Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ cross country teams had their only home meet of the season as the Nighthawks hosted Bethel and Brookfield for Senior Night on the trails next to Reed School on September 24. Additionally, the squads combined to collect more than 800 items to donate to FAITH Food Pantry.

The girls defeated Bethel 21-34 and beat Brookfield 15-50. Natalie McLean won the race in a time of 21:08. Grace Lyons was third in 21:54, Annabelle Foley fourth in 22:33, Britta Petersen seventh in 23:43, Jessie Moore eighth in 23.49, edging Claire DiNoto who was ninth and also clocked in at 23.49. Lexi Young rounded out Newtown’s top seven by placing 12th in 24:33.

In the boys’ race the Nighthawks defeated Brookfield 26-29 and lost to Bethel 29-26. The first-place runner was Bethel’s Evan Bureau in a time of 16:31. Newtown’s Soheib Dissa placed second in 17:31, Orion Lowery was sixth in 17:59, Ubay Dissa came in ninth in 18:49, Stephen Sibley was 11th in 18:56, Brian Sibley 12th in 19:02, Sebastian Colburn was 20th in 20:07, and Aarav Shetty 21st in 20:11.