A week has passed, but the Westerly boys track team is still savoring its victory at last weekend’s Rhode Island Interscholastic League Outdoor State Championships. After all, the Bulldogs have a lot to celebrate after capturing their program’s first outdoor crown since the Rhode Island Interscholastic League began holding a state meet in 1947.

 So when did Westerly coach Ryan Palmer have an inkling that this year’s crew had the potential to win a state title? Try four years ago when the current senior class won the Freshmen State Championship.

 “I knew at that point that this group was going to be pretty special,” Palmer said. “When it was going to happen, I didn’t know. We lost some guys that won that freshmen state title, but then we had some younger guys come in. So it was a mix and match. But we knew with the guys we had that some day they could definitely do it.”

 Palmer says that winning the state championship last Saturday was actually a secondary goal. First and foremost, he wanted to see “all the runners run well and have all the throwers throw well, with everyone shooting for a personal best.

 “If everybody could get a [personal best] and have a great day, as long as that happens, then they’ve performed like champions,” he said.

 As it turned out, they performed like champions in every sense of the word. There was the winning 4x800-meter relay team of John DiGangi, Andrew Springer, Tim O’Loughlin and Drew Castagna, which won with a state-record time of 7:55.05.

 There was, of course, Springer’s individual victories in the 800 (1:56.26), 1,500 (3:54.02) and 3,000 (8:29.35), the last two in meet-record time.

 “I didn’t know if Andrew could top [what he accomplished] indoors, but what he did the other day. That was by far the greatest distance quadruple I’ve ever seen,” Palmer said.

 But there was more. There were the points contributed by O’Loughlin, who was fourth in the 1,500 (4:01.24) and third in the 3,000 (8:49.01), and those chipped in by fellow senior Sam Gagnon, who took third in the javelin (176 feet, 9 inches).

 There was the victory by Mike Intrieri, another senior, in the shot put (53 feet, 3.5 inches), along with freshman Jeremy Octeau’s points for finishing fifth (46-5).

 Castagna and DiGangi would also team up with Mike Swift and C.J. Sanchez to place sixth in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:31.76, a personal best by 261/2 seconds.

 “It’s pretty spectacular,” Palmer said. “I mean, we knew going into this year that it would be our only shot to garner a title having all the horses we do. We went for it indoors and fell short, but going into the outdoor season, they knew what they had to do.”

Springer at Midwest event

Westerly will try to carry the momentum from last Saturday’s win into this weekend when it competes at the 64th annual New England Interscholastic Track and Field Championships, Saturday at Burlington High School in Burlington, Vt.

 The Bulldogs will be missing a key component of its team, however, as Springer will be competing in the mile event at the fifth annual Midwest Distance Gala that night at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill.

As for Springer’s strategy against a field that includes Jeff Thode, of Illinois, who has run the fastest time in the United States in both the 1,600 (4:05.17) and 3,200, and Drew Shields, of Indiana, the top returning finisher from last year’s Gala mile, Palmer says, “We don’t talk about that stuff. We let him do what he does. He knows what he’s going out there to do. We just let Andrew be Andrew. This will be a really great opportunity for him to go out and see what he can do in one event.”

Twin showing for Rebels

 South Kingstown twins Amanda and Jessica Graham will also be hoping for a strong showing at the New England meet after helping the Rebels capture their third-straight Southern Division title, their third-straight Class B title and their first outdoor state title in eight years.

 The sisters, who are juniors, contributed significantly to South Kingstown’s team total of 104 points, beginning with Jessica and Amanda’s 1-2 finish in the pole vault.

 Jessica also partnered with Madeline Brown, Rachel Spirito and Stefany Perry on the Rebels’ 4x800 relay that finished third with a time of 9:43.24.

 Amanda, meanwhile, took third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.79 seconds). She also teamed up with Candace Hazard, Molly Reilly and Amanda Norman to place second in the 4x100 with a time of 48.17 and was part of South Kingstown’s third-place 4x400 team (4:04.54) that included Perry, Norman and Whitney Washburn.

 “Winning on Saturday was beyond belief,” said Joyce Harvey, who started South Kingstown’s girls team 36 years ago. “The girls really came to compete. Each week we got stronger and stronger and got closer and closer to that goal. I have been blessed with many talented teams, but I am not sure a team has performed and peaked so perfectly as this team did on Saturday.

 “The win was so amazing considering we lost our star hurdler (Reilly) during the 4x100 meter relay with a pulled hamstring,” added Harvey, whose squad was helped by victories from Norman (100), Candace Hazard (long jump and triple jump). “We were ranked first in that event and our handoffs were perfect after the first two, but Molly pulled up and barely got the baton to the anchor, Amanda Norman.

“We finished second behind Hope with still a very impressive time. But, after Molly was hurt, I really thought the meet was out of reach. We have had this saying all year, ‘Infectious Belief,’ and that’s what they had. They never gave up.”