New London — The prime illustration of multi-tasking, perhaps the most noteworthy one for the East Lyme High School boys' indoor track and field team, came from Josh Leffingwell.

Leffingwell, otherwise known as the defending Class M state champion in the pole vault, won his top event Saturday at the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division meet with a leap of 14 feet, 3 inches and also jumped in for a pair of second-place finishes in the 55-meter hurdles and as a member of the 4x360 relay team.

"We're jealous of his athletic ability," said fellow East Lyme senior and relay member Matt Spang with a grin. "At least I am."

East Lyme's boys' team, which traded leads with Fitch throughout the day and also watched as Norwich Free Academy's Connor Gralton put his stamp on the meet with three victories, held on for its second straight ECC championship by beating Fitch 140-117. NFA was third with 108 and Ledyard fourth with 75.

That made it a Vikings sweep, as East Lyme's girls overwhelmed the field with 183.5 points for their third straight title. Haley Ashton won the 55 hurdles (9.09 seconds), the 300 (44.47) and ran a leg on the winning 4x360 relay team while the Vikings' shot put team, led by senior Mikaela LoPriore, finished first through fourth and sixth through eighth.

NFA was second (87), Fitch third (82) and Ledyard fourth (46).

Fitch's Justin Marceau (55 dash, 300) for the boys and Ledyard's Megan Brawner (1,000, 3,200) and Fitch's Sydnee Spruill (high jump, long jump) for the girls also provided meet highlights, winning two individual events each.

East Lyme coach Steve Hargis said he spoke with Leffingwell earlier this season about branching out.

"We had a discussion ... his contribution had to be more. He's too talented an athlete to be a one-trick athlete," Hargis said. "If you could see how many hours he spent on learning the hurdles ... he changed his game. It's exciting."

East Lyme's Vann Moffett also changed his routine Saturday for the benefit of the team. Moffett ran a difficult triple, finishing second to Gralton in the 1,000 and the 1,600 before coming back to win the 3,200 in 10:23.54. It's not a habit for Moffett to run all three events, but he saw it as more of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help his team.

"I wrote down how long each event was going to take and tried to plan my time," Moffett said. "It's easier to (run the three distance events) at the all-day, bigger meets, but it was harder at this meet. I didn't care about any time I got (in the 3,200). I just wanted to win."

The 4x360 team of seniors Leffingwell, Spang and Jay Mirecki and sophomore Ryan McCauley capped the meet with a second-place finish, ecstatic to hold off Fitch in the relay and in the points standings.

NFA's Gralton, the ECC cross country champion in the fall, punctuated the meet with wins in the 1,000 (2:37.59) and 1,600 (4:38.79) before running on the winning 4x360 relay. Also winning events for the Wildcats were Nick Fitch (600), Marcus Gates (high jump) and Marquis Ward (long jump). Fitch's Brian Robinson won the shot put.

East Lyme girls' coach Carl Reichard, meanwhile, said this was the largest number of athletes he's ever brought to an ECC meet. He said the Vikings showed a "team-first" mentality throughout the season that carried them to the championship.

"The older kids did a great job of teaching the younger kids and the younger kids did a great job listening," Reichard said. "... The team showed a lot of character. I don't think you can coach that."

East Lyme's Rasa Kirvelevicius was first in the 1,600 and the 4x360 and sprint medley relay teams added victories.

Also winning individual events were Fitch's Madison Powe (55 dash) and Alicia Moroyoqui (600) and NFA's Kelsie Hall (pole vault). 

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