The Abington Heights girls track and field team is running and jumping as a team.
"I think we have a really team atmosphere," junior athlete Calista Marzolino said. "Because we train together so much, we push each other in training and we kind of compete for each other. So when we come to meets, it's kind of just like practice."
"Everybody just works together and everybody pushes each other, especially in practice," junior athlete Hannah Hughes added. "We just want everybody to be the best they can be."
Their best is pretty good: historically good.Wednesday's win against Scranton Prep marked Abington Heights' 71st consecutive dual meet win, dating back to 2005. That is 13 straight years without a loss.
"It's cool because we've had some girls who were on the team and now their younger sisters are on the team," senior Katie Dammer said. "So it's spanning a couple different years. I think I was motivated a lot by girls older than me and by my coaches when I was younger and I hope that as I've gotten older, I've been able to do the same thing for the other girls and that's allowed us to carry it on."
That legacy has resulted in a new Lackawanna Track Conference record, beating Carbondale's record of 69 straight, set in 1986.
"This year, as it's approached, it's become a big deal to them. They really wanted it," Abington Heights Track and Field coach Michael Ludka said. "Team after team after team that is so strong and so deep, it's really been a great thing to be a little bit of a part of."
And they're not planning on stopping anytime soon. This is a team with lofty goals.
"I hope to go to outdoor nationals and place in state," Marzolino said. "We've learned to adapt and just do what we know we can do."
"I have some high goals for winning some events with some fast times at districts this year," Dammer said. "I think as a team, we all are really excited about hoping to continue our streak of winning in the league. We'd also love to perform well at Jordan's and the Spagna, League Championships and District as well."