Senior captain Madeline Djerf walked toward the hallway outside the weightroom to join the other girls’ track captains, hoping this week’s captains’ practices will create team unity.

“Hopefully we connect the team more, especially between the sprint and distance team,” Djerf said. “Getting to know and familiarize with each other before the season starts is the biggest part of captains’ practices.”

Djerf said captains’ practices do not entail excessive activity, but aim to create excitement for the upcoming season.

“Every year we want to create a competitive and supportive atmosphere because we want people to feel motivated to run,” Djerf said. “Nothing we do is super intense. We try to ease everyone into the season.”

Coach Christine Tvrdik is in her fourth year as head coach at Park and said unlike past years, she hopes to foster a more competitive drive within the team in order to promote success and motivation.

“A difference this year is that as coaches, we want to have a more competitive mindset,” Tvrdik said. “We want kids to enjoy the experience, but we also want to be successful.”

Tvrdik said she wants to build a foundation beforehand that will lead to more success throughout the entirety of the season.

“Building up to the conference meet is really important because it is the largest team competition of the season, so being successful there should be our biggest goal,” Tvrdik said.

According to Tvrdik, the season officially started at 3:30 after school March 14 in the Fieldhouse.