Among Newtown High School’s seniors this past year were multi-sport athletes who had tremendous success throughout their Nighthawk tenures and will continue their careers at the collegiate level — including Summer Harrell and Hayden Bobowick. These standouts not only receive high praise from their primary sport coaches but their other coaches as well, showing their diversity and consistency across the board in their athletic endeavors. Because of this they are the Newtown Bee’s Newtown High School Athletes of the Year.

“Summer is an incredible athlete and so deserving of this award. Her drive and intensity to the sports she plays is the reason why she has accomplished what she has. She has the heart of a lion while competing on the field. Summer’s skills and abilities will take her far beyond Blue and Gold and I cannot wait to see all that she accomplishes. I’m lucky to have had a front row seat to see her high level of play. I wish Summer the best of luck in her future endeavors at Penn State. They’re lucky to have her,” Megan Goyda, coach of the NHS field hockey team, said of Harrell, who will head to Penn State to play lacrosse.

Bobowick’s athleticism and passion for sports is summed up by the strides he made in the swimming pool.

“Hayden joined the high school swim team with no background in the sport at all, and by his senior year made it to our record board. He is one of the most coachable athletes Lisa (Irving) and I have ever worked with,” Head Coach Ryan Eberts said. “He has a willpower that is incredibly strong and an ethos of constant self-improvement through focus on the details. On top of that, he’s just a great teammate that wants to improve not just for himself but for the betterment of the team. He is an accomplished student who sets a great example for his teammates as a model student-athlete.”

Bobowick will head to Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., to run track but — in addition to making a splash in the pool — he also left his mark at NHS as a member of the soccer team.

“I think Hayden is an absolute, total team guy,” said Soccer Coach Ryan Lyddy, noting that Bobowick took a risk, despite being well on his way to competing in track in college, by continuing to play soccer. He provided leadership and a strong work ethic. “He wanted to be here and he wanted to make a difference. I think he is driven for success and I wish him the best.”

Harrell A Lacrosse Standout

As strong of a field hockey player as Harrell is — she was a part of the conference champion squad her sophomore year, earned All South-West Conference First Team and All State Second Team accolades her junior and senior years and was captain her senior year — she was even better on the lacrosse pitch. Harrell, who earned All SWC First Team and All State First Team recognition as a sophomore and All SWC First Team and All American recognition her junior and senior years, was the lacrosse team’s go-to scorer.

A captain as a senior, she racked up 220 goals and 277 draw controls during her high school career, which included a conference title her junior year.

Harrell said in addition to the championships, playing her last game and seeing coaches and teammates/friends after the final buzzer made for a standout memory from her high school playing days.

“It wasn’t really sad. It was just bitter-sweet in a way,” she said.

After all, her athletics career will continue.

Sports were very important to Harrell during high school. She enjoyed playing for coaches Maura Fletcher and Steph Suhoza in lacrosse, along with Goyda in the fall field hockey campaign, and would like to return to help out in the offseason or during the regular campaign if she gets the opportunity.

“I’m going to miss it the most out of everything I’ve done,” she said of playing sports. “I want to come back and help them again. I really loved getting to hang out with them and play with them. They were really awesome players and people,” she said.

As easy as she made it look putting the ball into the back of the net, Harrell had to overcome being the focus of attention for opposing defenses. Opposing teams started face-guarding her. “It definitely took me by surprise at first,” said Harrell, adding that Fletcher worked with her to handle the pressure, shaking off defenders by using the crease — restricted for defenders — to her advantage.

“It definitely made me grow,” Harrell said of having to make adjustments and learn new ways to succeed on the field.

There will be more growth in the coming years with Harrell taking her lacrosse game to the next level.

“It’s super-exciting. It’s definitely a little scary at the same time because you don’t know what to expect,” Harrell said of heading off to college where she will study finance.

“Summer just brings so much energy and is such a spark,” Suhoza said. “She really dedicates a lot of her time to the game and her passion shows on the field.”

Fletcher spoke about Harrell at the team’s year-end banquet and commented on what a strong team member she has been. “Summer is one of the most passionate players I have coached. You can see it by her intensity on the field,” Fletcher said. “Summer has such a passion for the game and gives 100% — 100% of the time,” said Fletcher, adding that she led the team in several categories, including ground balls and had a strong work ethic and passion for the game.

NHS Athletic Director Matt Memoli said Harrell is an exceptional athlete who has been a pleasure to watch in field hockey and lacrosse throughout the years and who will continue to shine at Penn State.

Bobowick Sprints To Success

Bobowick played two years of varsity soccer and was on the swim team all four years; he helped both teams to runner-up finishes in the conference. It was on the track where he really excelled as a four-year varsity sprinter. Bobowick was a part of a conference champion track squad and pair of SWC runner-up teams between indoor and outdoor seasons. He is part of the SWC Meet record-setting 4x100 relay team, Crusader Relays Meet record holder and champion in the 800 sprint medley relay, conference champ in the 4x100, took home multiple State Class and State Open runner-up finishes, and qualified for National Championships in six events.

Bobowick earned All SWC, All State, and All New England accolades. He is also a CIAC Scholar Athlete, and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Scholarship recipient.

“Hayden brings several things to the track — intensity, leadership, and the clutch gene,” NHS Track Coach Charlie Taubl said. “From the first day of the season he shows up with electricity, motivating teammates and getting loud when need be. He was the number one go-to when something was needed in a pinch. He ran multiple fundraisers. He was always there for his teammates, being positive, and giving advice.”

Bobowick came up big for the team in meets, especially in postseason.

“He has always been a strong performer. But he scored massive points in both the SWC championships and States, and State opens. He also became All New England. Leading his 4x100 meter relay team he orchestrated traveling to New Englands as well as Adidas National championships,” Taubl said.

Soccer was the sport Bobowick focused on initially. “I started swimming just to get a little bit more fit for soccer,” he said.

He took to swimming, stuck with it, and was a standout — eventually a captain, and helped an NHS relay team break a school record. Track soon became his sport as more records began to fall on the track. The three-sport athlete will miss competing for NHS due not primarily for all of the accolades but the friendships on the pool deck, soccer turf, and track.

“It was a lot of fun really because of the people,” Bobowick said. “I’m definitely going to miss all the guys here.”

Among his favorite memories was his junior year swim season concluding with the State Open at Yale. The 400 free relay team was seeded 15th or 16th but set a school record and finished sixth to place and score big points at the meet.

Bobowick received his NIAAA scholarship in part because of an essay he wrote about a swim teammate who faced unbelievable odds in order to compete. “He inspired me to push myself beyond what I thought I could achieve and reminded me that sports is about so much more than wins, medals, and trophies. I wrote about an experience at a meet where he finished in last place by a large margin and the entire crowd and both teams erupted into applause, as he had earned a personal best. It helped me realize the value of competing and showed me that everyone deserves to participate in athletics,” he said.

Records may be harder to achieve at the collegiate level but Bobowick is up for competing at his best and seeing what happens.

“I think it will be a great challenge. I’m hoping it motivates me to get better,” he said of what he expects from being challenged in college.

Something else that will make this track standout push himself even more is the way things ended at the national competition this June. His relay team was on its way to a top-five finish but Bobowick stumbled and fell during the race. A true competitor, he quickly got up and finished his leg of the race and the team took 13th in the nation, quite an accomplishment but a result that leaves him looking for some redemption at the next level.

Bobowick has volunteered as a World Language tutor, helped at the Dorothy Day House Shelter, and assisted as a youth soccer tryouts officiator and referee.

The Middlebury-bound athlete will study neuroscience on a pre-med track with aspirations of becoming a doctor.

“I’m very proud of him and everything he’s done here for four years,” said Memoli, adding that Bobowick is a great person, student, and athlete who led by example and was an ideal team leader and student given everything from team setting efforts to his volunteer work.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.