Feinstein Runs Away From Pack; NHS Squads Second At SWC Meet

By Andy Hutchison

BETHEL — Jake Feinstein pulled away from the pack right from the get-go and never relinquished the lead en route to crossing the finish line first at the South-West Conference cross country championships at Bethel High on October 21.

Feinstein completed the scenic 3.1-mile course in a time of 16:32.35, a full 25 seconds faster than his nearest competitor, Joel Barlow of Redding’s Logan Fulton, who was runner-up among 90 runners from 13 schools in a time of 16:57.39.

The Newtown High School boys’ squad came in second to New Milford in a very close race. New Milford, which had its top-five finishers in fourth, seventh, ninth, 14th and 16thoverall, tallied a meet low/best 50 points.

The NHS boys had each of the top three returnees to the championship meet and Feinstein, who was fourth a year ago, was the fastest overall finisher back in the SWC finals fold. “I was hoping I’d stay healthy and, thankfully, I did and everything went as planned,” Feinstein said. “It felt great.”

“Jake’s something else. He’s got a little something extra as you have to have to win something like that,” Newtown Coach Dave Foss said. “He’s a special talent.”

Foss is hopeful that Feinstein’s first-place run will springboard him to a successful showing in the state class championships and, potentially, on into the State Open and New England races. Foss anticipates Feinstein will be challenged a lot more in the state championships, set for this Saturday, October 29, but believes “he’s in the mix.”

Newtown, which had a pair of top-five overall finishers with Pat Sullivan placing third in 17:10.78, scored 58 points. New Milford and Newtown finished well in front of their conference competitors. Third-place Pomperaug of Southbury and fourth-place Weston both had 95 points, with Pomperaug taking third by virtue of its sixth-place finisher’s time being faster than that of Weston’s.

“They ran well today,” said Foss, adding that he was disappointed with the result but not the effort of his hardworking team members.

Each of Newtown’s seven participants placed among the top 35. Dieter Gutbrod, who was in only his third race since coming back from a knee injury, was 13th in 17:32.99; Jordan Hensel came in 19th in 17:50.15; Mitchell Russo was 22nd in a time of 17:58.62; Paul Mangiafico crossed the line in 27th in 18:07.78; and Palmer Lintz placed 35th in 18:14.18.

On the girls’ side, Newtown scored 82 points to finish runner-up to Immaculate of Danbury, which scored 46, among 97 finishers from 14 schools. The Nighthawks were led by fifth-place finisher Katie Burns, who completed the course in a time of 20:27.83. Pomperaug’s Brittany Mendelson won the race in 19:48.86. Immaculate pulled away with three top-ten finishers, including the second- and third-place racers.

“I was pleased with that result because I knew Immaculate was really strong — I just knew they were strong,” said Newtown Coach Doug Russell. “I think we ran well against them today. I think we ran well as a team. That’s the key, is running as a pack.”

The Nighthawks bunched their seven competitors among top 37 finishers, including their five point-getters all among the top 22 overall. Hannah Schwartz placed 15th by crossing the finish line in 21:11.50; Brianne Moulder was 19th in 21:23.59; Erin Begg placed 21st in 21:28.06; Jenny van Veen came 22nd in a time of 21:31.31; Reagan Cerney placed 34th in 22:14.84; and Kristen DeGirolamo finished 37th in 22:22.29.

Russell likes the way his runners have come on as the season has unfolded and believes they can continue to have success in the upcoming state class meet. “We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing,” the coach said.

Newtown’s girls’ squad won the SWC Sportsmanship Award. The meet originally was scheduled for the day before but was postponed because of wet course conditions following the rain.

Newtown’s boys, led by the two-three-four finish of Joe Whelan, Nate Steinebrey, and Christopher Gamble, claimed first in the junior varsity race. A sub-varsity race for area teams was also held this week, and Gamble and Steinebrey finished first and third, respectively, with times of 18:04 and 18:47.