BOSTON — The Amherst girls were the No. 1 seed coming in, and they left no doubt in a dominant showing in the 4x200-meter relay at the MIAA Division 3 Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center.

Ololara Baptiste, Ruby Austin, Emilia Luetjen and Moriah Luetjen put up a new season-best and the fastest time in the state this year at 1 minute, 45.16 seconds en route to a first-place finish on Friday.

Moriah Luetjen battled back from knee surgery to be ready to go for states, and although she wasn’t 100 percent, she did just fine as the team’s anchor – and got some big-time help from the rest of the bunch.

“Honestly, we’ve tried really hard this season, and we have our anchor-leg Moriah Luetjen back from injury, so it feels really good,” Baptiste said. “We beat our PR by a second, and we’re all really happy with how today went.”

“It’s not just me,” Moriah Luetjen said. “These girls were amazing today.”

The Luetjen sisters and Austin are all seniors, while Baptiste is a sophomore. The quartet have known each other for awhile, and the seniors have been running together since middle school.

To add a state title to their resume is a cherry on top to their high school careers, which aren’t over yet as the ‘Canes will head to nationals.

“It’s really exciting for us as seniors,” Austin said. “Moriah and I have been running together since middle school. It’s nice to finally have our senior year together and run with each other and win states.”

“Seeing our hard work turn into something feels amazing,” Emilia Luetjen added.

Part of what has made Amherst’s relay team so dangerous is the way they approach each race. The Hurricanes never put too much pressure on themselves, and even though they were the favorite to come out on top, they never let that distract or bother them.

Cracking jokes before the relay usually helps, and it did again on Friday.

“Honestly I feel like our mindset plays just as big a part as our actual running,” Moriah Luetjen said. “We don’t take it too serious beforehand. We like to goof around and joke to loosen us up. It takes the pressure off of us and we perform better.”

Oh, and to make matters even sweeter, Amherst’s 4x400m relay team of Baptiste, the Luetjen sisters and Skylar Fox smashed their entry time of 4:15.57 (fifth seed) with a first-place time of 4:05.34 – the best time in the state of Massachusetts this season and top 100 nationally.

It was quite the day for the Amherst relay teams.

Holyoke’s Thompson claims 300 title

Yasani Thompson never imagined it. Her wide smile atop the podium matched her feeling of disbelief. The Holyoke senior had just won the 300-meter final at the MIAA Division 3 Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center on Friday night after entering the meet as the fifth seed in the race.

Thompson’s season best was a time of 42.06 seconds. She shattered that with a time of 40.59 (nearly a half-second better than the second-place finisher), a new personal best and the seventh-best girls 300 time in the state this year.

“I was at a 42 [second], so to go to a 40, I’m shocked myself just like everybody else,” Thompson joked. “It’s surprising, but I’m really happy at the end of the day. I’ve worked at my high school all week, and on top of that, Tuesdays and Thursdays I also have my club team that I do extra work with. I’m thankful for the support from both of my coaches, because at the end of the day, that work showed off very well.”

All season long Thompson has practiced with the Purple Knights track team during the week, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she headed over to her club team to train even more with them. She continued that routine this week, and really paid attention to every little detail of her race to perfect it heading into Friday.

Thompson never slowed down, and kept her lightning-quick pace the entire way – something she believes pushed her to the top.

“Everything was kind of just working for me today,” Thompson said, “but I think it was my stamina, not being so out of breath and keeping my energy high through the whole race that separated me. It really helped with my performance today.”

Immediately after the race, Thompson approached her parents, gave her mom a hug and dished out a high-five to her dad. She grabbed her phone and was met by her club coach, who called to congratulate her on the stellar performance. He told her how proud he was of her and that she deserved the first-place finish because of all the hard work she put in.

It’s only Thompson’s second season of track, and first full year doing it. She stopped playing other sports to focus fully on running. That’s led her back to nationals (where she competed with Holyoke’s 4x100m relay team in the spring), either in Boston (New Balance) or New York (Nike).

“I didn’t expect this, but it feels really great,” Thompson said. “I really wanted to try to make it to nationals for the 300, so to be able to get that opportunity, I’m really thankful.”

Amherst’s Alfandari rises to occasion

After what Amherst’s Logan Alfandari called “disappointing finishes” in the shot put as a sophomore and junior the last two seasons, the Hurricanes senior showed up and showed out. He tossed a season-best 54 feet, 4 inches to easily win the boys shot put state title.

When his best was required, Alfandari delivered.

“It feels like a chip off the shoulder,” he said. “I don’t try to prioritize winning too much. I didn’t take third or sixth with my best effort, it was always me failing to show up when it mattered. That’s what bothered me. This time I showed up when it mattered and threw a season-best, and I’m not disappointed with how it turned out. That I consider a huge win. I showed up when it mattered and performed how I know I could.”

Next season, he will be going to school at Northeastern in Boston. He tossed his best throw of the season in the city that he will call home for the next four years.

“It’s awesome that we’re in Boston, and it’s such a refresher because I can just call up my coach and meet up with him while I’m here,” Alfandari said.

During the entire summer and fall, Alfandari practiced in his yard at home using his shot put pit. While that may seem like a way to improve, he found it difficult to truly see his progress as months passed.

Well, he certainly got to witness it on Friday.

“It’s really easy to doubt yourself when you can’t see the results of your work throughout the summer,” Alfandari said. “You can’t see if people are getting ahead of you or if you’re improving. It means a lot to actually show what I’ve put into the sport and the appreciation I have for the sport.”

Other local individual standouts and team results

The Amherst teams both finished fourth overall (boys 35 points and girls 31 points), Northampton girls grabbed 20th (10.5 points) while its boys took 32nd. Holyoke’s girls team finished tied for 11th (17 points).

Other top 5 finishers on Friday include:

Angel Hernandez, boys wheelchair shot put (first, 9-07.50)

Nico Lisle (Amherst), boys 600m (second, 1:23.84)

Maeve O’Neil (Northampton), girls 1 mile (third, 5:11.19)

Ololara Baptiste (Amherst), girls 300m (fourth, 41.50)

Emilia Luetjen (Amherst), girls 300m (fifth, 42.30)

Amherst boys 4x400m relay team (fourth, 3:33.57)

Yasani Thompson (Holyoke), girls 55m (fifth, 7.32)

Northampton girls 4x800m relay team (fifth, 10:27.50)