By Kim J. Harmon

 

The litany of accomplishments from the fall of 2004 is almost too much to fathom, too much to absorb, too much to believe.

There were 102 total wins, two CIAC state championships, three South-West Conference championships and six individual and/or team records. Three athletes signed with major Division I college programs, two athletes were named All-New England, and one athlete was named All-American.

Now, common sense would say that level of accomplishment can not possibly be approached again. But – as British screenwriter Tom Stoppard once said – if an idea is worth having once, it’s worth having twice.

For instance, is another SWC title possible for the girls’ swim, girls’ cross country and boys’ soccer teams? Absolutely. Arguably, an SWC title is also quite possible for the girls’ soccer, football and boys’ cross country teams.

And what of the field hockey and volleyball teams? Well, both are coming off exceptional seasons and hope to remain in the upper tier of their leagues.

Sure, 2004 was unbelievable. But 2005 could be mind-boggling.

BOYS SOCCER

Coach: Brian Neumeyer

It would be easy – so easy – to believe that the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team would naturally be less powerful than a year ago now that Marcus Tracy (38-11-49) and Brian Miles (10-8-18) have departed.

But teams that fall into that way of thinking are in for a rude awakening in 2005.

By now, everyone knows all about Tracy – the most prolific offensive player in Newtown history, he scored 38 goals (finishing with 100 career goals), was named All-New England, was selected as a PARADE All-American, and signed with Division I Wake Forest. And Miles, the guy who fed him most of his balls (and some magical ones at that), has moved on to Montclair State University.

Yet while Tracy and Miles – and Ben Tirigall (6-7-13), Nick Mentesana (0-4-4) and Ryan Davies (2-1-3), for that matter – were out on the field there was a large group of young, talented players patiently cooling their heels on the sidelines.

Now it’s their turn.

“It will be a different team,” said head coach Brian Neumeyer, “but experience-wise, this team has just as much of a background as last year’s team did. This has always been about more than one player and this team will continue to work hard and continue to have success as a program.”

In 2004, the Nighthawks won their third South-West Conference championship in four years and its first CIAC state championship since 1990. And while Tracy was earning all of his accolades (and deservedly so), Marc Doherty was quietly making a name for himself as one of the best midfielders in all of New England.

Doherty returns to the field in 2005 along with fellow captains Mike Vontobel and Alex Meisel. While Doherty was a star last year and senior Rodrigo DeSouza (4-13-17) was amazing fans with his nifty footwork and speed, Vontobel and Meisel (0-5-5) were two of those players who – to one degree or another – flew under the radar.

Like Tony Magliocca (6-8-14), Chris Hoagland (7-6-13), Brian Conroy (4-7-11), Noah Kugielsky (1-3-4), Ryan Domingos (3-0-3), Justin Miller (0-1-1), Mike Nastri (0-1-1), Matt Taylor (0-1-1), Nick Sando (1-0-1) and goaltender Louis Ritzinger.

It’s this group that now has something to prove.

“We have been built on tradition and history,” said coach Neumeyer. “Hopefully, that will carry us on.”

Other players who can contribute include Justin Carotti, Mark Cinquegrana, Kevin Davies, Kyle DiNicola, Aron Fay, Max Hoagland, Mike Klein, Chris Meier, Alex Naldini, Matt Norris, Dan Smith and Drew Taylor.

GIRLS SOCCER

Coach: Rupert De Los Reyes

Is it actually possible to lose players like Mary Anders and goaltender Ashley LaRocque without taking a step back?

The Newtown High School girls’ soccer team is going to answer that question this fall when it takes to the field to defend its 2004 CIAC Class LL state championship. Already, though, there are those who believe the answer to the question is a resounding – YES!

That’s because the Lady Nighthawks, who finished 21-3 a year ago, return an amazing and dominating core of players (come on – can a unit get any better than Casey Frobey, Alex Konneker, Kyla Miles, Darcy Fiscella, Kristi Nowak, Gabby Nastri, Tara Gaston, Sarah Salbu or Sarah Peters?) and mix in two exciting freshmen (midfield dynamo Tania Domingos and scoring threat Kasey Schulz).

Frobey is the most explosive player in the South-West Conference and led the ‘Hawks with 31 goals, 15 assists and 46 total points a year ago. Stopping her, though, is a challenge because on the other side is senior speedster Alex Konneker (13-13-26) and no team can double up one or the other without suffering the consequences.

Fiscella (6-2-8) and Gaston (2-3-5) return with scoring potential, as well, and Schulz appears more than ready to step right in and make a contribution.

And while the offense will be punishing the weaker teams in the SWC, it will be the midfield and defense which will help shut down the stronger teams – like Masuk and Immaculate. Anders leaves some awfully big shoes to fill, but Domingos made a name for herself last year in premier soccer and should start right away. Then there is Nastri, Nowak and Miles to provide an almost impenetrable wall in front of the goal.

Defending the CIAC Class LL championship is high up on their list of goals for 2005, but the ‘Hawks are also looking to overcome one obstacle that had eluded them so far – a South-West Conference championship.

It should be a very exciting fall.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Coach: Mary Atkinson

Losing 11 seniors seems like it could be a devastating blow for any team … especially for one that finished undefeated for a second consecutive season, ran a dual-meet winning streak to 22, and claimed a South-West Conference championship.

But this is the Newtown High School girls’ swim team we’re talking about here. Last year the Lady Nighthawks were loaded from top to bottom (mostly bottom) and return the majority of the swimmers who carried them to the SWC title a year ago.

“We expect a good season again,” said head coach Mary Atkinson, “and hope to be in the running for the SWC title  again. The team’s a little smaller, but we’re still strong in most events and have a few new freshmen.”

Returning to the water is defending SWC 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke champion Abby Atkinson (senior) and defending 100 backstroke champion Maricate Conlon (junior). Atkinson and Conlon also got together last fall with junior Sally Tabler (second in 200 individual medley) and sophomore Jaclyn Van Waalwijk to win the SWC 200 medley relay title and set a new school record while doing it.

The ‘Hawks also have senior CarolAnn Smith (second in the 100 backstroke), sophomore Emma Atkinson (fifth in the 200 individual medley), senior divers Shannon Kennedy and Melissa Metzger (fourth and fifth, respectively, at SWCs) and junior Jen Iassogna (fifth in the 500 freestyle) back in the water.

Sure, they will miss the presence of Amy Robinson, Maggie Hemingway and diver Kim Mayers, but seniors Liz Gugino and Dana Taylor, juniors Sarah Harmonay and Nicole Borusso and sophomores Ann Hull and Lucy Remitz could step up to fill the void. Plus, the ‘Hawks are welcoming in junior transfer Abby Carnali.

Coach Atkinson could also see some contributions from freshmen Dana Gnerre, Liz Anne Kron and Dana Djonne.

GIRLS X-COUNTRY

Coach: Doug Russell

They haven’t lost a step.

Not one.

The Newtown High School girls’ cross country team – which won its third straight South-West Conference championship last year – is as strong as ever and while a fourth SWC title would be wonderful, the Lady Nighthawks are looking to accomplish even more.

“Senior captain Kait Sullivan talked with the girls at our team meeting about our goals for the season,” said head coach Doug Russell, who led his charges into the 2005 season-opening meet on Tuesday in New Fairfield. “Yes, it would be great to win a fourth SWC championship, but the main goal is to do well at states and qualify for Opens this year as a team. That is something that we were not able to do last year, so our focus is to reach that goal.”

The ‘Hawks are in great shape because they return senior co-captain Sadie Ball, who finished fifth overall at the 2004 SWC championships. But they also return all of their top five finishers from last year – sophomore Elise DeRoo (currently running No. 2), junior Michelle Brennan (No. 3), junior Moira Collier (No. 4) and sophomore Jen Brill (No. 5).

Senior co-captain Liz Ericson, who was injured last year and unable to compete, is running in the sixth spot while fellow senior Elaine McCafferty is running in the seventh spot.

“I do believe this year that the fifth, sixth and seventh spots will be challenged by other Newtown girls this year,” said coach Russell, “which is a wonderful thing to have in cross country. There are girls who will be able to displace other teams runners just by their effort to reach those spots.”

There are nearly three dozen Newtown runners attacking the hills and valleys of western Connecticut this fall. Seniors include Karli Beitel, Sophie Cerreta, Rose Jackman, Emma McHugh, Megan Rogers and Stephanie Winkler.

Juniors include Julie Landin, Alison McEmber, Kelly McPhee, Bethany Murphy, Ellen Reid, Katie Sudbey and Olga Virgalla. Sophomores include Marissa Bobkowski, Allie Clements, Katie Condon, Carolyn Gingras, Caroline Kraich, Kelsey Phillips, Sara Pollock, Lisa Sapienza, Shannon Tredennick and Cathy Urfer. The two freshman are Kelly Carney and Keegan Frobey.

“I feel that this group of girls, the entire team, has already come together as a unit,” said coach Russell.

And that’s very bad news for the rest of the SWC.

 

FOOTBALL

Coach: Ken Roberts

It’s time to air it out.

In 2004, the Newtown High School football team – lacking a true quarterback (out of need, the Nighthawks pressed one of their best athletes, Josh Rouse, into service behind center) – attempted only 114 passes all season.

That’s 11.4 per game for only 63.5 yards per game.

But those numbers are going to change dramatically in 2005. Junior Tucker Kass (6-1, 150 pounds) is going to be calling the signals and while he was just 15-of-47 (31.9%) in limited action last year, he threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

“We are going to look a lot different on offense than in the past,” said head coach Ken Roberts, who will start eight juniors on defense and seven juniors on offense. “We are going to throw the ball a lot more.”

Some might say that’s because a huge chunk of the 2004 ground game – Bob Pattison (739 yards, 8 TDs), Rouse (242 yards, 3 TDs) and John Collins (116 yards, 2 TDs) – has disappeared. But Roy Scheunemann (219 yards, 5.47 yards per carry, 4 TDs) and Joe DeVellis (128 yards) return to the backfield along with Chris Potter (70 yards and a TD on only one carry) and Grant Speer (52 yards and a TD on only two carries) and all four will have a large offensive line – carried by right guard James Weidemann, tackle Aadil Ansari and center Joe Greenfield – opening the holes.

But a lot of the focus will be on throwing the football and what had been a somewhat predictable passing attack will now be wide-open and varied. Kass won’t have big Brennan Coakley (13 receptions) or Brendan O’Connell (10 receptions) to throw to, but he will have DeVellis (six receptions), becoming even more of a focal point. DeVellis, a junior, is a dynamic playmaker – a weapon that could strike out of the backfield, out of the flanker position, or on punt and kick returns.

Speer and Joe Bowen will also figure into the passing game, but coach Roberts also has a number of split ends, tight ends and flankers on his roster and any one of them could emerge as a target in the passing game.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior co-captain Marc Ingerman (who may also carry and catch the football on offense) will lead the way at middle linebacker while Max Reed and Kevin Regan will anchor the ends. Coach Roberts may rotate five different players in at defensive tackle, but has Grant Speer at outside linebacker and a solid core of Tom Hutchinson, Gary Andrews, Travis Speer and DeVellis in the secondary.

“We lack some experience on defense,” said coach Roberts, “but we have good speed to make up for it.”

And on top of all that, look for junior kicker John Nelson to make a few important boots during the season.

With a 7-2-1 record a year ago, the Nighthawks were a mere extra point (or tipped pass in the end zone) away from reaching the CIAC state playoffs. Now the 2005 team hopes to make up for that near miss.

VOLLEYBALL

Coach: Tom Czaplinski

After a 9-11 campaign in 2003, the Newtown High School volleyball team took a giant step forward in 2004 and finished 12-6. Now – despite losing six seniors, including setter Lisa Morgan – the Lady Nighthawks hope to take yet another step forward.

“We want to improve on the 12-6 record from last year,” said head coach Tom Czaplinski. “Having graduated six seniors, we will have our work cut out for us. But we do have a lot of experience coming back this year and with a little work in the setting department, and hopefully being able to pass as well as we did last year, we will improve.”

The ‘Hawks won seven of their first eight matches a year ago and quickly qualified for the South-West Conference and CIAC Class LL state tournaments. They faded a little bit down the stretch, but won their first-round state tournament match before falling to Trumbull.

The good news is, the ‘Hawks return four starters from that team – hitters Diana Grimaldi (captain), Becky Huot (captain), Jenna Van Waalwijk and defensive specialist Miranda Rucinski. And hoping to fill the shoes of Newtown’s departed setter will be juniors Jill Logan and Christie Iwanicki.

Junior Jenn Blauvelt (outside hitter) and sophomores Emily Loose (middle hitter) and Morgan Knees (middle hitter) will look to make contributions, as well.

“The girls have high expectations for this coming season,” said coach Czaplinski, “and with a little hard work we can come a step closer to winning that elusive state championship.”

Coach Czaplinski will be aided by assistants Lauren O’Connell and Russ Weiss and manager Shauna Kormanik.

BOYS X-COUNTRY

Coach: Dave Foss

Could this be the year?

For the past few years the Newtown High School boys’ cross country team has been looking up at New England powerhouse New Milford … finishing runner-up to the Green Wave at the South-West Conference championships twice in a row.

But when head coach Dave Foss saw that 54 runners – including 21 freshman – had come out for the team, he started thinking this could be the year.

“When I walked up to the first I practice I was astonished to see the large crowd,” he said. “Then one of my captains told me to keep going and look down into the stands where all the ‘rest’ were. If they had pikes and an angry attitude, they would have been a bona fide mob.”

The Nighthawks have graduated a strong senior group – Pete Dittmar, Jay Schunter, Ryan Kraft, Chris DeRoo and Jon Larsen – but hope to replace them with depth and the emergence of some younger runners.

The ‘Hawks could be stronger up front with consistent No. 1 Alister Ratcliff leading the way in front of Charlie Baldour and Eric MacKnight. All three could compete for that No. 1 spot in the SWC. Right behind them, though, are three more top tier runners – Jake Sullivan, Matt Cole and Scott Nichols.

“If these six live up to their potential and run strong this year,” said coach Foss, “we can achieve our goals of an SWC championship, a New England berth (top six at State Open) and maybe even a state championship.”

The varsity roster will be rounded out by a rabid pack of about a dozen, all anxious to move up. The final three or four spots could be filled by seniors Mike Mangarella and Eddie Small, juniors Bobby Schwarz, Kevin Donahue, Seth Hull, Anthony Klabonski, Greg Hill, and Sean O’Connell, junior newcomers Ryan Morrissey and Zach Schwartz or sophomores Jordan Reed and Brad Howe.

The true measure of the team will be taken in the final dual meet of the year on October 11, when the ‘Hawks host three-time defending SWC champion New Milford.

FIELD HOCKEY

Coach: Kim Lowell

It was one of their best seasons ever (10-7-0-2) and it ended in one of the most thrilling ways possible (overtime in the South-West Conference semifinals) and the Newtown High School field hockey team hopes to relive it all in 2005.

It will be difficult.

The Lady Nighthawks are missing two of their biggest offensive threats – Cat Williams (who set a single-season scoring record with 13 goals) and Meg Regnery, who combined for 20 of the team’s 32 goals. In fact, with the loss of Kristen Troy (four goals) the ‘Hawks are missing four of their top five scorers from 2004.

At the same time, the team is adjusting to a shift in the seat of power (head coach Kim Lowell takes over for Kathy Davies).

But coach Lowell remains confident.

“I think we should be pretty strong this year,” she said. “The major adjustment will be to me as the new coach, but the girls are used to me mostly from junior varsity. Our goal is to make the SWC tournament and the state tournament, as well.”

Coach Lowell will be looking to co-captains Lisa Alberico (forward) and Erin Clark (back) to lead the way. Alberico is the top returning scorer, having finished third on the team in total points (10) with five goals and five assists.

Unfortunately, the only other returnee who scored a goal last year is Rita Magliocca (1).

A senior-laden team will look to Lauren Babbage, Mandy Black, Kerrie Canavan, starting goaltender Alissa Gross, Kim Solheim, Corey Stokes and Katie Ebert for some major contributions. Juniors include Katie Datin, Christina Ercole and Sam Wong.

The ‘Hawks ended their SWC season in 2004 with that overtime loss to New Milford and opened the 2005 season on Tuesday night against that very same foe.

CHEERLEADERS

Coaches: Heather Bernhart

Stacy D’Amico

After a whirlwind season which saw they compete in the Nationals at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the Newtown High School cheerleaders will set their focus a little closer to home and hope to improve on their third-place finish at the South-West Conference championships and fourth-place finish at the CIAC Class LL championships.

This is the cheerleaders second year since returning to an all-girl squad and the strength – key in the SWC competition – will be tumbling.

“Many of the girls have been putting in a lot of their own time at gyms and gymnastic centers, taking group and private tumbling lessons,” said coach Heather Bernhardt, who is in her fifth year with co-coach Stacy D’Amico, “and the team has also been having private team tumbling instruction at Newtown High during some of our practices. The girls tumbling is becoming much cleaner, their technique is becoming much better, and overall our tumbling is going to be very exciting to watch this year.”

But the Lady Nighthawks will have to recover from losing three flyers – the girls who are on top of all of the squads stunts and get thrown into the air. Senior captain Kate Levasseur moves from her base position to do some flying and will learn along with a pair of freshman flyers.

“It’s going to take us a little longer to get to where we were with our stunts at this time last year,” said coach Bernhardt.

The squad will continue to cheer at football and basketball games and continues its popular Flamingo-A-Friend promotion.

Seniors include captains Kate Levasseur and Noreen Barrett as well as Bria Innaurato, Christina Matsis, Lauren Egdahl and Melissa Shepard. Juniors include Courtney Sullivan, Lauren Nute, Christina Bell, Jessica Shepard, Alyssa Stendahl, Jess Dugan, Nikki Beatty, Vanessa Hansen and Leah Fahey. Sophomores include Alysa DeSimone, Jennah Fahey and Kelly Burch. And freshmen include Maura McDade, Belle Hydock, Stephanie Mitchell, Victoria Summerlin, Genna Rossi and Meghan Dolyak.