On Mar. 14, the Girls Track and Field team took first place at the CSL indoor conference meet. Not only did they claim the title of CSL champions, but they swept the competition by a landslide.

The difference between first place and fifth place was a total of 118 points.

Runner up, Main South, was over 30 points behind NT.

“Winning by 36 points in total is really incredible,” said senior Ella Reilly.

Last year, the team took second in this meet, so taking first was a motivator for the runners going into their outdoor season. Each runner has their own goals and PR (personal records) they hope to meet in this spring season.

Reilly broke her PR for the 200-meter run at the conference meet. “Last year I was running a 30 second inside and now I am running a 27 or 28,” she explained.

Two seconds may not seem like a lot, but it is a matter of one to two seconds that led the team to take first in so many events.

To prepare for such an important meet took a lot of training and proper practices. But, because of the frigid winter weather, this year, training was a little more difficult.

“My teammates and I did some hard core workouts in the field house. It can be hectic training on the track inside, but our girls are always very motivated,” explained senior captain Marne Sullivan.

Since conference comes pretty early on in their season, it is essential that the girls prepare both mentally and physically even before the track season starts. This element to training is a key factor for the improvements the team has conquered thus far.

“Once the season starts, I am always ready to compete. I have been training a lot pre-season so coming into this year, I was definitely much stronger than I had been in previous years,” said senior captain Sydney Kunkler.

“Weekly though, I shifted my mentality to focus on conference. When I was pushing through tough workouts, I was thinking of conference and how my persistence during practice could mean my success later during the meet,” Kunkler continued.

“I paid special attention to what we were doing in practice and utilized what workouts the coaches were giving us,” said Reilly. 

While an athlete can come in as prepared as possible, being able to calm their nerves is also important, especially for the girls going into their events at conference.

  Before the gun sounds for relays, Sullivan talks to her teammates in relays “when it’s time to lace up and throw down.” They boost my confidence and calm me down.”

“I move around when I am nervous. Right before jumps, I’ll do some tuck jumps or power skips to calm myself down,” said Kunkler.

For most of the girls, the highlight of the conference meet was the 4×400 meter relay. This event is the last one of the night, and everyone gathers around to watch.

“The rest of the athletes come together to cheer on the athletes still competing. It’s always a blast and it’s so exciting to see everyone supporting their teammates on the track,” explained Kunkler.

“Everyone is standing around the track doing the wave when a teammate runs by,” continued Reilly.

While winning conference was an important title for the team to achieve, it is also a step closer to reaching their even bigger goal: state.

“I want to get as many girls as possible to state this year. Our team is very strong this year and there are so many girls that are capable of making it,” said Sullivan.

Besides achieving personal records, which every girl on the team strives for, this win is key in helping them reach their goal of bringing many members of the team to state.

“My goal is to make everyone on the team feels included and help them become invested in the team,” concluded Kunkler, “because the sport and the people who I train and compete with mean a lot to me.”