Newtown High School’s girls’ swimming and diving team placed fifth in the Class LL state championships, which culminated with the swimming events, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, on November 12. The Nighthawks set five team records and recorded one first place finish in the process. All told, the team set six school records, including second-place overall diver Kari Djonne’s program record-setting performance on in Hartford on November 6.

Led by the 200 yard freestyle relay team, which earned first among 18 opposing relay contingents, the Nighthawks scored 428 points to place fifth as a team. Greenwich, with 891 points, was far and away the top squad in the competition. Second-place Staples of Westport had 537 points; the Brien McMahon/Norwalk co-op team was third with 469; and Glastonbury edged out Newtown for fourth with 434. Newtown’s closest competitors were sixth-place Amity Regional with 408 points and seventh-place Ridgefield, which scored 401.

The 200 relay team, comprising Mary Hufziger, Eliza Eggleston, Mandy Mele, and Amy Martinelli, set a Newtown High program standard by recording a time of 1:38.35, good for 60 team points. The squad had previously set a new mark at the Class LL qualifying competition in East Hartford on November 8, recording a time of 1:40.26 — after already breaking the old record during the regular season. The time was about a half second off the Class LL record time of 1:37.74, set by Greenwich in 2012. To add some more perspective, Newtown’s 1:38.35 finish also was good enough to beat out the record held by the Wesleyan women’s swim team, Newtown Coach Zach Gauvin noted.

Meg McDonald set team record in 100 yard backstroke event, finishing in a time of 1:00.49. McDonald had set the Newtown High mark in the qualifying meet with a time of 1:00.78. She placed fifth in the LL championships, scoring 24 points. Teammate Emily Payne was 12th in the backstroke race, completing her effort in a time of 1:02.57; and Casey Klein was 22nd in 1:05.01.

 Martinelli, in addition to being a part of the state champion and school record-breaking relay team, made her mark with a pair of individual standout performances. She set team records in the 50 freestyle race with a time of 24.67 (fifth place, 24 points) and the 100 free with a time of 54.00 (fourth place, 25 points). Martinelli had set the 50 free record during the qualifying meet, with a time of 24.87, only to see Mele narrowly bump her from the top position with a time of 24.86 in the next heat. Martinelli reclaimed her NHS record — at least for a few more days, with the State Open set to take place on Saturday, November 15. Mele was right behind her during the championship round, finishing in sixth, with a time of 24.84, earning 23 points. Hufziger was 12th in the 50, finishing in 25.32, and Eggleston came in 20th in the event with a time of 25.79.

Martinelli’s time in the 100 broke her own record of 54.25, also set in the qualifying round. Mele was 15th in the 100, making her final touch in 56.11; Hufziger was 18th in 56.10; and Payne came in 19th in 56.58.

The 200 medley relay team of McDonald, Annika Fagerholm, Eggleston, and Mele set a team record with a time of 1:52.77 during the LL finals. The relay team was fifth overall and scored 48 points.

Newtown’s 400 relay team of Hufziger, Bridget Duero, McDonald, and Martinelli, placed eighth in 3:45.95, good for 42 points.

Duero was 15th in the 200 freestyle in a time of 2:03.44. McDonald placed 11th in the 200 individual medley race in 2:15.70; and Fagerholm was 17th in the 200 IM in 2:18.16. Eggleston placed 18th in the 100 butterfly race in 1:02.87; and Klein was 22nd in 1:03.59. In the 500 free, Duero came in 19th in 5:34.27. Fagerholm came in 19th in the 100 breaststroke race in a time of 1:13.47.

In the diving competition, Djonne had a score of 439.05, which not only broke her own team record, but broke the Class LL mark of 437.90; however, Westhill/Stamford team member Rachel Burston also shattered the record, earning a score of 475.30, to win the competition. Newtown diver Gillian Eckwall was eighth with a score of 349.55; and Emma Wolfman came in 15th with a score of 293.15.

Gauvin emphasized that the overall team success — and finishing among the top five in the state meet was his goal — was the result of a strong team effort from top to bottom. After all, there are a dozen events and the bar has been reset in half of them.

“The record board will show that this year’s girls’ team was one of the best that ever swam at NHS, and were not even finished yet,” said Gauvin, whose swimmers will look to make another big splash in the State Open at Yale University in New Haven (7:30 pm on Saturday, November 15).