WATERVILLE -- Sarah Walker is one of top distance runners on the Waterville Senior High School girls track team. The opportunity to run a relay doesn't come along often for Walker, a sophomore.

That changed Saturday at the 4th annual Waterville Relays, which the Purple Panthers swept with relative ease.

Melanie Arias, a junior distance runner at Maine Central Institute, says she doesn't run sprints -- ever. Well, that changed, too, Saturday.

Track and field athletes took a break from the grind of traditional dual meets by competing in the unconventional yet popular Waterville Relays, which featured eight teams.

At the meet, regular field events were contested, but the track events were all relays. And not just the usual relays run at a track and field meet.

For example, there was a sprint medley relay and a distance medley relay, as well as hurdle shuttle relays. In the hurdle shuttle, hurdles are set up in the opposite direction from lane to lane because the race consists of four runs down the track, in opposite directions.

Athletes are encouraged to compete in different events than they would at a regular season meet because of the lack of individual races and to help fill out relay teams.

The Waterville girls, who set two meet records, finished with 119 points to easily defeat Lewiston (79). Belfast finished third with 66 points, followed by Erskine (57), MCI (34), Nokomis (29) and Lawrence (22.5).

The Waterville girls set meet records in the hurdle shuttle (56) and the 4x400 relay (4 minutes, 19.07 seconds).

The Waterville boys, meanwhile, also enjoyed a strong day. The Purple Panthers finished with 122 points while Lewiston checked in with 101. Erskine was third with 63 points, while Belfast (57), Lawrence (46.5) and MCI (39) followed.

"There was some great competition here," said Lawrence senior Ross Mosher, who helped the Bulldogs' 4x100-relay team to a third-place finish. "It's funny, we kill Waterville in basketball, but in track it's a much different story."

Mosher and teammate Josiah White added that they embraced the opportunity to compete against the Purple Panthers, who are chasing their fourth consecutive Class B state championship.

"It's great that they are here," White said. "It's great competition."

The meet provided athletes an opportunity to compete in events they otherwise wouldn't.

"I'm not a sprinter," Arias said, "but I wanted to see if sprints would be something I could be good at."

Arias competed in the 800-meter sprint medley relay and the 4x100 relay. She also tried out the high jump for the first time, finishing in seventh.

"I cleared 4-2," she said.

Walker anchored the winning 4x800 and distance medley relay teams.

"I've never really done relays before," she said. "It's nice to do them. It's nice to branch out. It's a nice change."

And that was what the day was all about for many of the athletes -- branching out and change.

"They really mix it up," said Erskine senior Jake Rollins. "It's definitely different."

Added Erskine teammate Jake Roberts, a junior: "I really like the hurdle shuttle. It's pretty cool."

Waterville senior Shelby Tuttle enjoyed another dominating performance. She soared 35-08.5 to easily win the triple jump, then helped the 4x400 and hurdle shuttle relay teams set meet records.

Like Roberts, Tuttle said the hurdle shuttle was her favorite event of the day.

"I love it," she said. "I just love the different way of doing it. We weren't really thinking about breaking any record. I mean, we wanted to get under 4:20 in the 4x400, so we had some goals, but we weren't thinking about records."

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com