Though the season ended poorly for Diamond Bar’s cross country team, with the boys finishing last and the girls fifth out of six teams in the league finals at Legg Lake, head coach Malinalli Cooke anticipates better results with more preparation going into next season.

“Our goal now is just to improve,” Cooke said.

Injuries have been a recurring problem as many of the runners did not train in the summer, which has affected them up to their final race.

“A lot of injuries are due to undertraining. And normally, when the season starts they should be able to begin with speed workouts […] but we had to do both, long base training and speed, at the same time. And that can lead to injuries to many kids who are severely under trained,” the coach said.

However, despite the many struggles throughout the season, Cooke noticed many improvements in the team. At the Bell Gardens race, the girls cross country team won two awards. The freshmen in the girls team placed third and sophomores placed fourth out of eighteen teams.

Even though no new records have been achieved since senior Paul Abdo’s Mt. SAC record last year, many on the team have achieved personal bests. The top runners in the boys team have improved in almost every one of their races. The lower half of boys varsity improved their times by two to three minutes.

The top runners for the boys were senior Paul Abdo, senior Dylan Kinney, sophomore Thomas Ear and senior Austin DeCambra. On the girls team, the top runners were freshmen Natalie Santiago, freshmen Samantha Ruelas and sophomore Olivia Valdivia.

Cooke, describing her first season as coach, said that “it’s been fun. It’s been stressful. It’s been draining. But overall, it’s been positive.”