WATERVILLE -- Tom Conley called it intimidating. So did teammate Kevin Hart. And Pat Romar. And Kenzie Hill.

It was the word of the day for the Winthrop High School track and field teams, the lone Class C representative at the 4th annual Waterville Relays on Saturday.

"When we drove in, we saw all these buses," said Conley, a senior middle-distance runner. "There were more people on some of these teams than there are at our school, it seemed."

Added Winthrop sophomore Grace Burnett: "We're the smallest school here. Yeah, that was intimidating. We've never seen these kids before, so we didn't know what to expect."

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). Winthrop checked in with 20 points, thanks to a second-place finish in the distance medley relay.

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

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. Winthrop finished with eight points.

"We weren't in a lot of events, so we stood around a little bit waiting for our event," said Hill, a junior who ran the distance medley relay with Burnett, Anna Doyle and Sarah Warner. "But we held our own."

Added Doyle: "When you first got here, you saw all these Class A teams and we have like 15 kids. But once we started running, it was just runners out there."

Warner agreed, saying the strong showing proved the Ramblers weren't exactly a fish out of water.

"It helped our confidence," she said.

Conley, Hart, Romar and freshman Kameron Souza led the Ramblers to a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter sprint relay.

"Being the only Class C school, we just tried to hang with all the big schools," Hart said. "It was nerve-racking. But it was good to see where we stood."

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

"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."

"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