NORTH ANDOVER – In a rare finish to the Div. 6 outdoor track and field state championships, the Amesbury and Littleton boys teams got exactly what they needed from their respective 4×400 relays to each secure the state championship at Merrimack College on Saturday.

With just won event left, reigning champion Amesbury trailed Littleton by five points and was seeded third in the relay. The Tigers were seeded 10th and in need of a huge performance.

As Amesbury followed through with a third-place mark (3:28.09) for six points, so did Littleton by coming in eighth (3:37.58) for a one-point boost.

The two split the state championship with a 69-point tie, marking a second title in the last three years for both – though Amesbury has won three in the last four years.

“They all stepped up,” said Amesbury head coach Ernie Bissaillon. “We’re not the biggest team, so we got to use our kids where hopefully they can get points and they have to be willing to try certain different things. … I couldn’t be prouder.”

“(The 4×400) is the most exciting race in track and field, always, and you hope it comes down to the last event,” added Littleton head coach Casey Kaldenberg. “It’s amazing, all the athletes just pulled together over the last two days, doing what we know how to do. We were looking for extraordinary on a couple things and we got it.”

RedHawks senior Max Sanchez was on the 4×400 relay team, earned the title in the 400-meter hurdles (57.71), and took silver in the pentathlon (2,746). Brother Michael Sanchez finished third in both the 200-meter dash (22.29) and 400-meter dash (50.13).

Teammate Aiden Donovan bolstered those results with a meet record in the discus throw on Thursday before also winning the shot put (57-03.50) on Saturday.

“It all fell in line,” Donovan said. “It’s just awesome being able to (perform well) here. … Being able to throw that here, it means a lot because it’s a bigger stage. There’s more competition and it pushes me to be better.”

Distance running was a major source of success for Littleton. Bona Bradshaw and Timothy Rank finished first (4:20.60) and third (4:26.78) in the mile run, respectively. Bradshaw was also a double-winner with the top finish in the two mile (9:40.65), while the 4×800 team placed second (8:25.42) and the pole vaulting trio of Mubeshire Bradshaw (second, 13-06.00), Rank (third, 12-06.00) and Ian Dunn (sixth, 11-00.00) also thrived.

Mount Greylock finished third with 41 points and Bromfield (33 points) came in fourth.

It was a bit of a revenge tour for the Mount Greylock girls team, claiming the Div. 6 state title by 40 points after finishing as a runner-up last year.

Senior Maggie Nichols was the meet’s only triple winner, following up two runner-up outings and a third-place mark in the same events she competed in last year. She took the crown in the 200-meter dash on Thursday (25.40) before winning the 100-meter dash (12.70) and the 4×100 relay (50.23) on Saturday.

Mount Greylock finished with 96 points.

“I’m still sort of on a high right now … I guess it’s sort of ceremonious this year to come back and be able to win,” Nichols said. “Coming in, I wanted to just be able to perform our best and do what I know we can do because I know we can live up to those times and see all of our hard work in practice pay off. My thoughts were really just, ‘Let’s get out there, let’s give 110 percent.’ ”

Hamilton-Wenham took home runner-up with 57 points. It was led by Georgia Wilson’s gold medal in the triple jump (36-07.00) and Grace Rich’s title in the mile run (5:11.13).

Lunenburg finished third (50 points) and Ayer Shirley came in fourth (46 points).