Coming off of a second place finish in the South Coast Conference in both indoor and outdoor track and field last year, the Lady Vikings hope to keep up the winning ways.

Those hopes, however, took a hit when the team lost its season opening meet against Old Rochester (by a score of 63 to 23) and Fairhaven (43.5 to 42.5) last Saturday.

Those were the only two teams Wareham lost to last indoor season and Head Coach Chris Gardner said he doesn’t plan on losing another meet all winter.

His team has the talent to back that up.

One of the top athletes on the team is super sophomore Madison Koslowsky, who placed 11th in the 55-meter high hurdles at last year’s indoor state meet.

Koslowsky was sorely missed on Saturday, as she was sidelined with a minor knee injury, but Gardner still expects her to have a stellar season.

Not only is she the fastest returner in the conference, but she was the second fastest freshman in the 55-meter high hurdles across all divisions at the state meet last year.

Another top returner is senior Madison St. Julien, who won the 300-meter dash at last year’s indoor South Coast Conference Championships.

Gardner said he relies a lot on his seniors and captains (St. Julien is both) to guide the team through practices and meets.

The only coach on a constantly growing squad, Gardner has a team of 47 athletes this year.

That is up from the 32 he had last year and more than double the size of the team from just a few years ago.

With growing numbers, the team is able to combat the depth problems that occur with smaller track teams. At most meets, the top eight finishers in each event score, so the top talent can be just as important as the rest of the team.

Gardner said other athletes, such as junior distance runner Paige Fehskens, junior jumps/thrower Lexie Calvin and sprinter Hunter Thatcher, were all in the mix for top spots in the conference.

Last indoor season, the girls track and field team sent eight athletes to the Division 4 State Meet.

Although the team is off to a slow start, Gardner hopes to send more than 10 athletes to the meet this year.