As Kyle Medolo heads to college in the fall, he'll be taking with him the most important lesson he learned during his senior year at North Andover High School: "I definitely won't take any more friendships for granted," he said.

Medolo, 18, was good friends and co-captain of the NAHS track team with Alex Farese, who died one week after collapsing at a track meet in April.

On May 24, Medolo broke a standing school record in the 200 meters, with a time of 22.2 seconds, at the Cape Ann League track championship. He broke the record, untouched since 1991, "for Alex," said Medolo — in memory of his friend, who was also a sprinter.

That day, "I was just thinking about Alex. I told myself, no matter what I did, I did my best for him. He was definitely the one that helped me break that record," said Medolo.

"It was the biggest race of my life, and last one of my high school career. I had promised myself I'd get him a championship. I had come in second in the 100 meters (that day), so I knew I had to do it in the 200. Before I got in the block, I did a kiss on my hand, and then touched the band on my jersey (the track team wore bands in memory of Farese). I looked up and said a quick little prayer to Alex. I told myself, 'I'm going to win it for him and I'm not going stop until I do.' Once the gun went off, I had never gotten out of the blocks that fast."

Track coach Steve Nugent, who is also the director of the guidance department at NAHS, said the 200-meter record had been set by three very good sprinters in the 1990s, but never broken since then.

"We've had some athletes that have knocked on the door," Nugent said. "Kyle was a champion in the 400 meters last year, so it was unexpected (for him to break the record) in the 200. It was a pleasant surprise, a nice accomplishment by him.

"On the track (Medolo) will always be remembered as one of the best sprinters that NAHS has ever had. He's that good. His legacy will be that he's one of those great ones," he said. "(But his devotion to Farese's memory,) that's the stuff that will stick with me forever. What a great kid he is, a great leader. He ran with a heavy heart pretty much the whole season, and for him to run the way he did, it's pretty spectacular."

Now, looking ahead to his freshman year at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Medolo said he will always have the memory of Farese with him. Farese and Medolo competed in several of the same events and ran together in practice. With teammate Drew Pickul, they were captains of the NAHS track team.

"He was the one that always pushed me, and I pushed him. There was a good balance between us," said Medolo. "We both loved track, and both were extremely dedicated to it. He was a little more quiet, a little more behind the scenes than I was. If there was ever anybody that deserved the unsung hero award it would be Alex ... You just couldn't find a more genuinely nice kid. He was definitely looked up to by everybody. He was always there for a good laugh, too. He would just crack you up laughing, he just had that funny trait to him."

Rosanne Farese, Alex's mother, said both Medolo and her son always thought of the team above themselves. Looking back at one of Farese's instant messages after he passed away, she found out her son had even lost a race on purpose once so that another member of the team would win, she said.

"Alex would work hard with Kyle to do their best for the team," she said. "I know if Alex could be watching, he would have done anything to help Kyle win that race (the day he broke the record)."

After Farese died, Medolo designed wristbands with the letters "AF" on them, which stood for "always fighting" as well as Farese's initials. He had more than 1,000 wristbands printed in red and black, the NAHS school colors, and distributed them among students.

Medolo also sold the bands at track meets, raising money for a scholarship in Farese's memory. He raised about $2,000, he said.

As part of the project, Kyle also created a "wristbands in remembrance" group on facebook.com, a social networking Web site. The group has accumulated 753 members, said Rosanne Farese.

Medolo first met Farese when they played together as kids in the town soccer program. Paul Medolo, Kyle's father, was their soccer coach as 10- and 12-year-olds.

"They were the fastest guys on the team," said Paul Medolo with a chuckle. "Alex was humble, a sweet kid. They never ruffled any feathers, except when they got on the track."

Kyle Medolo tried out for track as a NAHS freshman. "Everyone called me 'speedy' when I was growing up, and I finally got to put some use to that name," he said with a laugh.

The rest is history. Medolo was on the varsity track teams at NAHS for four years, earning more than 10 varsity letters. He was the Cape Ann League champion in the 200 and 300 meters this year, and was ranked fourth in the state in the 400 meters in 2007. He competed at the state track championships his sophomore and junior years as well.

He credits his coaches and support from teammates, who were "almost like a second family for me."

"It's definitely a close group. We always talk about everything, it's a giant community," he said. "I definitely fell in love with track. I didn't ever think I would be a track guy, and break school records, especially one that was that old."

Once he crossed the finish line on May 24, the day he broke the 200-meter record for Farese, "I absolutely lost it," he said.

"They announced my time and I jumped on my coach (assistant coach Martin Gref) and stabbed him with my spikes," said Medolo. "He was happy, but bleeding a little."

Four years of varsity track at NAHS has taught him "to be disciplined and respectful. That you always fight to the finish, never give up until you reach that finish line," Medolo said.

Medolo, the son of Paul and Corrine Medolo, graduated from NAHS this spring with his twin brother, Chris. This fall, Kyle Medolo will head to UMass Lowell and is thinking about a major in criminal justice. Chris Medolo will be going to Universal Technical Institute, studying to become a mechanic.

This summer, Kyle Medolo is working at FedEx and rides on a delivery truck. Besides track, he likes "playing pretty much any sport you can think of" with friends, Medolo said.

Nugent: Medolo and Pickul 'stepped up'

Steve Nugent, director of the guidance department at North Andover High School, has been the outdoor track coach for seven years. He saw both Kyle Medolo and Alex Farese grow up before his eyes as they ran track at NAHS, he said.

There was a "friendly competition" between the two sprinters as they trained, he said, running several of the same events together.

"It took them both to a new level athletically. They were constantly competing against each other. They developed a great relationship and respect for one another, both on and off the track," Nugent said.

After Farese died, Nugent saw Medolo rise as a leader.

"When Alex first was in the hospital, and then when we got the ultimate bad news, our kids looked to the coaching staff, but also these guys for leadership," Nugent said of Medolo and the team's third captain, Drew Pickul.

"Before any of this happened, I saw both of these guys as leaders. A true measure of someone's character is when they face adversity, and this was the ultimate adversity. They stepped up and accepted a role anything beyond they or I expected before the beginning of the year," he said.