New Britain - The triple jump official announced the winning jump: 37 feet, 4.5 inches by Natalie Bowens of Montville High School.

Bowens, who before this year said she never made a State Open final and prior to this season considered the long jump her best event, didn't quite know how to react.

"Are you sure?" she said, bypassing hugging her parents Terry and Lisa for the moment while she went to, maybe, hear the news a little bit closer up, person-to-person from the official's mouth to her ears.

Then, pure joy at having won a State Open title Monday afternoon at Willow Brook Park.

"I don't know, I just felt it," said Bowens of her winning jump, which came on her last attempt in the finals. "I kind of just pushed and gave it all I had. I'm so happy. I didn't expect this at all. I'm speechless. I didn't focus on what (Maloney's Alisha Ward) had; I just tried to get my best jump."

Bowens, a senior, was one of three local individual winners, joining Ledyard's Chenoa Sebastian in the 100-meter hurdles (14.91 seconds) and Norwich Free Academy's Erin Schaeffer in the high jump (5-6).

The NFA girls, in fact, won the final two events in the high jump and the 4x400 relay to finish second as a team behind first-place Bloomfield, 49-44. Ledyard was fifth with 29 points.

Bloomfield also captured the boys' title over Windsor, 70-65.5. Fitch was the top local team, seventh with 25 points, while Ledyard was 10th with 18.

Bowens, the No. 2 seed coming into the competition, trailed Ward going into her final jump. For her grand finale, Bowens broke a school record, as well as winning an event at a State Open which featured one of the most competitive fields in history with six meet records.

Bowens won the triple jump (37-0.5), was second in the long jump (17-9) and fifth in the 100 meters (13.12) at the Class M championship last Wednesday at Willow Brook, leading the Indians to a third-place team finish with 56 points. She qualified for the State Open in all three events, but decided to forgo the 100 to concentrate on the jumps.

She was 13th in the long jump, not reaching the finals.

"When she's hopping around, that's a good thing," Montville coach Joel Finnegan said of the energy Bowens brought to the triple jump finals. "… Her and Sonja (Campbell, 5th in the shot put) are the two kids we leaned on a lot to score most of our points and they competed like seniors. They met expectations really well."

NFA's 4x400 team of MiaLynne Park, Camille McKenzie, Brianna Lenehan and Dyshelle Pemberton, meanwhile, reprised its success from Thursday's Class LL meet, in which they won in a meet record 3:55.53 as the Wildcats captured their second straight team title.

This time, NFA finished in 3:54.53, catapulting them past Windsor into the runner-up slot as a team. And that was after McKenzie suffered a hip injury during the 300 hurdles.

"It was really scary. I thought I lost for a second," said Pemberton, who outleaned the anchor from Tolland for the win. "I really wanted to try to win for my last year here."

Schaeffer, who is 6-foot-1, set a personal best with her leap in the high jump. She and Natori Jones of Bloomfield both cleared 5-4, while Schaeffer also sailed over 5-6 on her second attempt.

Schaeffer said having the meet at Willow Brook, where she also won the Class LL title last week, was comforting.

"My mark is right where it was the last time," Schaeffer said. "Coming in I was seeded first, which made me more nervous. … (Jumping 5-6) was so great, to do it at such a prestigious meet I was elated."

Sebastian, a junior, had the top qualifying time in the hurdles before going on to win.

"I feel like my final was a lot better than the trial," said Sebastian, who also went on to finish fourth in the 300 hurdles. "I had a better start. … I'm just trying to work harder and pick up my leg speed for next year."

Other top finishers in the girls' meet were Ledyard's Kylie Fustini (2nd, discus; 3rd, shot put), Pemberton (2nd, 200; 3rd, 400) and Lenehan (3rd, 800). NFA's 4x100 team was sixth.

Top local boys' finishers were Fitch's Tyler Latham (2nd, 300 hurdles; 7th, 100 hurdles; 5th, javelin), East Lyme's Kevin Foster (3rd, javelin) Ledyard's Joe Carter (4th, 200; 6th, 100), NFA's Martin Lewerk (3rd, long jump), NFA's Kyle Liang (4th, 800), Ledyard's Kyle Wilson (4th, shot put), East Lyme's Ben Ostrowski (7th, 800) and Fitch's Lexus Gordon (3rd, triple jump; 5th, long jump). Ledyard's 4x100 team was fourth.

v.fulkerson@theday.com