New Preston — For the second straight year, East Lyme delivered a state title winning performance at the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Championships on Sunday.

The Vikings defended their girls' first varsity eight state crown, riding a strong finish to beat runner-up Simsbury.

"The first boat, we had a lot of returning rowers," coach Scott Mahon said. "Expectations were heavy. We rose to the occasion. ... Very exciting given we won it last year as well."

In three previous meetings this season, only about a second separated East Lyme and Simsbury in each race. The Vikings lost two out of three.

So it was no surprise that Sunday's final went down to the wire.

The Vikings posted a winning time of five minutes, 3.3 seconds on the 1,500 meter course on Lake Waramaug.  Team members included: coxswain Audrey Bartlett, stroke Kristina Fenton, Katie Long, Rasa Kirvelevicius, Alexa Stewart, Julia Kefurge, Allie Christensen, Gretchen Stelter and Abby Lottridge.

"Simsbury and East Lyme were trading punches all the way down the course," Mahon said. "It was a barn-burner for 1,000 meters, neck and neck. When we shifted into the sprint, that's when we left them behind."

East Lyme also captured the third varsity state title in the girls' competition.

Thirteen schools competed on Sunday. Joining East Lyme in the field: Avon, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Valley Regional, E.O. Smith, Guilford, Lewis Mills, Stonington, Glastonbury, Farmington, Simsbury, Middletown.

By winning the state title, the Vikings qualified for the National Scholastic Championship in Philadelphia on June 10. They also will compete in the New England Championship next weekend on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester.

H.S. baseball

• Montville closed out its regular season with a 9-5 loss to No. 6 Holy Cross. Ryan Champagne, Alex Quidgeon and Seamus Barry each had two hits and drove in a run for Montville (11-9). 

H.S. track

• Rhema Phillips of Grasso Tech won three events at the Stubbs Invitational in Hartford on Saturday, leading the Eagles to a second-place finish in the girls' competition. Phillips won the 100 hurdles (16.51), 300 hurdles (53.54) and long jump (16-9). Ana DaSilva was second in the 1600 (6:29.47) and third in the 800 (2:53.84), setting school record in both events. Taylor Cooley was second in the triple jump and third in the javelin, Topaz Baker was third in the 400 and Alana Gregor was fifth in the shot put.

In the boys' competition, Grasso's Sam Gauthier was a double winner. Gauthier won the 800 (2:11.71) and the 1600 (4:57.46) and teammate Brad Teftt was fourth in the discus.

Road racing

• New London's Ethan Campbell won the Trails to Recovery 5K in Groton with a time of 24:08. Kim Chemacki of Madison, the top women's finisher, was second in 24:49. Also making the top 10 were Dwayne Basler of Old Lyme (25:51), Angelica Royer of Central Village (26:43), Amy Oulundsen of Norwich (26:46), Matthew Blackburn of Uncasville (26:52), Anna Savitsky of Oakdale (27:15), James Kidd of West Hartford (28:15), Carly Myers of New London (28:35) and Trevor Turgeon of Norwich (28:37).

• Youth led the way on Saturday at the Quaker Hill Challenge 5K, with 14-year-old Quaker Hill resident Sean Corman winning the race with a time of 21:40 and nine-year-old Avery Rodzewicz being the top female finisher at 23:18, good for fourth place. Also making the top 10 were Wiliam Liebler of Southington (22:27), Billy Liebler of Southington (22:55), Kevin Silvestri of Quaker Hill (23:23), John Walter of Niantic (23:36), Jonathan Booth of Quaker Hill (25:02), Noah Westkott of Quaker Hill (25:03), Andrew Loupos of Gales Ferry (25:23) and Douglas Parulis of Niantic (25:31).