While other squads competed against fellow Class M-S programs, Hopkinton track and field traveled the state – often with head coach Rick Welch driving one of the buses – and faced some of the top competition from Class I and L schools with student bodies sometimes two or three times larger.

“And they held their own,” said Welch. “It’s not a whole lot of strategy. If you get invited to a big meet, why not go?”

Calculated or not, when the Class M-S championship finally arrived, even the fog enveloping Gilford High School couldn’t mask the clear result of Hopkinton’s arduous schedule.