NHS Boys — Led By Feinstein — Dethrone New Milford, Run Away With SWC Crown

By Andy Hutchison

BETHEL — Newtown High School’s boys’ cross country team dethroned the ten-time South-West Conference champion New Milford Green Wave with a strong showing — led by Jake Feinstein’s first-place overall finish — at the conference championship meet at Bethel High on October 18.

Newtown had a meet-best 57 points with three runners among the top ten and the best five NHS team members, whose placements count toward the team total, in the top 30. New Milford had 65 points for second in the 14-team, 96-runner event that unfolded on the scenic, at-times-hilly 3.1-mile course.

Feinstein easily beat out runner-up finisher Logan Fulton of Joel Barlow of Redding to claim the individual title for the second year in a row. Feinstein pulled away from the pack early on in the race and finished in 16:25.33; Fulton crossed the line in a time of 16:44.36.

Newtown’s Mitchell Russo was third in a time of 16:46.40, Christopher Gamble came in tenth in 17:10.48; Paul Mangiafico placed 13th in 17:13.22; and Rob Russo was 30th in 17:59.07 to round out Newtown’s top five.

“I’m glad to finish it off this way,” Feinstein said of his last SWC championship race. “The team pulled it together a lot this year so I couldn’t ask for a better conference meet senior year.”

Coming out on top as a team was particularly rewarding for Feinstein and company considering an SWC title opportunity slipped through their fingers in his sophomore year, a campaign in which the Nighthawks had an undefeated regular season and seemed poise to dethrone New Milford.

Newtown Coach Dave Foss said he and Feinstein, one of the team captains, reminded the runners of that missed opportunity and the fact New Milford may not have been favored but just wanted it more two years ago.

“We really wanted this,” Foss said of this year’s squad pulling through and avenging not only that 2010 disappointment, but also a regular-season setback to New Milford this fall.

Foss talked to the runners in the prerace huddle and encouraged them to dig deep. “I said, ‘You guys are so talented, you guys have done the training, and it takes a little extra today — something in that race, when adversity hits, what do you do?’ And they stepped up today. It was incredible — it was amazing to watch.”

Mitchell Russo was thrilled to finish third overall, and credited Mother Nature for a nice assist. “It was a perfect day for running — barely any wind,” he said. “It was awesome.”

Feinstein won all of the team’s races this campaign and, frankly, Foss expected him to prevail in the conference meet. “You take Jake for granted a little bit. You count on him being number one,” the coach said.

Then there are Newtown’s two-three-four runners, Mitchell Russo, Gamble, and Mangiafico, all of whom have been key competitors and near-the-front-of-the-pack finishers throughout the campaign. “They did it again today,” Foss noted.

Almost lost in the shuffle is the importance of Rob Russo’s performance. “It’s a lot of pressure to be that five guy when you’ve got four incredible runners and that five can be the difference between winning and losing,” Foss said. “We told him he had to be around 30 today and that’s what I was thinking and he did — he came in exactly 30.” With a little into-the-race encouragement from Foss.

The Newtown coach, who along with assistant Dan McIlrath motivated the runners throughout the course, saw their fifth-place runner about a mile and quarter into the race when he was in 40th place. “And I said, ‘You’re going to have to get 10 or 15 places,’” Foss recalled. “And the next time I saw him he was 28th and just held it.

“Up and down that five it is a team effort. You’ve got to have all five — just amazing,” said Foss, noting that this was Newtown’s first conference title since 1995.

Newtown’s other two team members to compete in the conference championships were Joey Whelan and Nate Steinebrey, who placed 43rd and 54th, respectively, with times of 18:39.28 and 19:10.70. Newtown’s top three runners, for finishing among the top 12, all earned All SWC First Team honors.