AUBURN – Track and field coaches haven’t figured out a way to clone athletes like Muriel Schwinn and Emily Dodge.

When you’re blessed as Edward Little High School to have two such state championship caliber seniors at the same time, well, the duplication tends to take care of itself.

It’s no coincidence that the size of the EL girls’ indoor team has nearly quadrupled since Schwinn sped onto the scene as a freshman and Dodge came tumbling in from her training as a gymnast shortly thereafter.

“We have a good program, really good coaches, a great atmosphere on our team,” summarized Schwinn, a sprinter and jumper who is six inches ahead of her closest long jump rival in the state this season.

Fifteen girls comprised the Red Eddies’ entire squad when Schwinn joined the team in 2006. Twenty-six were scheduled to compete in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships Saturday. It’s a brand of depth that could make the Class A championship a realistic goal when EL makes the short trip to the University of Southern Maine during school vacation week.

Make no mistake, however: Schwinn and Dodge are the cornerstones. Together, they’ve earned 50 of EL’s 59 total team points at the last two state meets.

“They really are the true meaning of teamwork, because they pass that down to our juniors, our sophomores and our freshmen,” said EL coach Rebecca Hefty. “These kids have given it, given it, given it. Now we’re at the point where they deserve this, whatever they can get.”

Dodge isn’t far away from Schwinn’s footprints in the long jump, ranking fourth in the state. She’s also on pace to be Class A’s top seed in triple jump as well as a threat to win the 55-meter hurdles. Schwinn also is one of the favorites in the 55-meter sprint.

“We go crazy if we don’t do four events,” Dodge said.

Neither girl has needed to look far to find motivation as they prepare for the February meets.

Schwinn finished second to Kristin Slotnick of Brunswick in the long jump at the state meet both her sophomore and junior seasons. Slotnick is back for a shot at the three-peat. Dodge placed second in triple jump and third in hurdles at last year’s finals, watching Jesse Labreck of Messalonskee walk away with the gold in both events. Labreck has moved on to the University of Maine.

“Between Emily and Muriel, they have a plethora of second-place finishes,” Hefty said. “They’ve been following some great competition. Not that it’s going to be any easier this year, but I always tell the senior class, the work, the sweat, the tears, the pain, it’s their time to feel the success of that hard work. If anybody can do it, they can. They are the exclamation point of hard work.”

Although their diminutive stature doesn’t give it away, both girls say that weight training has fueled their continued improvement.

“There’s so many things going on in practice that you can’t really fit everything in,” Schwinn said. “So you have to be disciplined, see that you get into the weight room and work out and go beyond.”

Hefty’s relationship with both of her co-captains (seven other girls also share that distinction on the team) is similar to a mother-child connection, she said, complete with the occasional argument.

“She makes a big effort,” Schwinn said of her coach. “If she doesn’t understand a certain drill, she’ll go home and watch videos. She’ll help everybody.”

“She has crazy enthusiasm,” added Dodge.

And while the coach admittedly pushes her athletes’ buttons in an effort to maximize their potential, Hefty acknowledged that Schwinn and Dodge – both among the top students in their class – are just as likely to challenge her.

“They’re so smart academically that they transfer that same information onto the track,” Hefty said. “(Schwinn) is probably one of the best technical athletes in this state. Sometimes that’s a problem, because if a jump doesn’t go correctly, it’s, ‘Why?’ I’ve had to do so much research for the answer for ‘Why?'”

Schwinn credits Hefty for persuading her to reluctantly adopt the long jump as a freshman. The coach recruited Dodge to the sport in a ninth-grade physical education class.

Dodge competed in four outdoor events as a freshman before being diagnosed with multiple fractures in her back, an overuse injury attributed to the cross-training for gymnastics and track.

“I found that a lot of what I learned in gymnastics I could carry through to track, like the hurdling and triple-jumping, the technical sort of events,” Dodge said. “A lot of it carried over. I didn’t have to change much.”

Dodge, who is already taking a college course at Bates, hopes to compete in Division III track but has not settled on the school. Schwinn has been accepted at Hamilton (N.Y.) College.

Each has met the qualifying standard for the national indoor meet in March. Regardless of how much metal they reap between now and then, Schwinn and Dodge have left an indelible stamp on the EL program.

“I’ll miss them,” Hefty said. “They’re like my kids.”