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Editor’s note: Each week during the fall sports season, Varsity Maine will highlight a boys and girls team of the week. The teams, picked by staff members, will take into account several factors, including success stories, bounce-back efforts and notable accomplishments, among others. Athletes, coaches and athletic directors can nominate teams by emailing sports editor Bill Stewart at [email protected] or Varsity Maine editor Lee Horton at [email protected].

When Krista Chase was first hired to pilot the Mt. Ararat field hockey team in 2014, the program had been in a state of limbo for years.

“ Thirteen years ago, we weren’t winning many games,” Chase said.

Now, the Eagles (14-0) enter the postseason as the top seed in Class A North, thanks to their first victory over Skowhegan in more than a decade, a win that coincidentally was Chase’s 200th as head coach.

Chase said the program’s transformation started the day that she took the helm.

“ The very first thing I did was create the Baby Eagles youth program,” she said. “My juniors and seniors are the original Baby Eagles, and that’s the foundation of Mt. Ararat field hockey.”

Chase’s daughter, Kamryn, now a junior captain for the Eagles, was one of the “OG” members of the Baby Eagles.

“ We were the first preschoolers and kindergartners to come through,” Kamryn Chase said. “It just feels very rewarding to do all that hard work … and when we get to high school to be so successful.”

“ They’re my girls, they’re my family,” Krista Chase said. “They’re who have really made me a better coach and really transformed this program.”

The Eagles have outscored their opponents 70-6, with no opponent scoring more than once since the preseason. Kamryn Chase said that she sees this more as a cause for motivation than celebration.

“In playoffs, we’re gonna need to be ready to see anything, ’cause teams are really gonna wanna beat us,” Kamryn said. “ We’re just gonna need to bring the fire and the hard work and just put it all together.”

Regardless of how the postseason goes, the Chases know that they’re modeling for the next generation of Baby Eagles.

“ (The current Baby Eagles are) getting ready to be just like these girls and to take over once (the originals) leave,” Krista said. “They’re the gift that keeps on giving.”