Hawks Nation Hall of Fame

Throughout the history of Newtown sport there have been numerous athletes and coaches who have made an impact on Newtown High School. Newtown High School will honor some of these athletes with a  creation of a Hall of Fame. The inaugural class will be inducted on November 8.

“Newtown was instrumental in my growth not just as an athlete but as a human. I have fond memories of my time here, and to this day I stay close with several formal teammates and classmates. I’m grateful to the coaches, teachers, friends, and families who invested in and believed in me. I hope current students recognize the work they put in at Newtown, and the relationships they form, will shape them for life, well beyond sports,” said 2005 NHS graduate Marcus Tracy.

Tracy was an All-American soccer player at Newtown,  had his #3 jersey retired,  winner of the 2007 NCAA College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player, 2008 MAC Hermann Trophy winner, and played for the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer from 2012-2013.

The group of inductees is based on students at Newtown High School who attended the school for all four years, graduated from the school at least ten years ago. The students were multi-sport athletes. 

“I started as an Athletic Director . My last year coaching baseball was spring of 2016. I started as Newtown’s Athletic Director in fall of 2016, and Gregg Simon who was my athletic director who was my athletic director, now works at CIAC. He’s like ‘One thing you have to do is start a Hall of Fame’. Ten years later it actually came to fruition,” NHS Athletic Director Matt Memoli said. 

The Hawks Nation Hall of Fame honors past graduates of Newtown High School that have demonstrated leadership, sportsmanship, and All American honors. This year’s ceremony will be held at the Whitney Farms Golf Course in Monroe. A luncheon will be held to induct the members into the Hall of Fame.

“This has been the second year we’ve actually had a full functioning booster club run completely 

by parents. That has been such a tremendous asset to the program, and they were really the ones  that spearheaded the whole idea of having a Hall of Fame,” Memoli said.

The 17 members chosen are: Casey Ekstrom, Jake Feinstein, Casey Frobey, Andrew Gellert, Randy Gunther, Kasey Keating, Steve Kordish, Lynn Lattanzio, Maureen McGovern, Marcus Tracy and John Wlasuk. Coaches include Peter Kohut and Maura Fletcher. Former Athletic Director and girls basketball coach Gregg Simon was also inducted.

“I feel very honored to be inducted into the inaugural Newtown High School Athletic Hall of Fame.   It was one of the true highlights of my career to serve as the NHS athletic director for 17 years. I was very lucky to have such great administrators, coaches, and student athletes,” said CIAC Associate Executive Director Gregg Simon

Starting as the girls basketball coach, Simon then served as the athletic director from 1999 until 2016. During Simon’s time as AD, he was recognized as Newtown’s Sportsman of the Year for Outstanding Contributions to Newtown Sports in 2000. 

Some Hawks made their way back such as Fletcher taking on the job of Newtown’s girls lacrosse team. Fletcher has been coaching the Nighthawks for 19 years.  Fletcher was selected as the 2013 CHSCA Coach of the Year and received the South-West Conference 2025 Outstanding Coach Award.