WEEDSPORT - While the football team at Weedsport High School fell short of its goal of advancing to the state championship game for the second straight year, the field hockey team moved one step closer to its goal of being the best team in Section III.

Theresa Leonardi's team advanced to the sectional title game this year, before falling to Morrisville-Eaton in double-overtime. But the Warriors took some satisfaction in advancing one step further, and they credit some of their success to the 2004 football team.

“They were really a model about how to go about winning a state championship,” Leonardi said. “They conducted themselves with great dignity throughout the whole process and made us want to be like them - gracious and a good work ethic. It was a model for everybody to follow.”

Athletic director Cal Mosher, the coach of the 2004 football team, made the point that since the football team won a state title, the school's other strong teams now have a goal that goes beyond the best in central New York.

And that's important, said Trevor Moawad, who works with high school students as the director of mental conditioning at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.

Moawad, who has worked with young athletes such as soccer star Freddy Adu, said that with both individual athletes and teams, it's important to move out of an established “comfort zone,” - such as competing for sectional championships - and have success. In the case of the football team in 2004, it successfully moved beyond being known as one of the best teams in Section III and became the best team in the state.

That forward progress is what the field hockey team needs to continue, and it was important for the players to see their football-playing classmates have success at the state level.

“They made is seem possible,” Leonardi said. “They demonstrated clearly how to focus on one game at a time. A lot of teams saw that. If they had a big game (over the weekend), Monday morning, it was back to business; time to go to practice and work hard.”