“I’m really happy with what I’ve been doing,” Moore said. She admitted, however, feeling a “little anxious” going into this weekend’s state championship meet, where she does not know the competition.

Just as their coach described it, Moore’s teammates, in separate interviews, expressed similar spirits.

Resnick said her county and state qualifier races were “very nerve-racking, but exciting. I kind of liked that feel.”

Joseph said she is looking forward to the trip upstate for the state championship. “I’m here to PR and do the best I can,” Joseph said.

The girls run three to eight miles per day, six days a week, usually through the streets of North Merrick and sometimes at Merrick Mountain at the Levy Preserve. They are devoted to their sport, and necessarily to staying healthy and in shape.

They spoke to the Herald Life minutes before boarding a bus from Calhoun to Bethpage for the Clint Miller/Teddy Roosevelt Invitational. Joseph, Moore and Resnick were not running in the Invitational, because to do so would mean risking injury just days before the state championship for a race that does not count toward the season’s team standings. But they were going to cheer on their teammates, and perhaps do a little light training before Saturday’s big meet.