Superstitious Steve Wurtzel wouldn’t talk about his team’s quest for a fifth consecutive conference title last week.

“We talked about it and told them that if we set everything up right, we’d be in a good position at the end,” he said. “But we never really came out and mentioned the title.”

The plan worked, and the Warrenton girls track team outlasted the competition at Winfield again.

The Warriors finished with 122 points, comfortably ahead of rivals Orchard Farm (89) and St. Charles (80).

“We knew that it was a goal, and we talked about how St. Charles and Orchard Farm outscored us in the St. Dominic meet last month,” Wurtzel said. “But as we got closer to the meet, we started having individual conversations before events. It would be something like, ‘This is what your time is, this is what their time is. Let’s see what you can do here.’ ”

Warrenton picked up points on every inch of the track.

Sophomore Brooke Smith contributed 16 points with wins in the long jump and 200 meters.

Her long jump distance of 16 feet, 7 1/2 inches has her within a foot of the school record.

“She’s on a roll,” Wurtzel said. “She’s excited and she wants that school record. Brooke is really seeing the results that can happen when you put in the work, and she, along with Lexi (Frederick,) have really kind of become the team leaders this season. The nice part is that she’s only a sophomore, and she wants more.”

Frederick helped the cause with a second-place finish in the 800 (2 minutes, 40.31 seconds) and a win in the 400 (1:02.50).

“We knew she was going to be tired after the 800, but we knew she could easily get second there,” Wurtzel said. “There are strategies there as far as getting as many points as possible in a meet like this.”

Emma Lewis led the way in the distance races, winning the 1,600 in 5:41.05,

“She knew exactly where  those St. Charles runners were, and she was able to just go race them,” Wurtzel said. “The same goes for Lexi in that 400.”

The uptick in competitive fire the Warriors saw in Winfield will be magnified Saturday when the team heads to Hannibal for the Class 4, District 4 meet.

“It’s a little different this year because of the depth,” Wurtzel said. “We’re not going to do all of our relays. We’re not running our 4X8, and I don’t know about our 4X1. I think our 4X2 and 4X4 have a shot, but I’m not sure right now.”

Smith would appear to be safe with another jump over 16 feet, and Frederick is right on the bubble in the 400 (fourth in the district).

Kayla Nelson’s toss of 37-8 earlier this season in Lebanon is the best mark in the district, and she also appears to be a strong candidate to advance to sectionals.

“The interesting thing about district meets is that times just start dropping and people just start racing,” Wurtzel said. “They get that competitive nature where they don’t want to lose, and that’s what we’re up against. Are we looking at as many qualifiers as in previous years? That’s a good question. Brooke is up there in the long jump, Kayla is up there in the shot and discus. Our 4X4 and 4X2 stand a chance if we come out and race well. Lexi has a shot in the 400, and Grace (Bostic) stands a chance in the hurdles, so we’re just going to see what happens.”

Wurtzel added that the district meet can be helpful for every underclassman as well, not just likely qualifiers.

“For girls like Abbi Ebersohl, Gertrude Broker, Amber Balkenbusch and Ashley Pullen, it’s just a chance to experience districts and gain some knowledge to help our team next year as well,” he said.