AGAWAM — Moriah Luetjen’s best race is the 400 meters. Two years ago as a freshman, she won it at the MIAA Division 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championships and followed it up with a first-place finish in the Freshman 400 at New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

But on Saturday afternoon at the Western Mass. Division 1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, she had a commitment later in the afternoon and had to leave early, before the 400 was due to start.

Instead, she ran the 200 and the 800 at Agawam High School. And she cruised to wins in both, an extremely rare double that may be unprecedented in Western Mass. history.

“It’s almost impossible to do because you need two different skill sets,” Amherst long sprint and middle distance coach Bob Rosen said of the double. “One is sprinting, because in the 200 you’re sprinting all-out, and an 800 is really a middle distance race. So you almost never have one person do both.”

In the 200, she beat out Holyoke’s Yasani Thompson by 0.85 seconds — the same amount of time between the second and sixth place finishers — to claim the first of her two sectional titles. She PR’d with a time of 24.95 seconds.

“I honestly felt pretty calm,” Luetjen said. “My goal was to get out fast because I’m not the best at block starts, and I did, and then the rest of the way I was just cruising.”

Then Luetjen shifted her focus to the 800, which she had only run once before. She was substituting it in for the 400 — where she was the top seed by almost two full seconds. She wasn’t quite sure how to run the 800, so she stayed with the front of the pack over the first lap.

“The last lap, for sure, I ran it just like I do the 400,” Luetjen said. “It was a little more difficult because we’re not in lanes, but the same (concept).”

Luetjen finished in 2 minutes, 25.16 seconds, more than two seconds ahead of the next-best finisher.

She has the speed of a sprinter, but her long, efficient strides closely resemble that of a middle distance runner, Rosen said.

“In my opinion,” Rosen said, “she’s probably the most talented long sprinter middle distance runner in the history of Western Mass.”

More ’Canes win Western Mass. titles

Amherst’s Logan Alfandari continued his domination of Western Mass. shot put and discus with two more sectional titles on Saturday. And he put distance between his own scores and the second-place finishers.

In the shot put, his mark of 54 feet, 6.5 inches blew past second-place (43-3). In the discus, he scored a toss of 164-11, compared to teammate Moniha Krouch’s second-place throw of 148-7.

But Saturday’s result almost didn't happen.

Two weeks ago, Alfandari pulled a pectoral muscle in practice and thought he might be in danger of missing the postseason. He had the same injury last year, and it forced him to miss New Englands and Nationals. That time, he hadn’t brought the injury to his trainer’s attention immediately, and the pulled pec got worse. This time, he alerted them immediately, and was constantly treating it with heat to make sure he’d be healthy for Western Mass.

Despite the knock, he still set a new PR.

“[The discus] was scary,” Alfandari said. “The openers were not what I wanted. Fourth throw, I managed to get one in, it’s a small PR. Fifth one, I fouled a nice one, I really wish I could have kept it in…. Shot [put] was surprising. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was.”

With states, New Englands and Nationals to follow, Alfandari said he is looking for more PRs.

“I’m glad that I’m still on the up,” Alfandari said. “I don’t have to break through a wall, it’s exciting. There’s more, better stuff to come.”

Amherst’s Elizabeth Sawicki also won a Western Mass. title, in the 400-meter hurdles. She hit three hurdles on her way around and took advantage of some ice bags after the race, but secured the win by just 0.01 seconds over Holyoke’s Leilany Figueroa, with a time of 1:07.96.

“At the end of the race, I didn’t think I’d won,” Sawicki said. “It was pretty much the worst hurdle race I’ve had, but I PR’d and still won, so I don’t know how.”

Amherst’s boys 4x800 squad held the lead until the final lap, but East Longmeadow’s Charlie Klatka ran a lightning-quick anchor leg to catch the ‘Canes, which finished in second place (8:27.37). The girls 4x100 squad also grabbed second place (50.89) and the girls 4x400 relay took third place (4:17.79). The boys 4x400 squad followed that up with a fourth place finish of their own (3:35.47). 

In the boys discus, Amherst’s Moniha Krouch finished in second place (148-7) behind Alfandari. Ololara Baptiste placed fourth in the girls 200 (26.05). In the boys mile, Calvin Miller scored a fourth-place spot (4:35.78). Miguel Pinero-Jacome placed third in the boys 800 (1:59.21). Ella Austin placed fifth in the girls 400 (1:02.31).