Following the completion of the field events portion of the City League track championships Thursday, the Peabody boys' team was 35 points behind Schenley. The Highlanders had a lot of ground to make up on the track.

Which they did, winning eight of the 11 running events.

Pierre Carr opened the track portion of the City finals yesterday with a first place in the 100-meter dash and the Highlanders capped the day with a first-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay at a sun-drenched Oliver High School Stadium to overcome the deficit and give Peabody its first boys' City League championship since 2000. The Highlanders ended Schenley's run of four consecutive titles, outscoring the Spartans, 144-121. Allderdice was third with 106 points.

"We knew coming in we were the underdogs," Peabody's Joe Wise said. "We found out that our field team didn't do that good but we still held our head high and said we were going to win regardless of the deficit."

On the girls' side, Schenley dominated throughout the day outscoring second-place Allderdice, 196-131. It was the seventh City title in eight years for the Schenley girls.

Carr, who transferred to Peabody from Anderson, Ind., after the 2006-07 school year, battled through a tight upper quadricep muscle in his left leg to win the 100 in 11.17 seconds and place second in the 200 behind teammate Christopher Anderson. Carr went to the ground immediately after crossing the finish line in the 200, struggling with his already taped up left leg.

"He has had some tightness in his quad and, luckily, there's nothing pulled or strained," Peabody coach Rich Bogaty said. "He enrolled in January and we heard that he was a good runner. I went to talk to him, got his physical the next day and from the moment I saw him run I knew he was somebody special, that's for sure. He can really go."

Anderson also won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.06 seconds.

Parrish deBardelaben was the workhorse of the comeback for Peabody, running in more events than usual. He finished first place in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs and ran a leg on the Highlanders' winning 3,200-meter relay.

The 800 meter was the turning point for Peabody with deBardelaben and Joseph Wise taking first and second, respectively, and Alphonso Anderson finishing in fourth. The Highlanders had first place secured heading into the final event of the day, the 1,600 relay, but Peabody ran the event as if it were a must-win situation. The Highlanders finished in 3:40.22 ahead of second-place Schenley's 3:44.16.

Sophomore Monique Sims won the 100 and 200, and teammate Angelica Martinez dominated the distance events for Schenley. Martinez won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

Schenley freshman Elizabeth Rose overcame Allderdice's Alexis Carter, who had the fastest qualifying time, to win the 100-meter hurdles. She took second place in the 300 intermediate hurdles behind Carter. Schenley took first in the 400 and 3,200 relays and was second in the 1,600 relay behind Allderdice.