According to senior Abati Dedefo, it had been 47 years since the boys’ track team won its conference. Abati said that fact brought on a lot of excitement when the teams hard work finally paid off.

“I was excited because it was the first time we won a conference in like 47 years which is good,” Dedefo said. “I am excited because everybody put in the work and everybody worked as a team.”

Coach Rich Keith said the team executed in gaining as many placing finishes as possible, which contributed to the conference victory.

“The key is to get as many kids in the top eight as possible, or on the podium,” Keith said. “The kids went out and did that, both sides, boys and girls. The girls finished second. The boys obviously won it.”

Senior captain Karon Adams said he enjoys competing in track, but winning conference was a highlight of the season. Adams, who also won a conference title with the football team in the fall, said winning the Metro West championship was the culmination of hard work and effort.

“I feel proud of it. It’s the second sport that I am in that has made history. It has been something we have come together for and worked hard the last couple of years for,” Adams said.

Keith said points are awarded for first and second place finishes in the eighteen events in track and field. He said that in order to maximize points earned in a meet, he creates lineups to give the team a strategic advantage.

“My philosophy is that I am willing to give up a first place finish in a relay, if that relay can go top three, that is good enough because then I can take that athlete off of that relay and put him in an open event, and they can score somewhere else,” Keith said.

Senior captain Skyler Rudelius-Palmer said that while he was proud of the team’s success in the meet, he was also enthusiastic about the success of the 4×100 relay team.

“I am most excited for our 4×100 relay, which was .03 seconds off from the school record,” Rudelius-Palmer said.

The boys’ track team will compete in Sections at 3:45 on May. 29, at Orono.