Newtown High School’s girls’ swimming and diving team earned a thrilling 97-89 win over visiting Weston, the defending Class S state and South-West Conference champions, on September 19. The victory gave the Nighthawks a 4-0 start to the campaign.

The meet was tight throughout and the Nighthawks didn’t seize their first lead until winning the 100 yard backstroke race, the meet’s tenth event, for an 80-76 lead. Meg McDonald led the way in the backstroke event, finishing in a time of 1:03.37. Teammate Emily Payne was second in the backstroke with a time of 1:06.06.

Newtown’s lead was trimmed to just a couple of points, 87-85, after the 100 breaststroke race – the second to last event – setting up a pivotal 400 yard relay race.

Mary Hufziger, Bridget Duero, McDonald, and Amy Martinelli won the race in a time of 3:46.69, coming from behind to beat out Weston’s relay squad, which made its final touch in 3:49.19. Martinelli finished the race strongly, overcoming Weston’s last-race lead to seal not only the race victory, but also the team triumph.

“As a coach, it doesn’t get any better. This is, without question, the best meet I’ve been a part of in 20 years as a coach and a swimmer,” Newtown Coach Zach Gauvin said. “They dug deep and gave a little bit extra. In the end that was the difference.”

Gauvin applauded the efforts of the swimmers on both teams.

“Those girls swam out of their minds,” he said of the Weston girls. “All around, it was great swimming by everybody.”

Read more about the meet in the September 26 print edition of The Bee.