Being first runner-up to the same rival in three different track and field state meets – twice outdoor, once indoor – would be enough to make any team lose its mind.

Finally topping that tormentor, no matter the season, format or magnitude of the meet, must be cause for a party or a parade, right?

Not unless you count the wave of Edward Little High School marching one-by-one toward the track Monday, eager to tackle another afternoon of practice.

Rebecca Hefty said her Red Eddies didn’t even want to take the weekend off after knocking off the vaunted hosts and plenty of additional elite Class A competition Friday at the Scarborough Relays.

“People say to me, ‘Oh, those kids must be on cloud nine. They must be beside themselves.’ To be here Monday, it was like it never happened,” Hefty said. “I’m not kidding. They want what’s at the end. That’s their goal.”

EL won eight events to Scarborough’s four and prevailed 148-127. No other team finished with more than 65 points.

The Eddies were the only outside school invited to participate with 15 Southern Maine Activities Association teams. Edward Little left the SMAA seven years ago to join the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.

It’s a move that has paid off for most EL teams in terms of creating shorter trips and new, natural rivalries. In girls’ track, however, it arguably weakened the Eddies’ regular-season schedule.

“First of all, it was nice to compete against all Class A schools. Secondly, we saw kids and teams that we don’t see anymore until the state meet,” Hefty said. “It was nice to be invited back. It was fantastic to go to Scarborough. That facility is unbelievable.”

Scarborough’s meet combined the finishes of each team’s top four finishers to create aggregate distances or times and determine winners.

Winning the competition required both individual talent and depth, making it a good indicator of what to expect at the conference and state meets in a month.

“The biggest thing is that it builds confidence,” Hefty said. “Now we’re saying to ourselves, ‘You know what? You can do this.’ We believe we can go into that meet in June and put EL back on the board again.”

EL makes a shorter road trip this Friday, but it’s another one that won’t require much artificial motivation. The Red Eddies are at Lewiston.

Dynamite Devils

Waterville hosted the KVAC’s premier relay event of the season last weekend, and Lewiston gave the powerful Purple Panthers a challenge before settling for second in both the boys’ and girls’ competitions.

Traditional relays were a strong suit for the Lewiston girls, whose quartet of Lea Morin, Erin Glann, Toby Crispin and Maame Bonsu set fast time in three different events. The Devils won the 4×100, 4×200 and 800-meter sprint combos.

Lewiston enjoyed similar success on the boys’ side, where Faisal Abdillahi, Matt Driscoll, Ali Hersi and Andrew Pulk teamed up for the 4×400 win. Hussein Ibrahim took Pulk’s place as anchor of the victorious 4×800 foursome. And in the distance medley, it was again Driscoll, Abdillahi, Hersi and Ibrahim celebrating victory.

Derick Roy, Abdinoor Hassan and Ricardo Juco collaborated for a Lewiston victory in the long jump relay.

Quick hits

– Poland Regional High School placed second in both halves of a Western Maine Conference meet Monday at Falmouth. Brittany Bell (400, triple jump), Kendra Lobley (800) and the 4×400 girls’ relay squad were winners. Joe Murphy (100, long jump), Matt York (high jump) and Tyrus Steinman (discus) posted wins for the boys.

– Lisbon swept another meet against Class A and B schools, winning Friday at Gardiner. The girls pulled out a two-point triumph over Cony, while the boys breezed by a 129-70 count.

Rebekah Sullivan won the discus and pulled off a one-two sweep with Katy Fitzgerald in high jump. Angie Bulgin gave the Greyhounds a javelin victory.

Kyle Huston (100, long and high jumps), Erik Metzger (400), George Clement (110 hurdles, triple jump), Joe Doughty (discus), Cam Bubar (javelin, relays) and Alex Hall (racewalk) all pocketed maximum points for the boys.