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Another year chock full of more championships, records, and lasting memories is in the books in the world of Newtown sports. From individual success stories to team triumphs — to Newtown High School’s entire student section recognized as being the best in the state — Newtown sports had it all in 2024.
In addition to the athletes on the playing surfaces piling up trophies the fans supporting them got in on winning ways as well. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference recognized Newtown High’s fans as the winners of the Battle of the Fans contest. Newtown High’s athletics program, in the spring, won the first South-West Conference Achievement Cup, awarded to one conference school for a strong showing of sportsmanship and success in conference tournaments. The award represents efforts from the spring of 2023, the fall of 2023, and this past winter (2023-24) and will be given to a team, as it was this year, during each spring campaign.
The Rooster Run celebrated 50 years. The Turkey Trot had a record number of registrants but rain and cool temperatures combined to slice that number practically in half. And there were a number of century-mark milestones met with NHS athletes reaching 100 points, wins, hits, and strikeouts.
Nothing is perfect — except the Newtown High softball team was when pitchers Addy Cordova and Rheya Litke combined to not allow a baserunner in a five-inning, mercy-rule 25-0 win over Joel Barlow of Redding.
There were numerous All Conference and All State athletes recognized and two multi-sport standout athletes — Summer Harrell and Hayden Bobowick — were recognized as the Newtown Bee’s Newtown High School Athletes of the Year.
Every year there are changes of some sort — from rules to formats and coaches to players. A notable change in 2024 was in the form of offseason team preparation at the high school level. Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference rule changes allowed for coaches to work with their athletes during a pair of two-hour-long sessions per week starting the week of June 24 and running through August 9, excluding the July 4 week — with balls in play. This gave coaches the opportunity to have a dozen two-hour sessions with players, and did not include strength, conditioning, or agility training. In the past coaches could not work with teams until mid-August tryouts and preseason practices, and balls were not in play for summertime sessions, previously limited to workouts only.
Among the many highlights this past calendar year was the NHS football team putting up 50 first-half points on the way to a 60-29 win over Bunnell of Stratford as part of an unbeaten regular season. There was the Newtown softball team piling up several walk-off and last-at-bat victories on its way to the conference title game.
Wrestling Coach and Booster Club President Tom Maurath earned the Newtown Bee’s Sportsman of the Year Award.
On the ice Newtown’s Mackie Samoskevich made his NHS debut with the Florida Panthers; siblings Maddy and Melissa also continue to make their marks in hockey with Melissa joining the University of Delaware’s new women’s hockey team as a coach and Maddy continuing her playing career at Quinnipiac University.
The Newtown Youth Wrestling Association captured the Western Connecticut League Championship and had a trio of first-place finishers at the State Championships. Then came a three-peat in the New England Championships highlighted by Maddox Wilson’s Most Dominant Wrestler accolades and Camron Veneziano winning Most Outstanding Wrestler accolades.
Coming off a state championship last spring, Newtown’s 10U Hawks baseball team took advantage of its chance to repeat on home turf. The Hawks defeated New Canaan in the winner-take-all game after New Canaan handed Newtown its first defeat in the double-elimination Cal Ripken State Tournament at the Glander Fields Complex on July 11. The 10U squad went on to represent New England in the Cal Ripken World Series.
The Newtown Hawks 9U baseball team won the Cal Ripken State Tournament with an impressive five-game run in the double elimination bracket in New Fairfield in early July. The championship run culminated with an 8-0 win over New Canaan as the Hawks not only avenged a loss to New Canaan in last year’s state tourney but also bounced back from a defeat to New Canaan in this year’s bracket play.
Newtown’s D10 and D14 cheerleading squads took first place at the Shoreline Championships. Both squads went on to claim State Championships as well.
Newtown High runners had quite a year. The girls’ winter indoor track team won the South-West Conference title and repeated as SWC Champions in the spring outdoor campaign. The girls’ and boys’ track and field teams combined for a trio of first-place efforts in the State Class Championship meets, and added to it in the State Open. Grace Lyons won the 400 meter event in the Class LL Championships. Lyons had set the South-West Conference Championship record with a championship effort in the 400. Soheib Dissa won the 1600 and Jack Chappa took the title in the discus throw at the Class L meet. Dissa also won the 1600 title at the State Open. In the fall Dissa won the SWC, Class L State, and State Open titles. At the Millrose Games Trials at the Armory in New York City, Dissa won the mile event in 4:13.83, earning the top event time in the country. Dissa also won SWC and State Championships to cap the winter campaign.
More Milestones, Accomplishments And Records
The Newtown High cheerleading team captured the SWC Championship
NHS dance won the Jazz Division and Pom Exhibition at SWCs and earned its seventh State Jazz title.
On the wrestling mats the NHS Nighthawks were second in the SWC behind several individual champs, and Kenna Gioffre, Fisher Stites, and Jon DaSilva all captured State crowns. Stites and Jake Maddox captured State Open titles.
Fore! The girls’ and boys’ golf teams captured SWC titles in the spring and fall, respectively. Will Lokey shot a hole in one early on in the fall championship run.
Gymnast Brianna Schoffstall won Level 9 Regional Championships on the balance beam as well as with her all around score during the summer.
The NHS field hockey team claimed the SWC title in the fall.
Newtown High wrestlers Marc Maurath, Kenna Gioffre, Tommy Milligan, and Jon DaSilva were honored for earning their 100th career victories and Fisher Stites picked up victory 150.
NHS softball standout Bri Pellicone collected hit number 100 and teammate Maddie Thoesen recorded her 100th career strikeout.
NHS basketball player Makai Coleman joined the 1,000 point club. Coleman also earned MVP honors at the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All Star Game.
NHS swimmer Connor Kwarcinski won two events and was named Swimmer of the Meet at the South-West Conference Championships
NHS Cheer Coach Susan Bridges was recognized with the South-West Conference’s Outstanding Coach Award and was honored in the spring.
Former Newtown High School softball standout Melissa Fracker has made a name for herself at the collegiate level as a head coach and, this spring, reached a milestone win total en route to the team capturing an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championship. The 2008 NHS graduate is the head coach of the Division III University of Wisconsin-Superior softball team and, this season picked up her 100th coaching victory with the program.
Marc Maurath collected his 1,000th pair of cleats he donated to national nonprofit Leveling The Playing Field, which distributes equipment to programs in need in the Baltimore area.
NHS Public Address Announcer Jason “J” Edwards announced his 2,000th career game in the fall.
Former Newtown High School standout/conference champion softball player Kate Bowen was named to the Connecticut Scholastic & Collegiate Softball Hall of Fame and has settled in to her new role as interim head coach at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in New Haven this fall.
Sandy Hook’s own Jake Fattibene, an eighth-grader, has wrapped up his quarter midget racing career with an impressive finish, securing Quarter Midgets of America Championships in both the Unrestricted Animal and Half divisions at Silver City Race Track in Meriden this fall. What’s more, Fattibene was recognized with the Driver of the Year award, which was presented to him by Ryan Preece, a NASCAR Cup Series driver, at Aria in Prospect on December 8.
Sandy Hook’s John Gonski started running not knowing where his road race path would take him. On December 1 he joined elite company having completed the journey in the Run 169 Towns Society, a group of runners dedicated to completing a race in all 169 towns/cities in Connecticut. The final race event was the Oxford Trail Race to start December.
Newtown High School’s wrestling team, on February 3, won the Colchester-based Bacon Academy Matt Bishel Bobcat Classic for the second year in a row with a tournament-record 287 points.
Former Newtown High basketball standout Cyleigh Wilson, a player at Elizabethtown College, set program and Landmark Conference records for her 3-point shooting prowess.
In mid February, Izzy Caron was recognized as the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Basketball Player of the Week and South-West Conference Player of the Week following stellar performances on the hardwood. That included twice sinking six 3-pointers in contests to equal a mark she tied two years earlier. That record was broken by Sam Diaspro when she hit seven 3-pointers in the December 20 win at Cromwell early this season.
Hayden Bobowick ran the 200 meter dash on Senior Night during the spring track season and not only won the race but beat Marcus Tracy’s 2005 school record with an official time of 22.54, then broke the record again, in a meet at Brookfield High on May 7. Bobowick’s new mark is 22.24. Bobowick, Gabe Appiah, Elias Brady, and Aydyn Gonzalez ran at the Crusader Relays in Central Valley, N.Y. to compete in the 800 sprint medley relay. They took first place and also set a new Crusader Relays meet record and broke the NHS school record by more than five seconds with a time of 1:33.87.
Clara D’Amico broke the NHS school record for the 2K Steeplechase, which had stood since 2016. She attended the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track & Field Games the morning after senior prom in May and secured a spot at The Nike Outdoor Nationals with a time of 7:36.45. The Loucks Games are a nationally renowned, elite track & field meet held in White Plains, N.Y.
*Alexa Kwarcinski set the NHS pool record in the 200 individual medley race and went on to set the team record in that event with her first-place finish in the SWC Championship meet where she also set the new NHS standard in the 100 breaststroke event. Kwarcinski then set the team record in the 200 IM at the State Championships and tied her team record in the 100 breaststroke.
There are sure to be more records, championships, and other success stories in the year to come. Enjoy the games!
Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.
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