By JOHN GORALSKI EDITOR Southington already had a long, successful sports legacy when the first Observer rolled off the presses in December of 1975. The town’s history goes back to the fall of 1910 when Lewis High School was one of three new teams to join the 16 established programs in Connecticut. Southington football teams rallied to the highest winning percentage in the state in the 1940s (.782), 1950s (.737), and 1960s (.828). But the mid-1970s marked a turning point in Southington’s storied histories. More championships have been won in the last 40 years than ever in town history. New programs exploded onto the scene. More Southington High School graduates went on to capture headlines at the collegiate and professional levels than ever before, and the town grew from a small, Cinderella program into one of the largest powerhouse programs in the state. We were there to enjoy the ride. Here are some of the highlights: 1975-1979 Southington athletics was about to take a huge leap in the late 1970s as the town’s rapid growth spilled onto the sports fields. Prior to 1975, Southington teams had rallied to a pair of baseball state titles in the 1950s and another one to […]
By JOHN GORALSKI EDITOR Southington already had a long, successful sports legacy when the first Observer rolled off the presses in December of 1975. The town’s history goes back to the fall of 1910 when Lewis High School was one of three new teams to join the 16 established programs in Connecticut. Southington football teams rallied to the highest winning percentage in the state in the 1940s (.782), 1950s (.737), and 1960s (.828). But the mid-1970s marked a turning point in Southington’s storied histories. More championships have been won in the last 40 years than ever in town history. New programs exploded onto the scene. More Southington High School graduates went on to capture headlines at the collegiate and professional levels than ever before, and the town grew from a small, Cinderella program into one of the largest powerhouse programs in the state. We were there to enjoy the ride. Here are some of the highlights: 1975-1979 Southington athletics was about to take a huge leap in the late 1970s as the town’s rapid growth spilled onto the sports fields. Prior to 1975, Southington teams had rallied to a pair of baseball state titles in the 1950s and another one to […]