Feinstein Second, Hawks Third Overall In State Open

Newtown High School senior captain and South-West Conference champion Jake Feinstein earned a runner-up finish in the State Open cross country meet at Manchester’s Wickham Park on Sunday, November 4. Feinstein finished the race in 15:58, a pace of 5:09, to help the Nighthawks place third among 20 high schools from each of the six divisions.

Feinstein finished behind only Henry Wynne of Staples of Westport, who led the field of 183 of Connecticut’s top runners in a time of 15:49.

Feinstein had placed third behind Wynne and Ridgefield’s Trevor Hopper in the Class LL state championships on October 27. This time, Feinstein moved past Hopper, who placed sixth in the Open, by improving on his LL meet time of 16:06.

New Milford won the race with its top five team placements adding up to 112 points; Newtown had dethroned ten-time SWC champ New Milford to begin the postseason. Xavier of Middletown was second with 147 points, and Newtown scored 163. Newtown’s Mitchell Russo came in 14th among the finishers, and earned a team score place of ninth because five of the finishers in front of him represented schools that did not have enough qualifying runners to place as teams. Russo completed the course in a time of 16:43.

Newtown’s Paul Mangiafico was 36th overall and 23rd among scoring teams in 17:08, teammate Christopher Gamble was 39th (26th) in 17:10, and Rob Russo rounded out Newtown’s top five by coming in 147th (103rd) in 18:26. Newtown’s Joey Whelan and Tom Floros also competed in the State Open.

On the girls’ side, Newtown did not compete as a team, but had a strong individual performance. Brianne Moulder was 36th among 190 runners in a time of 20:33, besting her Class LL meet time by two seconds. Norwich Free Academy’s Brianna Lenehan won the race in 19:09.