By STEVE BARLOW
WATERTOWN — Retirement from his teaching career a year ago has given Jeff Lownds time to indulge his passion for horse racing. He even owns a small share in seven race horses.
Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Park, Lownds couldn’t stop talking about the daily double, but this time it referred to the other horses in his stable: the Woodland High boys and girls cross country squads.
The Hawks captured the Naugatuck Valley League girls title over three-time defending champion Derby and followed that by handing Lownds the first boys title in his 18 years of coaching at Woodland.
“This one feels good,” Lownds said. “It’s the daily double, the boys and the girls.”
In addition, Woodland pulled off the trifecta of winning the girls outdoor and indoor track and cross country championships in the same calendar year. Both the Woodland boys and girls also went undefeated in dual meets this fall.
A year ago, the Woodland boys were also undefeated, only to lose to Kennedy at the NVL meet by 12 points. This year, the Hawks had a solid advantage over Watertown, 52-74.
Kyle Crowell (fifth), Greg Aldrich (sixth) and Chase Young (10th) all finished in the top 10. Woodland’s other scorers were Colin Slavin (14th) and Martin Swercewski (17th).
“This is a tribute to the kids. They worked hard all season. They endured rainy days, hot days, cancellations, running inside. They put it altogether,” Lownds said. “This is their championship. They earned it.”
In the girls race, Derby had two of the top three runners in Cassidy Ngaopraseutsack (second) and Sabrina Hanock (third), but Woodland prevailed, 38-61, by placing four of the top eight: Emma Slavin (fourth), Jordan Young (fifth), Calisa Costanzo (seventh) and Chloe Poulos (eighth). Jill Brotherton rounded out the scoring with 14th place.
“They did a great job,” said Lownds, who has five girls titles. “They came in with determination. They knew who they had to beat. We mapped it all out. They knew where they had to be, and they accomplished what they wanted.”
And Lownds got what he had long desired: the daily double.
“Boys or girls, we didn’t have a kid who’s going to go out and win the race,” he noted. “But we had a great team spirit and a great work ethic. That’s what put us where we are.”