Bringing the team’s prolonged season to an end, the Diamond Bar High School cross country team has concluded their 2023 season, securing third in the league. 

During these past few months, the team has given great effort to the sport, showing unwavering commitment. The girls placed fourth and boys placed third, allowing the boys to advance into CIF prelims last week. The boys competed on Nov. 12, at Mt. Sac and placed 17th overall in CIF prelims, marking an end to their season. 

“Despite the results and achievements, we had a great season and I could not be more proud of these athletes and their dedication each and every day,” head coach Mallinali Cooke said. 

In preparation for league finals, the team dedicated countless hours, running Monday through Saturday every week. With each practice, they refined their form and learned how to work as a team. 

“The team worked really hard this past season, and I cannot wait for what next season has in store,” Cooke said. 

Certain athletes showed a tremendous amount of determination and hardwork into their season, including senior Kyle Crocker and sophomore Evelyn Kim, who have shown tremendous improvement on their times, cutting down on their past personal records by more than 30 seconds each. The team’s outstanding performance this past season was thanks to coach Mallinali Cooke and the team captains—seniors Aarron Schwartz and Amber Yu, juniors Cody Kwok, Ethan Hoen and Natalie Dai, and sophomore Jaelynn Au—who supported the team through their ups and downs.

“Putting in the work and giving your 100% effort is key to seeing results,” Dai said. “This past season has been great and I’m glad to be their captain.” 

Though the 2023 Cross Country season is over, the team hopes to further improve their times in the spring track season. 

“No matter the results, we all learned and grew during this past season together and were able to become better runners,” Dai said. “I’m proud of everyone and the hard work they dedicated each and every day.