ATTLEBORO — Ever since its founding, the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association has remained relentlessly committed to providing athletes as many opportunities to perform as possible.

On Saturday, hundreds of students flocked to Highland Park for the annual MSTCA Cross Country Relays, one of the latest events to the organization’s growing portfolio of competitions.

The conditions were just about perfect at the original Highland Country Club golf site, but the 4.6 mile course featured no shortage of obstacles for those braving the trek.

The first two races of the day were coed, with three athletes taking part per school. In the ‘boys’ coed relay, Norton was able to register a thrilling victory, as Sean Parham and Molly McIntryre established a slim lead. Then anchor Stephen MacLennan was able to cross the finish line first in a photo-finish in 25:45.14. The Lancers outpaced runner-up Weston by just .04 ticks for the crown.

“Prayed to God I leaned enough,” laughed MacLennan. “I didn’t see (the runner) the whole entire race, so I was unsure of what would happen, then he just appeared. I was so scared. Great race, I congratulated him, but I just leaned. Hopefully it worked, and it did.”

In the ensuing ‘girls’ coed relay, the order flipped, with two girls and one boy racing. Marshfield’s team of Ava Brunswick, Graham Heinrich and Eleanor Angeles-Whitfield combined for a meet record-time of 26:36.01, besting the prior mark set back in 2022.

“I think that this race really boosts our confidence going into a super long season,” said Angeles-Whitfield. “So getting the record, getting the win really just means a lot to us. It’s for our seniors.”

Rising stars were also provided an opportunity to compete. The freshman/sophomore relays brought much fanfare, as Central Catholic placed first in the girls event in 31:22.55. Meanwhile, Concord-Carlisle won the boys title, clocking in at 24:03.503.

Later during the junior/senior relays, Weymouth’s trio of Isabella Galusha, Kate Carnes and Gracie Richard teamed up for a very impressive win in the girls race, finishing with a mark of 27:41.66, pacing the field by over 30 seconds.

“(This) is definitely a huge motivator,” Galusha said. “It’s great to have an experience where we’re performing at a top level, at a top meet. We can kind of transfer that experience over to meets where there is a little bit more pressure, and it matters a little bit more.”

By midday, the heat began to intensify, and the slopes seemed a bit steeper. Yet, BC High was able to keep its own mini dynasty of sorts alive in the boys running of the event, as Shamus Larnard, Greg McGrath and John Wilson blazed to a meet-record time of 22:44.84. The time shattered the prior highwater mark the Eagles set in last year’s Junior/Senior relay.

“I think we had high expectations coming into it,” Larnard said. “We’ve won this race the past two or three years. We really just wanted to go out there and compete with people, see what we can do early in the season.”