Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ cross country teams each started the season with victories over three opponents in races at Newtown’s home course, adjacent to Reed School on the grounds of Fairfield Hills, on September 15.

The girls beat New Fairfield 17-42, topped Weston 17-44, and defeated Bethel 15-46. The boys defeated New Fairfield 20-35, Weston 15-50, and Bethel 15-50.

Newtown’s girls’ squad had the top three finishers as Sarah Mawdsley finished the 5K course in a time of 20:22, Olivia Hage was runner-up in 20:40, and Emma Bayuk came in third in 21:24, Madison Findley came in sixth in 22:42, Kelsey Miller was seventh in 22:48, Sarah Lyon came in 11th in 23.34, Elizabeth Chamiec-Case was 19th in 24:31, and Claire Dubois placed 20th in 24:31.

In the boys’ race, Newtown filled the time sheet with places two through eight. Ethan Burg was second in 17:57, followed by Joel Duval in 18:11, Riley Rising in 18:15, Brendan Reeds in 18:33, Christian Lestik in 18:46, Ryan Escoda in 19:08, and Josh Bent in 19:16. Dylan Lew came in tenth with a time of 19:19, and Joey Conrod placed 18th in 20:04.