By Steve Bigham

SOUTHBURY – It is that ability to put seven or eight runners near the top of any meet that has enabled the Nighthawks to jump out to an 11-1 record this year . . . and further evidence of that was seen Tuesday afternoon as the Nighthawks swept its dual meet at Pomperaug in Southbury despite an injury to one of its best runners.

With senior Tracy Ravetto nursing a sore leg, Newtown called on its depth to defeat Pomperaug (23-37), Foran (15-50), and New Fairfield (21-41). The wins should improve the team’s current ranking of 14th in the state coaches poll. Senior Erin Kostecki finished first overall in a time of 16 minutes, 15 seconds. Junior Angela Shannon was fourth overall in a time of 17:20, while sophomore Christine Manfredonia took seventh in 18:09.

The most impressive performance of the day may have come from junior Melanie Murphy, who covered the 2.4-mile course in 18:21 to finish eighth overall and fourth for Newtown. She came in just ahead of ninth-place runner Jessica Snow, a senior, who finished in 18:30.

Sarah Macknight (18:31) and Laura Reed (18:32) finished 10th and 12th respectively – further proof of how deep Newtown can go.

“It’s been a different varsity team every week,” said Coach Marsha Caine, referring to how many different Newtown girls have finished among the team’s top seven at different times during the season.

Junior Jen Russell (19:04) finished 19th overall and Monica Zigman (19:06) was 20th.

Last week, it was Russell who played the hero’s role, inching ahead of New Milford’s number five runner to give Newtown a hard-fought tie with the Green Wave. Then, with her teammates cheering her on, sophomore Sarah Macknight outran New Milford’s number six runner to break the tie and give Newtown the win. The victory was especially satisfying since New Milford won last year’s league title.

Russell, who suffered from appendicitis earlier in the season, used an all-out sprint to put Newtown in a position to win down the stretch.

“She does the 300 and 100 hurdles for me in track during the spring. She’s a good sprinter and it took her over the edge,” said Caine, who awarded both Russell and MacKnight with t-shirts with the word “BELIEVE” on the back. That’s the motto for the year’s team.

South-West Conference powerhouse Lauralton Hall swept the meet as Emily Connolly finished first overall in 14:51. Alison Puppo of New Milford was second in 14:52, while Hall’s Rachel Beneditto was third in 14:59.

Kostecki was Newtown’s top runner, finishing fourth overall in 15:05. Shannon was ninth in 15:57, Ravetto was 10th in 15:58, Manfredonia was 11th in 16:05 and Snow was 12th in 16:08. Those finishes would be good enough to sweep at most meets. However, the talented Hall team took the #1, #3, #7, #8 and #16 spots.

Newtown will compete in the Wickham Invitational this Saturday in East Hartford/Manchester. Next week, the cross-country squad heads to Bethel to take on Masuk, Joel Barlow and the host Wildcats.

The South-West Conference (SWC) championships (also to be held at Bethel) will take place October 19.