South-West Conference champion Soheib Dissa proved there will be a tough task for others to win it all, not only at the conference level but in state competition next year. Dissa followed up his SWC victory with a Class L State Championship, finishing the 5K Wickham Park course in Manchester in a time of 15:59 on October 28. The Newtown High School standout was nine seconds ahead of New Milford’s Collin Walsh.

Noah Masotta was 22nd in 17:52, Andrew Arena 43rd in 18:48. Shawn Cardamone 45th in 18:49, Stephen Sibley 59th in 19:09, Adrian Totir 78th in 19:46, and Brian Sibley 80th in 19:47. The Nighthawks placed eighth as a team with 170 points; Xavier of Middletown was first with 49.

In the girls’ race, Keira Budge led Newtown’s runners and came in 29th in 22:04. Grace Lyons placed 32nd in 22:16, Grace Chiriatti 54th in 23:13, Nadia Andrew 57th in 23:17, Britta Petersen 70th in 23:50, Jessica Zhang 76th in 24:07, and Annabelle Foley 87th in 25:13. The Nighthawks placed tenth with 241 and New Canaan was first with 95.