Norwich — Margaret Lewerk admits that her strength is the part where she runs up and down the field hockey field for Norwich Free Academy.

When she began playing the sport last season, playing junior varsity and making brief appearances at the varsity level, she didn't necessarily always have the ball with her when she was supposed to.

"I think I kicked the ball more than I hit it," Lewerk said.

But that's not the case now. An improved Lewerk, who has regularly been one of the top sprinters in the Eastern Connecticut Conference in indoor and outdoor track since her freshman season, started at forward for the field hockey team Thursday in a 1-1 overtime tie against East Lyme.

Lewerk, who formerly ran cross country, finishing sixth in the ECC in 2014 and being selected to The Day's All-Area team, made the transition to field hockey last year as a junior not knowing much about the sport.

"If she gets something in her head, she's going to do it," first-year coach Kara Gabordi said. "She really wanted to score a goal on (penalty) corners and she kept getting them blocked in practice. A couple games ago, she scored on a corner.

"To be honest, at the beginning of the year, when I looked at Margaret, I saw mostly speed. She's one of the players you depend on now."

On Thursday, Lewerk made a run down the field in which she carried the ball and wove her way through three defenders along the way. She also, equally as important, served as the flyer on defensive corners, rushing out from the edge of the goal cage to try to break up the corner before it turned into a shot on goal.

For years (before many other schools also got turf), NFA's artificial surface gave opponents fits, changing the game to a frenetic pace. Imagine then adding the sixth-place finisher in last year's ECC 100 meters and member of the second-place 4x400 relay team to the Wildcats' forward line.

"She pushes herself in practice. I need to be aware of when she needs a break," Gabordi said Thursday, when the Wildcats pushed their record to 4-1-1 overall and in the conference with the tie against East Lyme.

"Today, she got hit in the rib, her toe and cut her finger and I didn't know. I only took her out because something didn't seem quite right."

NFA tied the game with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining on a goal by Hailey Conley. After a 0-0 tie at halftime, East Lyme's Katie Durkee gave the Vikings (4-2-1, 4-1-1) a 1-0 lead on an assist by Anna Fennell with 19:18 to play. East Lyme goalie Alex Rose made 10 saves and NFA's Helen Heyse had seven.

Lewerk scored a goal in a win over Waterford on Sept. 13, two goals in beating Killingly on Sept. 15 and added a goal and assist in a victory over Fitch on Sept. 20.

"The whole running 5Ks is mentally tough," Lewerk, who competed in cross country from the time she was in fourth grade, said of her switch in fall sports. "I took the 100 and kind of made that my thing ... but not all racing is the same."

Lewerk plans to add the 400 to her regular repertoire this winter, as well as weight lifting. Track coach Kara Kochanski-Vendola, also the cross country coach, said she sees Lewerk just getting stronger to go with her speed.

Lewerk, a high honor student, member of the National Honor Society and participant in NFA's Italian Club whose family will host Italian exchange students this fall, doesn't believe she will participate in sports in college. She wants to concentrate on majoring in something in the sciences, she said.

"She's very well-rounded," Kochanski-Vendola said. "She's an unreal kid. She works at T.J.Maxx, too ... and she balances everything. She makes a commitment to each of the things, work, school and sports."

Said Gabordi: "She does what's asked of her without needing the attention."

v.fulkerson@theday.com