Boys Track Surpasses Last Year's Standing At SWC

Having junior quad-captain John Wlasuk in the lineup was a boon for the Newtown boys track and field team at the South-West Conference championships Tuesday.

Wlasuk scored 23 points, or 35 percent of the team total, in leading Newtown to fifth place. Thirteen teams participated.

"I went in there with the attitude of scoring points for my team and I didn't worry about personal bests," Wlasuk said.

New Milford won with 105 points. Host Weston (94) took second and was followed by Brookfield (93.5) and Pomperaug (77.5). The Nighthawks beat out sixth-place Oxford (53).

Last year, Newtown finished eighth with 35 points, and it was determined to move up to fifth place this year.

"I'm pretty happy," said Nighthawks Coach Dan McIlrath, who took over as head coach in the spring. "It was the kids' attitude that got us this far. I set the goal of finishing in the top five of SWCs, and they followed the lead and went after it."

McIlrath doesn't take credit for Newtown's improved performance.

"I didn't change much from last year," he said. "I pushed them a little harder, and I asked them if they wanted fifth place, and they went for it."

His top thrower feels otherwise.

"Dan turned the program around and transformed us from mediocre program into a good program and got us into fifth place," Wlasuk said.

Wlasuk won the shot put by throwing it 50-5.5 and broke a school record in the process.

"It feels great to get the school record in the shot put and it's something I set out to do when I started track," he said. "I stayed calm, concentrated on technique and I did what got me there."

Although he took second in the discus (139-4), he wasn't pleased with his performance.

"I've thrown farther this season and I felt my technique wasn't very good," he said.

Wlasuk also placed fourth in the javelin (157-10).

"I just went out there and looked to do my best and score as many points as I could, but it didn't happen," he said. "You can't throw your best every meet."            

Newtown took fourth in the 4x800-meter and 4x400 meter relays with times of 8:17.98 and 3:29.56, respectively.

Junior Ian McEvoy, seniors Adam Buccino and Eric Thornburg and junior Aaron Nezvesky ran in the 4x400 relay; and sophomore Pat Sullivan, freshman Jake Feinstein and sophomores Palmer Lintz and Dietter Gutbrod ran for the 4x800 team.

Feinstein grabbed fourth in the 1,600 meters (4:32.15) and 3,200 meters (10:00.17). Senior Rockwell Anyoha leaped into third place in the triple jump (40-1). Thornburg was sixth in the 100-meter dash (11.61) and 400 meters (51.83). McEvoy took fourth in the 400 meters (51.64).

"I thought we did fantastic," said Nighthawks senior quad-captain Matt Bobkowski. "I knew we could do it."

Newtown will compete in the Class LL championships Tuesday at Manchester High School.

"I'm excited for LL and we're looking good," Bobkowski said. "A top 10 finish would be fantastic."

The Newtown girls placed eighth out of 15 teams on Monday with 31.5 points at Pomperaug.

Anne Martino, Erin Begg, Mara Scallon and Jenny VanVeen delivered a win for the Nighthawks in the 4x800 relay (9:55.46).