Lawrence High's Ashanika Hollomon, left, and Free State's Julia Mueller finish the 100. The Lions and Firebirds competed Tuesday at LHS.

Despite being separated by just 10 minutes, Lawrence High and Free State High’s track teams had gone years without scheduling one another at home meets early in the season.

“We actually didn’t see each other until May,” Firebirds coach Steve Heffernan said. “It’s just the way we put our schedules together. We couldn’t get into the same meets.”

This year, LHS coach Jack Hood decided to do something about that.

“I was looking at the schedule, and there was one slot where we could have them here, and this was it,” Hood said. “The kids enjoy it, and you can tell. All the kids are fired up.”

For the first time in recent memory, Lawrence played host to an early-season triangular, rather than its customary dual meet with just Leavenworth High.

And while Heffernan admitted the results of Tuesday’s get-together probably didn’t mean too much in the whole scheme of the season, the renewed excitement to the meet made it all worthwhile.

FSHS and LHS finished first and second, respectively, in team points on the boys side and second and third, respectively, on the girls side.

Perhaps no event epitomized the spirit of the cross-town rivalry more than the boys 3200-meter race, which developed into a dual between Lawrence’s Dylan Hedges and Free State’s Gabe Moss. The two ran neck-and-neck and traded the lead throughout. On the eighth and final lap, Hedges held off Moss’ late charge down the final straightaway to claim the victory with a time of 9:53.59, narrowly edging Moss by two-tenths of a second.

The two seniors, who have been racing each other since they were freshmen, exchanged congratulatory words afterward. Hedges said his strategy to pass on all other events to rest his legs was a difficult decision but one that paid off, as he broke his own personal-best time by 12 seconds. And he was glad to do it with both city teams present.

“In the past, this hasn’t seemed like a real meet, but with Free State here, it’s a lot more fun,” Hedges said.

Among other notable performances, Free State’s Kyra Kilwein took first in the girls 1600 and 3200-meter races. The Firebirds’ Drue Davis won the girls 100-meter race, and Brooke Carter won the long jump. For Lawrence’s girls, Courtney Barber won the high jump and Bridget Wenger the javelin.

For the boys, Free State’s Shaun James claimed the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races and also participated on the winning 4 x 400 relay team. Lawrence’s Chris Smith set a personal record in winning the javelin, and so did the Lions’ Chebon Dawes in the discus.

The three teams will see each other again when regionals begin. For the Lions and Firebirds, though, Tuesday was all about getting some competition while staying in town.

“I’m glad (Lawrence) let us come this year,” Heffernan said. “It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time.”