DEVENS — A year ago, Needham’s Greta Hammer was outside the ropes watching the MIAA Meet of Champions. On Saturday at Willard Park, the junior put on a virtuoso performance.

After hanging with the pack early in the 5,000-meter race, Hammer turned on the jets midway through to earn a convincing win over a talented field that included two-time defending champion Aoife Shovlin of Cambridge.

“I had been preparing for this all season and had some good memories of this course from my freshman year,” Hammer said.

Hammer made her move on the second lap and never looked back. She opened up a 100-meter lead by the final lap and finished almost 15 seconds ahead of Billerica’s Gianna McGowan. Shovlin placed fourth behind Wellesley’s Charlotte Tuxbury.

Westford Academy, led by fifth-place finisher Emily Wedlake, earned a four-point margin over Lexington and nine over Wellesley.

Whitinsville Christian sophomore Emily Flagg took the lead at the opening gun in the Div. 2 race and was never headed the rest of the way. Her time of 18:16.66 resulted in a nearly half-minute gap ahead of second place Maggie Kuchman of Holliston. Marblehead’s Merri O’Connell was third.

“This feels amazing,” Flagg said. “I knew that at around the two-mile mark I was feeling good and I decided to make my move there.”

Westwood got a fifth place from Tea Pagnotti and used consistency up and down its lineup to win the program’s first team title, easily defeating second place Amherst-Pelham by 31 points.

Oxford sophomore Cameron Davis had the day’s most dominating performance in the Div. 3 race. She led by 80 meters at the initial time check and opened a lead as big as 45 seconds at one point before cruising home to a 35-second win over Bromfield’s Evelyn Wool.

Hamilton-Wenham sophomores Grace Rich and Asa Labell finished sixth and seventh as the powerhouse from South Hamilton easily won the team title over Bromfield. It marks the sixth title for the Generals, tying them with Mount Greylock for second all-time in Massachusetts.