The women’s indoor track team is now rounding the turn and heading into the final homestretch of its season — three championship meets where the team hopes to sweep the team title.

The Bombers are fine-tuning their preparations for this week’s New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships, which will be held Saturday at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Bombers won the championship last season with a score of 223.5, but they’re focusing on working together to top what they did last year.

This year, the Bombers have restructured how they prepare for their meets. While the team continues to focus on physical aspects of the game, they have added mental preparation training as well. Head Coach Jennifer Potter has included sports psychology sessions into the Bombers’ weekly training regimen to help the team prepare for the upcoming competitions.

Potter said the program helps student athletes achieve their personal goals, team goals and program goals, including academic progress, emotional and social development, athletic potential and team unity.

Junior Catherine Ortiz, a distance runner, said these sessions provide time for team members to talk about what they feel and think about prior to and during a competition.

“We are able to share with each other what helps us during a race, whether its cues or images or ways to control anxiety,” she said. “With everyone sharing what helps them, it makes the other girls notice they aren’t the only ones thinking about stuff when they compete.”

Senior Melanie McCormick said the sessions have helped the team overall.  

“I have found that when we share our individual routines, such as what cue words help us stay focused in these sessions, I learn more about how to support and encourage my teammates as they prepare for a race, as well as how to motivate them during the competition,” McCormick said.

Adding this off-the-track training can only benefit the Bombers, who were ranked seventh in the nation in last week’s NCAA Division III polls.

The South Hill squad has also begun to cut back its training, shifting focus toward making sure that every athlete is equally rested mentally and physically for the championship run. In addition to states, the Bombers have Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and nationals still to come.      

Junior Marcia McCord, who has qualified for the national championships in the 400-meter run, triple jump and long jump, said the team is scaling down the difficulty in workouts.

“On the track [in practice], the distances are shorter and faster,” she said. “There’s more rest time between the fewer reps we are given. Right about now, we’re focusing on quality and technique. In the weight room, we’ll probably taper to little or no lifting too.”

McCord said the Bombers are confident that they will be successful in their upcoming meets.

“We’re going to do big things,” she said.