Sophomore Alanna Franklin said achieving the conference champion title is a clear example of the hard work the team has put in throughout the season.

“We worked really hard this year to catch up with the bigger schools. This entire season we have had a smaller team so we have pushed to be the best that we could,” Franklin said.

According to senior Anna Jennissen, she was proud of her teams performance despite the cold weather.

“Considering the weather conditions I thought everyone did well. The wind was very strong and it was also cold but people still managed to maintain their average running time which is impressive,” Jennissen said.

Coach Christine Tvrdik said she felt the team had a real shot at winning the conference meet and hoped everyone would continue to improve.

“Our goal is by this meet everyone is healthy and can perform really well,” Tvrdik said.

Franklin said one of the biggest signs of improvement throughout the team was shown through cooperation and achieving personal records.

“We have got a lot of personal records this year and as the season (has) progressed we have gotten to know each other better and become more friendly to one another,” Franklin said.

According to Franklin, practicing and team bonding was one of her personal highlights of the season.

“Practicing with the team, especially when we had pasta parties or team barbeques and we just got to bond and spend time together,” Franklin said.

Jennissen said the team is treating this season just like last year and shifting the focus from athleticism to form and performance.

“We are not really doing anything different compared to other years. We focused on doing workouts as much as we could at the beginning of the season and now we are focusing on technical aspects for each race,” Jennissen said.

According to Tvrdik, the conference meet is about team results, and Sections is focused more on individual results.

“We get more specific about what events kids will run. Someone who typically competes in four events will only do one or two so they don’t get as tired throughout the meet,” Tvrdik said.

Sections for Park’s track and field team will be 3:45 p.m. May 28 and 30 at Orono High School.