Stonington — Anna Foster was the last Stonington High School runner on the track as darkness began to fall Monday.

She was eclipsed by Montville's Mady Whittaker on the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay. There was no shame in that, certainly, with Whaittaker, one of the area's finest middle distance/distance runners, have already swept the 800 and the 1,600. Whittaker gave the Indians the emotional victory in the final relay.

"Surreal," Whittaker called the meet to that point.

But, a few minutes later, Foster was the last Stonington athlete in the field, too. The javelin runway. Between the tennis courts and the road. That's where Foster, quietly, matter-of-factly, chucked a javelin a personal-best 85 feet, 3 inches to win the event, touching off a celebration among her teammates, some of whom lifted Foster from her feet.

Stonington's girls edged Montville 78-72 to clinch at least a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II championship, the Bears' second straight title.

The Stonington boys' team also topped Montville 100-50, getting victories from Wade Post in the long jump, triple jump and high jump and a surprise win from Shane Smith in the 300 hurdles to take command of the division, as well.

"I was really mad that Mady passed me. She flew past me," Foster said. "I kept that anger and just channeled it into my throwing. Usually no one's down here (watching), so that was exciting. It's awesome. It definitely is a memorable senior night. I'm going to remember this for a really long time."

"She's a quiet kid. She leads by example," Stonington girls' coach Jeff Parkinson said. "A lot of kids are really emotional. She was upset after the 4x400, but she composed herself. She had the three best throws in the competition."

The pair of dual meets between the Division II rivals, held simultaneously at Stonington, featured talent that was widespread throughout the events, boys and girls.

Stonington's Cam Whalen, for instance, won the 110 hurdles, tying a school record in 14.9 seconds and edging Montville's Nik Strickland. Whalen then won the 100 in 11.1, toppling Montville's Nik Angell (11.2) and Greg Clark (11.3).

Those are likely matchups that could manifest themselves again at Saturday's ECC championship meet at East Lyme High School.

"Obviously, this is the meet we were looking forward to," Whalen said. "The coaches said, 'Championship season starts today.' It's like a mini-ECCs right now. I know that they're going to run fast and if I don't step up, it's not going to look good for me."

"It's been surreal," Whittaker said. "I love it. You don't always get competition like this. It's really exciting. This is like a preview for Saturday. It showed me there's always a little more inside you."

Stonington's boys and girls are both 7-2 overall, 4-0 in Division II with one regular-season meet remaining next Wednesday at Woodstock Academy. A win against Woodstock would clinch the title outright for both teams.

Highlights from the girls' meet included Stonington's Kate Hall, who won the 100 in a personal-best 12.4 seconds, the 200 (26.0) and ran a leg on the winning 4x100 relay.

The Bears swept first, second and third in the 3,200 behind Lindsey Orr, Lily Anderson and Maia Smith, bringing them from down 61-57 to up 66-61. Foster also won the 400. Aliza Bell was second in the javelin, teaming with Foster to earn eight points in that event.

Lauren Ross won both hurdle events and the high jump for Montville (6-2, 4-1) and Christi Johnson took the shot put and discus.

Dmitri Van Duine added victories in the shot and discus for the Stonington boys. Smith ran the 300 hurdles as "insurance" for the Bears when a teammate who usually runs the event was injured. Smith ran in the second heat, after Whalen had already turned in a 42.7 in the opening heat. Smith unexpectedly beat that time.

Clark won the 200 and was on a pair of winning relays for Montville (7-1, 4-1). The Indians' 4x400 relay of Nick Donnell, Van Heller, Clark and Strickland won in 3:31.2.

"We knew all year this meet was going to be an incredible meet," Stonington boys' coach Ben Bowne said. "We stepped up and competed at our best."

The Stonington teams competed in pale purple jerseys with pink lettering, signifying their effort of having raised money for three local charities. The Bears donated a combined $1,100 to the March of Dimes and to Stonington teacher Jana Geiger and Westerly High School athlete Sam Luzzi, both of whom were diagnosed with cancer.

v.fulkerson@theday.com