By Kim J. Harmon

BETHEL – Jeanne Theleen of Pomperaug set the pace, but the Newtown High School girls’ cross country team set the standard as it captured its fourth consecutive South-West Conference championship last Thursday at Bethel High School.

Meanwhile, the Newtown High School boys’ cross country team took a step closer to powerhouse New Milford and then paid arch-rival Weston back for a defeat suffered during the dual meet season and finished second for the third straight year.

It’s A Four-Peat

Although the seemingly tireless Theleen took first overall at 16:10.36, once Sadie Ball crossed the finish line in second place at 16:25.88 the Newtown championship assault was on.

Elise DeRoo finished third for Newtown and sixth overall at 16:45.40 and then came Michelle Brennan in ninth at 17:03.27, Moira Collier in 10th at 17:05.59 and Sara Pollock in 11th at 17:07.40. The Lady Nighthawks cruised to the title with 38 points and Pomperaug finished a distant second at 73 points.

“We try to run as much as can together,” said Ball, “and stick together as a group. We let the front runners go because it’s easier for us to run as a pack.”

All five of Newtown’s runners (those who scored) finished in the top 11 while Pomperaug was the only other team to place two runners in the top 11. Weston, New Fairfield Immaculate and Lauralton Hall all snuck one runner into that group.

“These girls really looked at the race and planned it,” said head coach Doug Russell. “They run as a team and Sadie said they would go out together and then, after the first mile, they would spread out a little. I really think this prepares them for the states and, hopefully, the Opens.”

Inside the first mile of the race, Ball and DeRoo were virtually shoulder to shoulder as runners turned off the driveway and back into the Bethel athletic complex for their next loop around the lower fields and their assault on The Beast – the hill that travels up from the soccer field to the tennis courts behind the school.

Ball inched her way up the ladder and then surpassed Ryan Donahue of Lauralton Hall, Maura Mahoney of Immaculate, Laura Simons of New Fairfield, Anna Griffin of Weston and Kasey Sullivan of Pomperaug.

But she just couldn’t catch the diminutive Theleen.

“I’m a little disappointed about that,” said Ball, “because I was undefeated for the dual meet season. But I saw her up there and knew I wouldn’t catch her and decided to just try and finish strong. This was my last (SWC) meet and winning it means a lot. But this is the start of our season – the really competitive part – and we have so much more to do.”

A fifth-place finish at the CIAC Class LL meet at Wickham Park in Manchester on Saturday should get the ‘Hawks (who finished seventh a year ago with essentially the same team) into the State Opens on November 4.

TEAMS – 1. Newtown 38, 2. Pomperaug 73, 3. New Milford 95, 4. New Fairfield 121, 5. Brookfield 131, 6. Joel Barlow 168, 7. Lauralton Hall 169, 8. Immaculate 215, 9. Bunnell 270, 10. Weston 272, 11. Bethel 317, 12. Masuk 342, 13. Notre Dame 347, 14. Stratford 405.

INDIVIDUALS – 1. Jeanne Theleen, Pomperaug, 16:10.63; 2. Sadie Ball, Newtown, 16:25.88; 3. Ryan Donahue, Lauralton Hall, 16:36.04; 4. Maura Mahoney, Immaculate, 16:36.97; 5. Laura Simons, New Fairfield, 16:37.75; 6. Elise DeRoo, Newtown, 16:45.40; 7. Anna Griffin, Weston, 16:51.71; 8. Kasey Sullivan, Pomperaug, 16:57.48; 9. Michelle Brennan, Newtown, 17:03.27; 10. Moira Collier, Newtown, 17:05.59; 11. Sara Pollock, Newtown, 17:07.40; 12. Laurette Hammill, Joel Barlow, 17:13.76; 13. Erin Lofink, Brookfield, 17:14.58; 14. Laura Hermann, New Milford, 17:16.52; 15. Lindsey Culbert, New Milford, 17:28.93; 16. Jen Brill, Newtown, 17:35.00; 17. Jackie Johannes, Pomperaug, 17:35.65; 18. Olivia Lawson, Pomperaug, 17:44.58; 19. Alyse Keller, New Fairfield, 17:44.58; 20. Morgan Fisher, New Milford, 17:48.27; 21. Jenabay Hupman, Brookfield, 17:49.56; 22. April Farrell, New Milford, 17:50.02; 23. Jessica Bain, 17:50.75; 24. Becca Martin, New Milford, 17:51.51; 25. Leanna Jabbonsky, New Milford, 17:54.55.

A Step Closer,

But Still Second

Winning a South-West Conference championship – especially with one of the top teams in New England running – was little more than a pipe dream, so the Newtown High School boys’ cross country team set its sights on a couple realistic goals.

“Our goal was to get as close to New Milford as we could,” said Alister Ratcliff, who finished second to John Loeser of Weston, “and to beat Weston and we accomplished that.”

The Green Wave won the championship – its fourth in a row – with 32 points. Newtown finished second to the Wave by only 17 points and, at the same time, finished 21 points ahead of the Trojans.

“All of the guys ran a fantastic race,” said head coach Dave Foss.

New Milford went out hot at the start of the race and after the first loop around the lower fields at the Bethel athletic complex, the Green Wave had four runners setting the pace. A couple of Weston runners were sitting close and Ratcliff trailed on the outside.

The runners took another loop around the lower fields then cruised up to the driveway for a short loop behind the tennis courts beside the baseball field. Once they returned to the lower fields to attack The Beast, Ratcliff still trailed Loeser and New Milford runners Andy Watson and Dan DeCrescenzo.

That quickly changed and it wasn’t The Beast that did it. It was the other hill up behind the high school.

“That hill is very underrated,” said Ratcliff, who has designs on earned All-State status and a trip to the New England meet, “and the coaches thought it would be a good spot to make a move. I surged there and surged again at the bottom of the hill (near the middle school), but I couldn’t catch Loeser. I thought I could finish first; I just didn’t have enough.”

Loeser – with an extra kick at the end – crossed the finish line in 15:52.53 and Ratcliff followed less than two seconds later at 15:54.08, a personal best on the Bethel course. After Watson finished third, Eric MacKnight of Newtown finished fourth at 16:05.47 … less than a second ahead of DeCrescenzo.

Scott Nichols was Newtown’s third finisher, coming in 12th overall at 16:30.86. Zach Schwartz (15th – 16:36.19) and Jake Sullivan (16th – 16:46.74) rounded out the Newtown top five.

TEAMS – 1. New Milford 32, 2. Newtown 49, 3. Weston 70, 4. Joel Barlow 138, 5. Pomperaug 151, 6. Immaculate 153, 7. Bethel 192, 8. Brookfield 223, 9. New Fairfield 272, 10. Masuk 281, 11. Bunnell 285, 12. Notre Dame 366.

INDIVIDUALS – 1. John Loeser, Weston, 15:52.53; 2. Alister Ratcliff, Newtown, 15:54.08; 3. Andy Watson, New Milford, 16:03.09; 4. Eric MacKnight, Newtown, 16:05.47; 5. Dan DeCrescenzo, New Milford, 16:06.37; 6. Ryan Lane, Weston, 16:06.93; 7. Anthony Socotch, New Milford, 16:07.59; 8. Anthony Vento, New Milford, 16:16.40; 9. Michael DeCrescenzo, New Milford, 16:29.02; 10. Adam Tobin, Weston, 16:29.66; 11. Mike Levene, Joel Barlow, 16:30.36; 12. Scott Nichols, Newtown, 16:30.86; 13. Chris Frank, Immaculate, 16:32.13; 14. Jason Appleby, Masuk, 16:33.09; 15. Zach Schwartz, Newtown, 16:36.19; 16. Jake Sullivan, Newtown, 16:46.74; 17. Aaron Simmonds, New Milford, 16:47.32; 18. Timothy Isselee, Bethel, 16:47.92; 19. Matt Cole, Newtown, 16:48.45; 20. Jeremy Garavel, Joel Barlow, 16:53.50; 21. Tim Anderson, Weston, 16:54.09; 22. Eric Brenn, Pomperaug, 16:59.45; 23. Kyle Anderson, New Milford, 17:02.43; 24. Ryan Morrissey, Newtown, 17:04.34.