 "Kathy O'Keefe")
 "Jeremy Kacher")
The clock wasn't working during the first couple laps of the girls 1,000-meter run in Friday's Dual County meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Newton South junior Kathy O'Keefe didn't seem to mind.
``I didn't really know if I was on pace,'' O'Keefe said after setting a personal best by recording the best overall time (2 minutes, 55.28 seconds) in the event on the day in the DCL. ``My coach told me I was (on pace), so I thought everything was OK. I saw the 800 split, and it was exactly what I wanted, so I just had to finish the last stretch strong.''
Not being able to look at the clock at the start of the race might have even helped.
``I think it probably did because I was just listening to myself, and listening to how fast I could go, and I didn't have anything holding me back,'' she said.
Despite her efforts, the South girls fell to archrival Lincoln-Sudbury in the head-to-head duel on Friday, partially because South scratched Andrea Braver in the 300-meter dash due to an ankle injury.
The 55-40 loss, which was South's first of the season, forced the Lions to settle for a three-way share of the league title. Defeating Westford handily, Acton-Boxboro also took a piece of the regular season league title along with South and L-S.
South coach Steve McChesney said he won't have to do much to motivate his team for next weekend's DCL Championships.
``We are a better big-meet team,'' said McChesney, whose sprint relay team came back and ran the fourth fastest time in the nation during yesterday's McIntyre Elite Relays. ``These kids have been in the hunt for the DCL title year after year, so it's not like we have to reinvent the wheel. They are pretty well self-motivated. We'll talk about it a little bit, but I don't think getting them motivated will be a problem.''
McChesney said he puts more emphasis on this weekend's postseason league meet than the regular season title. Senior Melanie Fineman was disappointed about Friday's result, but said it will help the team be ready for the rematch next weekend.
``L-S is a really good team, and we worked really, really hard,'' said Fineman, who finished second in the mile in 5:07.41. ``We lost all the depth we had from last year.''
Fineman also won the 2-mile in 11:22.07, while teammate Anna Laurence finished third (11:57.61). In the long jump, South senior Christie Lee had the second best leap of the day (16 feet, 13/4 inches), while seniors Ezra Banks and Kayla Jackson were second and third overall, respectively, in shot put with throws of 33-2 1/2 and 32-4.
The meet came a week after the State Coaches Invitational, in which Fineman finished third in the 1,000 in 2:56.33, which was the fourth-fastest time in the nation. Three of the top five times in the country came out of the race.
But Fineman, who did not run the 1,000 on Friday, was not upset that O'Keefe beat her time on Friday with a 2:55.28.
``I love training with Kathy,'' she said. ``I'm so lucky to have Kathy and to be able to run with her every day. I don't feel like I'm in competition with Kathy. I don't feel like `Oh, I have to beat her.' It's more like I love training with her and working out with her. She's the best teammate. I feel like she definitely makes me a better runner.
``I've been trying to get my coach to put us in the same race. That way we can feed off each other and do really well.''
Waltham junior Ivy Watts had the third best time in the 300 meters (42.73 seconds) as her team defeated Boston Latin 52-36. The Waltham girls 4x400 team was second behind L-S with a time of 4:18.49.
Meanwhile, the Waltham boys team won its first dual meet of the season in the league, defeating Boston Latin 49-41.
``The kids were excited about it,'' said Waltham coach John Bourque, whose team left the Greater Boston League two years ago for the DCL.
Hans Christenson was fourth overall in the high jump (5-9) for the Hawks, while junior Jeremy Kacher had the ninth best time (2:49.28) in the 1,000 meters.
``It's good to have an official win under our belts,'' Kacher said. ``It gives us momentum and lets us know we can beat a team here. If we can beat one team, we can beat more. It helps mentally as well as physically.''
The South boys also lost to L-S by a count of 49-46. Ray Park had the best time of the day in the 55 dash with a 6.87-second run, while Julius Parker won the long jump with a leap of 19-9 3/4.
Senior Kyle Olson ran the 600 meters in 1:29.47 to finish third overall, while sophomore Ekin Dedeoglu was fourth (1:31.05).
Yuji Wakimoto finished the mile second in 4:36.26, while Xhulio Uruci was fourth in the 1,000 meters in 2:44.05. David Melly was second on the day in the 2-mile in 9:53.42.
Senior Isaac Friedman was second in the shot put with a toss of 42-2.
The South boys had a promising start in the 4x400, but suffered a fall on the second leg and finished third overall in 3:38.27, while L-S won the event in 3:37.22.
