By Kim J. Harmon
By Kim J. Harmon
SOUTHBURY â Their paths, to this point, had been similar.
Both Newtown and Pomperaug built up near sterling records of 8-1 during the course of the South-West Conference dual meet season and both Newtown and Pomperaug took that one loss against powerhouse New Fairfield.
And both Newtown and Pomperaug were looking forward to this meet, the finale of the dual meet season, as a springboard to their trip south to Orlando to train heavily for the upcoming SWC championship meet.
All very similar.
But the similarities ended in the water. The Panthers, with a very strong front line and almost bottomless depth handed Newtown its worst â and toughest, no doubt â loss of the season.
The Nighthawks fell to 12-3 overall, 8-2 in the SWC.
The Panthers took charge of the meet right away, grabbing a first- and third-place finish in the 200 medley relay and then a first-, third- and fourth-place finish in the 200 free to take an early 21-9 lead. Newtown had its true shining moment of the meet when the diving tandem of Alyssa von Oy, Greg Simoneau and Kyle Neidig proved â again â that it is the best in the SWC by sweeping the top three spots.
Von Oy (diving) and Tim Lux (500 freestyle) earned Newtownâs only first-place finishes of the night.
Ryan Eberts was second in the 200 free (1:56.06) and second in the 100 free (52.43). Kane Kunst took third in the 200 individual medley and second in the 100 fly (58.93).
Kathleen Scharf turned in a stellar performance in the 500 free, chopping a remarkable 23 seconds off her personal best time and finishing fourth (6:05.38). Lux added a third-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:02.80).
Following school on Thursday, the âHawks headed out to the airport for their trip to the Orlando Aquatic Center in Orlando, Florida. After a single practice session on Thursday night and then double sessions on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, they will fly home Monday night.
The SWC meet will be held Saturday, February 26, at Foran in Milford. Diving preliminaries will start at 9 am with the rest of the meet (and the final three dives) starting at 2 pm.