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The Wave boys have grown accustomed to the top spot, as this was their eighth consecutive SWC title, and their 11th in the past 12 years. The girls' program has been steadily gaining on the league powerhouses over the last few seasons, and this was its first title in 10 years.
The last time the same school won both the boys and girls races was back in 1999, and it was also New Milford doing so. The Green Wave also accomplished the feat in 1984, with the only other school having done so being Bethel, in 1982.
The New Milford boys came in first by 10 points, its 45 points beating out second-place Pomperaug, at 55. Weston was third with 95 points, New Fairfield (120) fourth and Newtown (161) fifth.
Brookfield placed sixth with 168 points, and host team Bethel was ninth, at 213.
The Wave boys let their pack running again lead them to victory. John Raneri of New Fairfield crossed the finish line first, with a time of 16:00.35 on the 5k course. The Rebels had another runner place in the top 10, and Pomperaug took the five, six and seven slots. For the Wave, Zack Kraus was second overall at 16:44.03, and Joel Anderson fourth, at 17:04.72. What gave the Wave first place was the fact that New Milford had five runners place in the 11th-20th slots, while the Panthers had just one, and the Rebels, none.
"Having all seven of our runners in the top 20 is something we're very proud of," said Wave boys coach Chris Bacich. "Zack ran a smart race in that he didn't try to chase Raneri, who appeared intent on setting a course record. Joel once again rose to the occasion when the pressure was on by successfully battling a pack of three Pomperaug runners."
In 11th place was the Wave's Pat Clare at 17:21.58, followed by Nick Grudev (13th, 17:25.32), Cole Rossiter (15th, 17:31.58), Derek Vill (18th, 17:48.72), and Kerry Chayka (20th, 18:05.80).
The first-place finish is the capper to a season that saw the Wave boys go a perfect 12-0.
"We came in very focused. I'm especially happy for our seniors, who have won their fourth SWC title in as many years," said Bacich. "We expect to contend for the top spot at the state Class L meet, but it will be tough. We'll again be seeing a very motivated Pomperaug squad, not to mention Hall, Conard and Hand, which are all strong teams."
The top runner for Brookfield was Spencer Mannion, who finished eighth with a time of 17:14.69. The next highest Bobcat runner was Andrew Mendelson, 30th at 18:30.46, followed by Dan McArdle (37th, 18:51.10) and Colin Lennon (38th, 18:52.34).
The girls varsity race was won by Bunnell's Lauren Sara, with a time of 18:43.66. While that time was more than a full minute faster than the second-place runner, Sara was the only Bulldog in the top 20, and the team finished in seventh place. Pomperaug took second and third place, but then had only one other runner in the top 20.
New Milford, on the other hand, had a runner in the top 10, and three finishing 11th-20th. The Wave girls won with a total of 68 points, edging out rival Newtown, at 84. Pomperaug was in third place, New Fairfield (118) fourth, and Weston (157) fifth. Bethel was sixth at 165, and Brookfield eighth, at 208.
The top Wave runner was Jen Paradiso, sixth overall at 20:11.08. Candice Weiss missed the top 10 by 11 seconds, coming in 11th at 20:47.90, with Jenna Roberts (21:00.34) 13th, and Jessica Noteware (21:06.92) 14th. Gabby Passarelli was 24th at 21:59.51, and Erin Kersten 25th at 22:03.83.
Not only was finishing first exciting for the New Milford girls, but they were very happy to beat Newtown. In the year's final dual meet the previous week, the Wave took its only loss of the season, getting edged by the Nighthawks, 28-29. That left the team with an almost-perfect 11-1 record.
"The girls knew they ran a great race and were so anxious afterward waiting for the results," said Wave coach Tom Marks. "They wanted to beat Newtown so bad. They hung around the scoring table with eyes like dinner plates."
With their top-12 finishes, Paradiso and Weiss made the All-SWC first team, with Roberts, Noteware and Passarelli making second team.
"Jen's goal was to beat (Brookfield's Rose) Willey," said Marks. "She also told me before the race that she intended to beat (Newtown's Annie) Martino, and she did."
Willey has been the Bobcats' top runner all season, and she finished ninth at 20:31.59, while Martino was eighth at 20:19.03. Brookfield's second finisher was Samantha Carlucci, 26th at 22:06.06.
The Wave girls easily won the JV race, with 18 points. Newtown was in second, far behind with 71 points.
"A perfect score is 15, so 18 is incredible. Last year, the JV team had 19 points, so they bettered that this year," said Marks. "If our JV team had run the varsity race, they would have finished eighth (out of 14 teams)."
The Wave's Tara Larkin was in first place overall at 22:28, followed by Kaitlyn Flynn in second at 22:36. Also in the top 10 were Hannah Bacon (22:53), Katie Neils (23:11), Sophia Amaral (23:12), Christina Munoz (23:28), Nina Oria (23:30) and Allison Traynor (23:32).
The Wave JV boys were also first, making the meet a clean sweep for New Milford.
"Our JV runners were very inspired and showed it by easily winning their race with an impressive 20 points," said coach Bacich. "I've already heard some of our guys talking about getting that ninth-straight title next season."
Next up for New Milford is the state championship races, which take place at Wickham Park in East Hartford on Saturday. The boys will compete in Class L, which starts at 2 p.m., with the girls in Class LL, beginning at 3:35. The top two teams in each class will advance to the State Open.
