NHS Cross Country Teams Race To Victory

Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ cross country teams both closed out the regular season with wins at Pomperaug in Southbury on Tuesday. The girls defeated Pomperaug 23-33, Notre Dame-Fairfield 15-50, and Lauralton Hall of Milford 19-44 to end the year with a 14-1 record and the South-West Conference’s Colonial Division championship.

Newtown’s Katie Burns was the fastest overall finisher, coming across the line in 19:30. Teammate Erin Begg was fifth in 20:43, Brianne Moulder was sixth in 20:50, Hannah Schwartz came in seventh in 20:54, Jenny vanVeen placed eighth in 20:55; Regan Cerney was 11th in 21:44; and Kristen DeGirolamo was 13th in 21:52.

The boys’ squad ran past Pomperaug 18-43 and topped Notre Dame 15-50 to finish at 12-2. Newtown Coach Dave Foss said his team overcame a pack of eight Pomperaug runners in an early lead to seize victory.

Newtown’s Jake Feinstein won the race in 17:03 and was followed by runner-up finisher Pat Sullivan in 17:07. Following Pomperaug’s top runner and third-place finisher, Newtown took places four through seven with a strong pack of Dieter Gutbrod, Palmer Lintz, Jordan Hensel, and Paul Mangiafico with times in between 17:30 and 17:42. After two more Pomperaug runners, the Newtown dominance continued with Mitchell Russo (17:54), Nate Steinebrey (18:16), and Christopher Gamble (18:20) crossing the finish line. Foss said his Nighthawks were running season- and career-best times up and down the lineup. “Hopefully this confidence will carry into SWCs next week,” Foss said.

The girls and boys will compete in the South-West Conference championships at Bethel High School on Thursday, October 20.