When a team consists of almost 80 percent underclassmen — as is the case for the women’s track and field team this season — the select few seniors serve as an extension of their coach out on the field.

Head Coach Jennifer Potter understands the importance of her upperclassmen as she attempts to recruit and rebuild her team to regain the Empire 8 title.

“[The seniors] are integral parts of our practice sessions and team meetings,” Potter said, “especially when you are trying to prepare such a young team.”

While seniors Caitlin Catella, Leigh Klumpp and Alison Spivak are the official captains, sophomore distance runner Bridget Hastings said seniors Courtney Gallagher and Audrey Harkness are just as crucial to the team’s success and unity.

“All of our seniors are captains,” she said. “It is more of a senior captain group. They make announcements and lead us during our meetings before a meet. They talk about the upcoming meet every Thursday. [Coach] Potter also asks them to talk about the meet afterwards when we have a meeting.”

With such a large roster of athletes, most of whom have never competed at the collegiate level, it becomes nearly impossible for one person to maintain control and fully prepare the group. This is the reason the seniors are so vital to the success of this young roster.

Spivak, an all-state performer in the pole vault who now specializes in jumps, said her presence on the team is more than just a matter of being a talented performer.

“Senior leadership is always an important part of the team dynamic,” she said. “I try to be a positive role model for the younger athletes and hope that they will try to set positive examples for others as well.”

The upperclassmen on the Bombers have myriad responsibilities outside the realm of their events. They are in charge of warming up their teammates, checking in for events and being available to their peers whenever they have a question. Still, the most important thing that the elder runners can offer their teammates is the vast basin of experience they have gathered together for the past four years.

“The seniors have more experience with collegiate competition,” Spivak said, “so we come in especially handy at the first meets of the season when the whole team is not yet in the swing of things.”

These sentiments are also echoed by their younger teammates, who realize that once it’s postseason time, this experience will be invaluable. Sophomore distance runner Liz DeLong has seen the help that senior experience can provide come crunch time.

“[The seniors] bring experience,” she said. “They’ve been to the most meets and can tell you about the different tracks we run on. They give us a heads up on what to expect each weekend, especially for the major meets like Empire 8s, states and ECACs.”

The five seniors on this year’s squad constitute Potter’s first recruiting class since she returned to Ithaca as a head coach in 2003. She was formerly an All-American sprinter. They have gone through many firsts together, and the unique and special bond they share has been noticed by their teammates, including freshman sprinter Regina Baker.

“They get along really well, that I can see,” she said. “They’re like friends in a sense, which is expected, especially since they’ve been on the team for all four years.”

She also said there is no dissension between the athletes on the team based on their age or school year. Instead, the team is split only by the different events they compete in.

“The girls tend to be close to the other teammates competing in the same events.” Baker said. “Even though most of the team does fall track, the distance girls have been spending every day together for cross country, so the hard part isn’t getting to know the seniors, it’s getting to know everyone else — the jumpers, sprinters and throwers.”

One thing is for certain, Spivak said: As the seniors prepare themselves for their upcoming graduation, both from Ithaca College and their teammates, they will miss that closeness.

“I will definitely miss the team dynamic and being a competitive athlete once I graduate,” Spivak said.