East Lyme — Norwich Free Academy has won more than a couple of these, eight straight Eastern Connecticut Conference championship meets, in fact, prior to a third-place finish last season.

Yet this is a team which caused coach Kara Kochanski-Vendola to have to swallow the lump in her throat late Saturday afternoon as she watched it put the finishing touches on another one.

"It's a really emotional day for me, really emotional," Kochanski-Vendola said. "The seniors. They're really dedicated individuals. They support the decisions I make. They're just great people, good role models. ... This is my absolute favorite day right now."

NFA, which led Stonington by a handful of points (or fewer) all day long, pulled away in the meet's final events to outdistance the Bears 111.33-73. NFA led 68.33-64.66 after 13 events.

Kochanski-Vendola said it was about the same time that the Wildcats finished second and third in the high jump behind Allyson Lewis and Joyce Yuen and second and fourth in the shot put with Jada Goodwin and Anna Lewis.

That allowed the Wildcats, who won the ECC Division I title earlier in the week, the points necessary to finally put Stonington out of reach. Stonington was the ECC Division II champion during the regular season.

Waterford was third in the team standings with 66.33, followed by East Lyme (64.33).

"Stonington had a great day," Kochanski-Vendola said. "We had a really great day from the start to the finish."

Last year, NFA lost to East Lyme by two points in a regular-season dual meet, then finished third at the ECC meet behind first-place East Lyme and runner-up Griswold. East Lyme followed that with an ECC Division I indoor track championship this winter. It, perhaps, got in the Wildcats' heads.

"It seemed like maybe it wouldn't happen," Kochanski-Vendola said of the Wildcats regaining their mojo this spring.

"It definitely does mean a lot," NFA senior Jasmyn Cuc-Saenz said after running in the 4x400 relay, the final event of the day. "When we lost last year, we all felt like we disappointed Coach K. I think our strength just started showing as the season went on."

Local athletes who won individual events Saturday were Stonington's Kate Hall in the 200 meters (25.95 seconds), Montville's Mady Whittaker in the 800 (2:19.12) and Fitch's Colleen Duffy in the discus (104 feet, 2 inches). Duffy, seeded sixth headed into the event, finished with a personal best of more than 11 feet.

"Oh, my gosh, no," Duffy said, asked whether she expected to win the title. "I never would have imagined it would come out like that. I thought it would be great just to get 100."

Duffy popped the 104 on her second throw of the preliminary round. Her previous best this season came in at 92-10. Duffy, a junior, is a member of Fitch's cheerleading squad in the fall and winter seasons.

Hall was also second in the 100 meters behind Griswold triple-winner Kalli'Ana Botelho, who was first in the 100, high jump and 300 hurdles. Hall helped lead the Bears as they stayed on NFA's heels throughout the meet.

"(We wanted to show) we can stick with them," said Hall, last year's Class M state champion in the 100. "We have such a great track program. Division doesn't matter anymore. If you come to run, you come to run."

"It's funny because we knew the boys had a chance, but with the girls we hadn't really looked into it," Stonington coach Jeff Parkinson said of chasing NFA. "Up until Monday (a 78-72 win over Montville to clinch the division), that's kind of what our focus was. We squeaked by Killingly, we squeaked by Montville."

In addition to finishing third in the high jump, NFA's Yuen was third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Freshman Madison Martin tied for second in the pole vault and Eve Buckridge was third in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200 for the Wildcats. NFA was second in the 4x100 and 4x800 relays.

Waterford won the 4x100 with Lia Scala, Carissa Aekins, Jennifer Keth and Zora LaBonte and 4x400 with Scala, LaBonte, Keth and Sophia Podeszwa. Stonington took the 4x800 with the team of Emma Small, Liz Gray, Lindsey Orr and Jessica Detwiler.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

ECC TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP/GIRLS

At East Lyme

Team results

1. NFA, 111.33; 2. Stonington, 73; 3. Waterford, 66.33; 4. East Lyme, 64.33; 5. Killingly, 61; 6. Fitch, 57; 7. Plainfield, 56; 8. Montville, 55; 9. Bacon Academy, 47; 10. Griswold, 46; 11. (tie) St. Bernard and Woodstock Academy, 18; 13. Ledyard, 13; 14. Lyman Memorial, 9; 15. Windham, 7.

Individual results

100-meter dash: 1. Kalli'ana Botehlo (G), 12.43 seconds; 2. Kate Hall (S); 3. Jaime Jax (K); 4. Nicole Lizotte (B), 5. Lily Johnson (F); 6. Denise Strong (F); 7. Audrey Strmiska (G); 8. Emma Givens (SB).

200: 1. Hall (S), 25.95; 2. Zora LaBonte (Wa); 3. Kim Lizotte (B); 4. Christina McCaffrey (SB); 5. Lauren Engel (NFA); 6. Johnson (F); 7. Stephanie Jarvis (NFA); 8. J'Naya Kelly (EL).

400: 1. Kate Carleson (P), 59.59; 2. Claire Mason (EL); 3. McCaffrey (SB); 4. Lia Scala (Wa); 5. Tamia McBride (Wi); 6. Drew Preston (NFA); 7. Janaya Burley (F); 8. Cassandra Miller (P).

800: 1. Mady Whittaker (M), 2:19.12; 2. Cassandra Carleson (P); 3. Angelia Rafter (K); 4. Emma Grace Ricketts (NFA); 5. Mason (EL); 6. Margaret Lewerk (NFA); 7. Jessica Detwiler (S); 8. Liz Gray (S).

1,600: 1. Kaitlyn Stevens (K), 5:14.37; 2. Lindsey Orr (S); 3. Eve Buckridge (NFA); 4. Lily Anderson (S); 5. Julia Adrian (F); 6. Brittany Post (NFA); 7. Emily Johnson (Wa); 8. Taylor Knupp (K).

3,200: 1. Stevens (K), 11:45.18; 2. Emily Moran (P); 3. Orr (S); 4. Sarah Praisner (B); 5. Buckridge (NFA); 6. Lindsay Sylvia (NFA); 7. Ellen Arvidson (SB); 8. Brigid Kunka (SB).

100 hurdles: 1. Doveonna Witherspoon (G), 16.45; 2. Lauren Ross (M); 3. Sophia Podeszwa (Wa); 4. Strong (F); 5. Isabelle Riker (EL); 6. Sara Taskoski (NFA); 7. Alex Jefson (S); 8. Maria Balderacchi (LM).

300 hurdles: 1. Botelho (G), 46.10; 2. Podeszwa (Wa); 3. Rachel Marchini (M); 4. I. Riker (EL); 5. Olivia Crawford (L); 6. Ashleigh Angle (Wo); 7. Ross (M); 8. Alexis LaPerle (L).

4x100 relay: 1. Waterford (Carissa Aekins, Scala, Jennifer Keth, LaBonte), 51.63; 2. NFA; 3. Fitch; 4. Plainfield; 5. Montville; 6. Bacon; 7. Griswold; 8. Windham.

4x400 relay: 1. Waterford (Scala, LaBonte, Keth, Podeszwa), 4:06.63; 2. Plainfield; 3. Montville; 4. NFA; 5. East Lyme; 6. Killingly; 7. Stonington; 8. Ledyard.

4x800 relay: 1. Stonington (Emma Small, Liz Gray, Orr, Detwiler), 10:04.72; 2. NFA; 3. East Lyme; 4. Waterford; 5. Woodstock; 6. St. Bernard; 7. Montville; 8. Fitch.

High jump: 1. Botelho (G), 5 feet, 4 inches; 2. Allyson Lewis (NFA); 3. Joyce Yuen (NFA); 4. N. Lizotte (B); 5. Ellie Lokken (Wa); 6. Julia Theriaque (Wo); 7. Rachel Hultzman (K); 8. (tie) Alexis Burgess (L), Abigail Van Essendelft (S) and Cassidy Rubin (Wa).

Pole vault: 1. Shannon Sweeney (P), 9-0; 2. (tie), Emma Brown (S), Van Essendelft (S) and Madison Martin (NFA); 5. Paige Martin (NA); 6. Claudia Jackson (L); 7. Leah Mikkelson (NFA); 8. Angela Chong (NFA).

Long jump: 1. Jax (K), 17-2; 2. Ryana Kelsey (F); 3. Yuen (NFA); 4. Kathryn Solinsky (EL); 5. Madison Powe (F); 6. Michaela MacCracken (M); 7. Caroline Gagnon (K); 8. I. Riker (EL).

Triple jump: 1. Jax (K), 35-6; 2. Aekins (Wa); 3. Solinsky (EL); 4. Kelsey (F); 5. Yuen (NFA); 6. Sophia Riker (EL); 7. Madelyn Grube (Wo); 8. Rachel Hultzmann (K).

Shot put: 1. Natalie Rolon (B), 34-4.75; 2. Jada Goodwin (NFA); 3. Sarah Jankowski (P); 4. Anna Lewis (NFA); 5. Sasha Salan (EL); 6. Christianna Johnson (M); 7. Colleen Duffy (F); 8. Jamie Foster (EL).

Discus: 1. Duffy (F), 104-2; 2. Johnson (M); 3. Salan (EL); 4. Marissa Yambao (S); 5. Goodwin (NFA); 6. Rolon (B); 7. Desiree Rivera (Wi); 8. Foster (EL).

Javelin: 1. Rachel LaSaracina (B), 110-3; 2. Allison Powers (LM); 3. Kelly Trivella (Wo); 4. Foster (EL); 5. Delaney Gagnon (L); 6. Jazlin Fitch (M); 7. Witherspoon (G); 8. Aliza Bell (S).