BETHEL — Newtown High School’s cross country teams competed in the South-West Conference championships with a backdrop of fall foliage on the scenic Bethel High grounds on October 20. The girls’ and boys’ squads both placed sixth.

In the girls’ race, New Milford had the top four finishers and placed first with a score of 19; second-place Pomperaug of Southbury had 102. On the boys’ side, Joel Barlow of Redding had four finishers among the top ten to win with 36. Sydney Keller (with a time of 19:03.89) and Collin Walsh (16:49.15), both of New Milford, were race winners.

Newtown’s girls were paced by Emily Litke, 16th overall with a time of 21:57.92. Clara D’Amico came in 21st in 22:14.27; Grace Chiriatti was 32nd in a time of 23:21.31; Britta Petersen was 38th in 23:31.10; and Ella Hage came in 43rd in 23:56.59. Alexa Norton was 53rd in 25:09.92 and Chloe Karnas came in 57th in 25:50.99. The Nighthawks had a team score of 150.

The Nighthawk boys were led by Aidan Budge, who was 21st in 18:27.72. Daniel Sibley was 39th in 19:25.48; Stephen Sibley came in 40th in 19:25.92; Sam Staubly was 43rd in 19:30.76; and Andy Zhang was 47th in 19:42.55. Mitchell Schrader came in 49th with a time of 19:50.79 and Jeremy Pankow finished in 51st, clocking in at 20:00.46.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.