As midsummerlike temperatures greeted the cross country team participants for practices in the first week of September, they had cool-weather success on their minds. By the time the late October South-West Conference championships roll around, the 90-degree heat will likely be long gone, and Newtown High School’s runners hope to be leaving many of their competitors in the dust on their way to conference success.

The girls’ and boys’ squads both placed third in the SWC meet a year ago. With five of the top seven participants back in the fold, the girls’ squad is targeting conference bragging rights, or at least being a top contender with a chance to claim first place.

The loss of ten players to graduation from last season’s 7-9 team doesn’t have Newtown Coach Stephanie Paproski worried. Although the players leave shoes to fill, Newtown’s field hockey coach has been given reason to believe her lineup will be a tough one to deal with based on what she’s seen in the preseason.

“I have a great feeling about the team this year,” Paproski said. “You can tell they’ve been working. I think they have a lot of drive and they want it this year. I’m excited to see what they can bring to the table."

Read more about the season outlooks for these teams on the sports webpage, as well as in the September 11 print edition of The Bee.