Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ indoor track teams warmed up for the season in cold conditions, practicing at the Blue & Gold Stadium track throughout the preseason. They’ll continue to run outside as long as the weather permits, but welcome the warmth, and competition that comes along with it, of the competitive season.

The girls are coming off a fifth-place finish in the South-West Conference last winter, and the boys were sixth in the SWC a year ago. Both squads have plenty of experienced runners and some unproven but strong newcomers as they look forward to another successful winter.

Newtown’s girls’ squad is led by captains Jessica Keller, Shelby Tolla, Emma Lloyd, and Bailey Smith. Keller is a distance runner, Tolla is a sprinter, and Lloyd and Smith are jumpers.

Shay Fahey brings talent to the sprinting group. The Bucknell-bound runner is participating in the indoor season for the first time. Same goes for thrower Micaela Nowacki. Both team members are proven outdoor track and field participants.

Other top runners are distance standouts Sarah Mawdsley, Erin Tressler, and Emma Bayuk; and sprinters Makenna Cerney and Nicole Russo. Lauren Russo and Alexa Reilly add depth in the jumping events.

“We’ve got a lot of talented student-athletes. We’re going to be competitive — we’re going to be a very competitive team,” Coach Doug Russell said.

Russell adds that the lineup has a number of new girls and a strong freshman group. “We should be competitive in the conference this season,” he said.

The NHS girls will have to overcome the loss of standout pole vaulter Jenna Calandro, who set team and state records in her senior campaign a year ago.

A new strength for the boys’ squad appears to be in the distance category given there are many first-time indoor runners who are on the team having logged a season of cross country training.

“It will be very interesting to see the development of our freshmen coming from cross country and into track,” said Coach Tom Brant, who is looking forward to some strong results from throughout this lineup this season.

An addition to the team, one who actually brings experience, is shot-put thrower Pete Manfredonia, a senior captain, who may be new to the indoor team but has spring outdoor track and field experience. With Manfredonia and Jack Godfrey on board for throwing, the shot-put event should be a strong one for the Nighthawks.

In addition to Manfredonia, captains are Jason Ferrari and David Csordas. Ferrari runs the 55 meter dash and is part of the 4x200 relay squad, and Csordas runs the mile and two-mile races.

Other key runners whom Brant is looking to for contributions are Cole Terry (high jump and 4x200 relay), Ethan Burg (two mile), and James Carney (300, 4x200, and 4x400).

The season gets going with the New Haven Invitational this Friday, December 19. The championship season starts with the South-West Conference finals on February 7.