East Lyme — At this point in the high school track season, the weather and competition heats up. It’s also when the East Lyme boys’ team usually rises to the occasion.

The Vikings delivered an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I regular-season title performance Wednesday.

With an 85-65 win over Fitch, East Lyme added to the program’s growing list of accomplishments.

“It never, ever, ever gets old,” East Lyme coach Chris Morth said of winning the division. “These are the fun ones, too. …. Too often you come into these track meets and it is predetermined. There’s no doubt about the outcome.

“These last two weeks, we’ve come in knowing that we were the favorites but not by a wide margin. And if things fall Fitch’s way, or NFA’s way, or we have an off-day and anything shifts just a little bit, we could certainly lose.

“So happy to see these boys come and protect that and do their job and give some really great performances.”

East Lyme, the defending Division I champ, expected a tough meet against Fitch, which scored an impressive win over Norwich Free Academy this spring.

While the Falcons turned in some strong performances, including senior Ryan Dunning running a school-record time in winning the 800 meters, they ultimately fell short. They were hurt by the absence of key competitors Jermain Manning, a hurdler, and 400 runner Porter Carter, who are dealing with injuries.

“That makes a big difference,” Fitch coach Rich Kosta said.

East Lyme received an unexpected boost from junior Jacob Scott, who won the 200 meters (23 seconds) and placed second in the 100.

Morth called Scott East Lyme’s MVP of the meet.

“We have other great kids who came in and did their jobs, but those are things that are kind of expected,” Morth said. “But if you looked at the meet beforehand, you would have thought that Fitch was going to sweep us in the 100 and 200. So for Jacob to come in and get second in the 100 and win the 200, that’s a huge point swing for us.”

As expected, the Vikings piled up the points in the middle- to long-distance events.

In the 3,200, juniors Matthew Carrier (10:18.8) and Sean McCauley (10:18.9) ran together down the stretch, finishing first and second, respectively. McCauley (4:30.8) nipped sophomore teammate Sam Leone (4:30.9) at the finish line to take the 1,600.

“When we run like that in a race, where we purposefully try to kick together, I try to make it as hard on the officials as possible,” McCauley said. “These meets aren’t set up to run fast, so have fun with it and just do what you can for the team that day.”

East Lyme’s Tommy Matlock (shot put, discus) and Mathew Leone (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles) were double-winners for the Vikings (4-0 overall, 3-0 Division I).

Fitch (4-1, 2-1) also had some star power.

Dunning’s dazzling 800 turned heads, as his winning time of 1:55.8 broke a Fitch record set in 1982 by Steve Sargent.

“I ran the same exact race as last Saturday in the Middletown Invitational,” Dunning said. “I won there, too.”

A lot of people have been trying to beat Sargent’s record over the years, according to Kosta, who figured Dunning would eventually accomplish the feat.

“I didn’t think it would come so soon,” Kosta said. “But today is a great day as far as the weather goes. And he had great competition.”

McCoy, who’s making big strides in his second track season, cracked a smile after learning that he had won the 100 meters in a personal best time of 10.9 seconds. He trailed early on before using a burst of speed to seize the lead.

“It feels really great that my hard work is paying off,” McCoy said.

The Falcons scored big points in the jumping events, as Zayshawn Griffin captured the long jump (21-9.5) and triple jump (41-2) and Gianni Colebut won the high jump (6-feet).

But the day belonged to the Vikings. Even bigger meets are ahead, starting with the ECC Division I championship meet on Monday, May 20.

The Vikings will be ready.

“We think we’re a better big-meet team than a dual-meet team,” Morth said. “We should fare very well for the conference championship. We’re built very well for that. Hopefully, we’ll defend our crown there and then move on to states and see what happens from there.”

McCauley can’t wait.

“That’s the fun part of the season,” McCauley said. “Not only is it the most fun part, but we have to shift our focus and have a different mentality to perform well in those meets.”

g.keefe@theday.com