Wed., 10/18 SWC Championships Bethel
High School 4:00 pm
Boys- Defending Champions: New Milford 57, Pomperaug 61; Eli Nahom New Milford
Teams: This year's SWCs is up for grabs. Most teams have been hard hit by graduation,
including New Milford who has won 13 out of past 15 SWC titles. New Milford returns
2 of their top 7 including defending champion Eli Nahom, but bring up a good
sophomore class. Pomperaug only returns three of their top seven but they had
eight of the top 11 finishers in the SWC JV meet returning which should give
them some depth. Immaculate returns
everyone from their top seven and improved a great deal during track
season. Weston returns six of their top
seven, but many only do cross country, so it will depend on how much they have
prepared over the summer.
Individual Preview: With 2nd- 9th place graduated from last year's league meet, defending champion Nahom is the odds-on favorite. The only other returners who have broken 10 min for 3200m are Robert Moore of Pomperaug, Connor McNerney of Immaculate and New Fairfield sophomore Anthony Golino. All have made significant improvements since last fall and will at least make the race interesting.
Girls- Defending Champions: Pomperaug 30, Immaculate
56, Angela Saidman Immaculate
Individual Preview: The SWC has five of the top 11 returners from last year's State Open. To say the battle for the individual title will be tough is an understatement. In a replay of last year's championship, it will be a show down between defending champion Angela Saidman of Immaculate, Pomperaug trio Ivy Walker, Maddie Villa and Nina Koobatian and Olivia Hage of Newtown in the mix. Saidman played basketball in the winter and was injured in the spring, but not before running 11:04 for 3200m. Time will tell if the Immaculate junior can win her third straight title.
Team Preview: Pomperaug had an unstoppable team last year and took five of the top 12 in the conference meet and finished 4th at the State Open, only 41 points off winner Ridgefield. They even had the fastest combined time of all teams from the Class meets. They didn't lose anyone from their top seven and according to their coach, Mark Goodwin "add a promising 9th grader into the mix. Katie Wiser ran a 5:18 mile in 8th grade, so we will see where she fits into the lineup." Wiser is just the next in a long line of middle school state champions who have run for The Nutmeg Striders, the Southbury middle school team.
Even former Weston coach Rich Marcello , who has moved to Newtown conceded that "Pomperaug is easily the best." But he added that "Immaculate, Weston and Newtown have a shot at 2nd place."
Conference Schools:
Bethel Brookfield Bunnell Immaculate
Joel Barlow Kolbe Cathedral Masuk New Fairfield
New Milford Notre Dame-Fairfield Newtown Pomperaug
Stratford Weston