By Kim J. Harmon

By KIM HARMON

Published: Dec 02, 2005 12:00 am

By Kim J. Harmon

This is getting to be old hat, isnât it?

Success has been so prevalent over the last four fall seasons at Newtown High School that it has become a state of mind and this season saw the Nighthawks reach new heights â¦ a total 97-21-5-1 record with two South-West Conference championship, one CIAC Class L championship and one CIAC State Open championship.

Not one team posted a losing record. In fact, the team that posted the âworstâ record was the field hockey squad which went 10-5-2-1 for a .638 winning percentage. The girlsâ cross country and swim teams both finished undefeated.

And this does is continue a trend that began back in 2002 when Newtown High School fall sports teams went 101-32-4 with three SWC championships. Since then, NHS is a combined 387-110-15-3 with nine SWC titles, three state titles and one State Open title â not to mention scads of school records being broken, several athletes being named All-New England, one being named PARADE All-American, roughly 200 earning All-SWC honors and better than three dozen earning All-State honors.

Now, the 2005 fall season has been over for a little more than a week and the 2005-06 winter season is about to lumber into action (the girlsâ basketball team has its season opener on Thursday, December 8, in Bethel) so letâs take one last look â¦

The Finest Season?

Which team had the finest season? Well, that is certainly open to some debate but no one could argue that the swimmers had the finest season after finishing undefeated, capturing their second straight SWC championship, and then earning the CIAC Class L state championship with a thrilling win over Staples of Westport.

The season saw the emergence of freshman star Dana Gnerre but also the continued success of veterans like Abby Atkinson, Maricate Conlon, Sally Tabler and Jaclyn Van Waalwijk. While the diving contingent of Shannon Kennedy, Melissa Metzger and Nicole Borruso finished second, third and fourth at the Class L meet it was Atkinson, Van Waalwijk, Tabler and Gnerre coming together for a 400-yard freestyle relay title.

Then there is the case of the boysâ cross country team, which finished second to New Milford at the SWC championship meet before finishing fourth at the CIAC Class LL championship meet and â almost inexplicably â capturing a CIAC State Open championship by besting three state powerhouses (Guilford, Amity and New Milford).

Finishes by Ryan Morrissey and Matt Cole made a huge difference in state competition, but the steady efforts of Alister Ratcliff, Eric MacKnight, Scott Nichols, Zach Schwartz and Jake Sullivan were critical.

The squad qualified for the New England championships and finished eighth.

But the girlsâ cross country team continued to dominate and captured its fourth consecutive SWC championship as Sadie Ball, Elise DeRoo, Michelle Brennan, Moira Collier, Sara Pollock and Jen Brill coasted to an easy win. The âHawks went on to finish third at the CIAC Class LL state championships before suffering a puzzlingly poor performance at the CIAC State Opens.

With a combined record of 31-6-2, it would seem that the soccer teams â both defending CIAC Class LL state championships â would have enjoyed unrivaled success but both teams suffered tough conclusions to their fall campaigns.

The Nighthawk boys sailed through the regular season undefeated before falling to Joel Barlow in the SWC championship game and then won two games in the Class LL tournament before falling to Glastonbury. The offensive prowess of Marcus Tracy was surely missed, but the âHawks saw Chris Hoagland (22 goals) take over the offense as Marc Doherty remained the most dominating midfielder in the SWC. Tony Magliocco, Alex Meisel, Brian Conroy also stepped up and performed exceptionally well.

The Nighthawk girls saw the emergence of two freshmen â Tania Domingos and Kasey Schulz â who will carry on the tradition for the next few years but injuries limited two stars, Casey Frobey and Kyla Miles, and the locals saw their season come to a disappointing end in Cheshire.

The volleyball team appeared heading for a mediocre season when it lost its third match in a row on September 28 to drop to 3-3. But the âHawks reeled off 13 wins in a row â nine of them without middle hitter Diana Grimaldi, who was recovering from a separated shoulder â and coasted into the SWC championship match before falling to Bunnell. Jaclyn Van Waalwijk and Becky Huot shined on the front line, but Christie Iwanicki and Jill Logan stepped up in the setterâs role to help lead Newtown.

Despite losing a HUGE chunk of offense, the field hockey team scarcely lost a step under first-year coach Kim Lowell and went 10-5-2-1 while reaching the SWC semi-finals. Erin Clark and Rita Magliocco starred up front, but Lisa Alberico, Kerrie Canavan, Katie Datin and Sam Wong played exceptionally well through the middle while Alissa Gross had a fine season in the cage.

And the football team would have liked to end the 2005 season on a better note, but a 15-15 tie with SWC powerhouse Masuk was better than a loss. Tucker Kass took over the QB duties (throwing for 10 TDs and nearly 1,000 yards) as Chris Potter anchored the rushing attack and Grant Speer sparked the defense, but it was the electric performance of Joe DeVellis which stole the entire show. DeVellis â a junior â scored nine touchdowns on the season (three rushing, five receiving, one kick return)

The records â

TEAMSÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â TÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â OTLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â PCT

Girls Cross CountryÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 13Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â 1.000

SwimmingÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â 1.000

Boys SoccerÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .875

Boys Cross CountryÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .833

VolleyballÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .773

Girls SoccerÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 14Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .763

FootballÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .650

Field HockeyÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .639

TOTALSÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 97Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â .806

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