an excellent job bringing in points for the team. In high jump, Briana Hart tied for tenth with six opponents with a jump of 4-10. Lauren O’Connell tied for second in the pole vault event with an 11-06.

“In the Discus Amy Anyoha finished third and will be competing in the state opens and Micaela Nowacki finished seventh which is awesome for a freshman,” Russell said. Anyoha’s throw was 107 feet and Nowacki’s throw was 100-07.

“I am very proud of this team and I look forward to the future with such a young team.” Russell said.