Newtown High School’s girls’ cross country team concluded the regular season with wins over three opponents on October 13, to finish the campaign with a 12-1 record and, in the process, earned the South-West Conference’s Colonial Division championship.

Newtown beat host Joel Barlow of Redding and Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport each by 15-50 scores, and topped Masuk of Monroe 15-47.

Sarah Mawdsley won the race, finishing in a time of 19:42, and the Nighthawks had the top five finishers overall as follows: 2. Erin Tressler 19:58, 3. Lu Hage 20:34, 4. Maddie Findley 21:16, 5. Willow Pears 22:36. Also for Newtown, Sarah Lyon came in seventh in a time of 22:53, and Elizabeth Chiamec-Case was ninth in 23:48. Claire Dubois, Dorothy Yllanes, and Julia Clark took the tenth through 12th spots with times of 23:59, 24:14, and 24:17.

The boys’ cross country team also swept the competition in the final race, as Newtown edged Barlow 28-30, and beat Kolbe and Masuk both by 15-50 scores. With the team’s top three runners Brenden Reeds, Riley Rising, and Joel Duval all sidelined with injuries, the Nighthawks showed their depth as other team members stepped up.

Ryan Escoda and Christian Lestik finished third and fourth, respectively, with times of 18:10 and 18:14. The Hawks claimed the sixth through ninth spots as Josh Bent (18:34), Ethan Burg (18:46), Dylan Lew (18:50), and Dylan Bartlett (18:51) came across the finish line in succession. Joey Conrod was 11th with a time of 19:17, Misha Prud’homme was 14th in 19:59, and Ben Nowacki placed 18th in 20:15.

The girls finished third in the Wickham Park Invitational, in Manchester, on October 10, behind state powerhouses Tolland and Glastonbury. Newtown’s junior varsity girls placed fourth in their race.

Mawdsley and Tressler led the way, placing sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 19:45 and 19:49. Newtown’s other results are as follows: 11. Hage (20:07), 24. Emma Bayuk (20:48), 36. Findley (21:27), 57. Pears (22:49), and 64. Kelsey Miller (23:11).

Both of Newtown’s squads will compete in the South-West Conference championships, at Bethel High, on Wednesday, October 21; the boys’ race is slated to start at 4:30 pm, with the girls running at 5 pm.