NHS Field Hockey, Cross Country, Volleyball, Swimming Update

By Andy Hutchison

A roundup of recent sports activity at Newtown High School.

Field Hockey

Newtown cruised to a 7-0-1 start heading into this week. NHS blanked Brookfield 2-0 on September 29 and beat New Fairfield 2-1 on October 2. Captains Taylor Barry and Alyssa Carey each scored in both of those wins.

The Nighthawks finally lost their first game, 2-0 to Pomperaug (8-1-1) at home on Tuesday in a match-up of defending state tourney runner-up foes (Newtown in Class L, Pomperaug in Class M). The loss was a frustrating one for the Hawks, who had a season-high 15 penalty corners and controlled the field for most of the afternoon only to be held scoreless for the first time this fall. Goaltender Jessica Balsano had six saves in the game.

“We dominated the entire game,” Coach Amanda Hadgraft said. “We couldn’t get it in the goal.”

Despite the disappointment in losing, the encouraging news for the Hawks is that they were in contention to knock off likely one of the toughest teams they will see this season.

“I’m very confident that we can take on anyone from here. I really believe in my team. I know they have the skill and the talent to defeat whoever we come up against,” Hadgraft said.

Newtown returns to action Saturday at Lauralton Hall and will get a chance to avenge its only two non-wins near the tail end of the season.

NHS will visit New Milford, which it tied in mid-September, on October 20, and will visit Pomperaug on October 22.

 “I can’t wait,” Hadgraft said. “It’s a great way to end the season. When we play against them they make us better.”

Girls Cross Country

The Nighthawks went to Bethel High School (3.1-mile course) on October 2 and defeated Weston 25-34, Bethel 18-43, and fell to New Fairfield 28-27. Newtown’s top finishers were Anne Martino, third in 21:01; Mara Scallon, fifth (21:32); Erin Begg, ninth (21:41); Natalie Villa, 11th (22:06); Katie Burns (13th), 22:29; Dani Villa, 18th (23:15); Scarlett O’Sullivan, 20th (23:22) and Emily Weber, 21st (23:22).On Tuesday, NHS visited Pomperaug (3.2-mile course) and defeated the hosts 20-40, Bunnell 15-50, and Stratford 15- 50 to finish the regular season 12-2. Martino was second (20:54); Scallon, third (21:01); Begg, fourth (21:18); Natalie Villa, fifth (21:29); Burns, sixth (21:40); Dani Villa, seventh (22:18); Lila Kohrman-Glaser, 11th (23:01); O’Sullivan, 16th (23:14); Leigh Gerety, 17th (23:24) and Emily Teri, 19th (23:25).

Boys Cross Country

Newtown beat Bunnell 20-37 and Stratford 15-50, and lost to Pomperaug 22-34 on Tuesday to close the regular season at 7-6. Dave Meyer came in second after leading by 30 meters for the most of the last mile finishing in 16:57. Alex DiNoto and Tucker Grose battled back to pass two Pomperaug runners to finish sixth and eighth, respectively, in times of 17:36 and 17:41. Austin Baldour finished in tenth in a time of 18:05 and was followed closely behind by Adam Schankman in 13th (18:21). Rounding out the top seven Newtown finishers were Andrew LaMarche in 18th (18:39) and David Lucia in 19th (18:40).

Both NHS squads head to Wickham Park for an invitational this Saturday and will run in the South-West Conference Championships on October 16.

Volleyball

The NHS spikers remain undefeated following a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 26-24) win over Weston on Monday. The Nighthawks were led by Ashley Rothacker’s 27 assists, Jordyn Good’s seven kills and 12 digs, and Marley Koschel’s six kills. NHS improved to 12-0 with a 3-1 win at Lauralton Hall on Tuesday. Megan Casey compiled eight digs and eight kills and Good contributed 12 kills and seven digs to help the Hawks. NHS returns home Friday to face Pomperaug at 7 pm in what stands to be a good test for the Hawks (Pomperaug is 10-1). Newtown is home again on Tuesday (Griswold at 6:30 pm) and visits Notre Dame-Fairfield Wednesday at 6:30 pm.

Girls’ Swimming

The Newtown High School girls’ swimming and diving team is 3-3 after defeating Oxford 70-43, falling to Brookfield 97-89 and topping Joel Barlow 97-88 (despite being shorthanded due to illness to several swimmers) in recent meets. The Nighthawk swimmers earned first-place against Oxford on September 26 in events as follows:

200 Medley Relay: Leah Barrett, Krysta Gates, Kelsey McEvoy and Kat Donahue, 2:11.43

200 Freestyle Relay: Maggie Atkinson, Evelyn Fahey, Gates and Donahue, 1:56.67

400 Free Relay: Atkinson, Gates, Fahey and McEvoy, 4:17.65

200 IM: Maggie Atkinson, 2:32.45

50 Free: Donahue, 28.16

100 Free: McEvoy, 1:00.19

500 Free: Katie Fragoso

100 Backstroke: Barrett, 1:08.17

In the October 3 meet with Brookfield, diver Lauren Sudbey claimed first place with a score of 174.25. The top NHS swimming event results were second-place finishes as follows:

200 Medley Relay: Barrett, Megan Baylis, McEvoy and Donahue, 2:05.81

200 Free Relay: Maggie Hoolehan, Megan Duero, Atkinson and Colleen Carroll, 1:53.21

400 Free Relay: Carroll, Donahue, Gates, McEvoy, 4:09.33

200 Free: Gates, 2:14.24

200 IM: Atkinson, 2:28.15

50 Free: Donahue, 27.99

100 Free: Donahue, 1:02.56

500 Free: Fahey, 6:07.31

100 Back: Barrett, 1:06.74

100 Breast: Baylis, 1:18.34

In Tuesday’s win over Barlow, Sudbey again won first in diving (180.75). Newtown also had the following first-place finishes:

200 Medley Relay: McEvoy, Hoolehan, Baylis and Donahue, 2:06.50

400 Free Relay: Hoolehan, Gates, Atkinson and McEvoy, 4:09.79

200 IM: Atkinson, 2:29.96

100 Fly: McEvoy, 1:09.48

100 Back: Atkinson, 1:08.37