The Foothill cross country teams made school history today at the CIF-SS Finals at Mt. San Antonio College, with the boys’ team qualifying for the CIF Championships next Saturday.

Junior Moses Bojorquez was the first Foothill boy to cross the finish line of the three-mile course, placing seventh out 118 runners with a total time of 15 minutes and 28 seconds. Foothill came in fourth place out of the 16 competing schools in the Division 4 race with a total time of one hour, 21 minutes, and 19 seconds. This qualifies the entire team to compete in the state championships next week.

Bojorquez was “excited” to be the first Foothill runner to finish, but was just as proud of his teammates’ accomplishments.

“There’s a lot of excitement in me right now for finishing first for the team, but I have learned that cross country is not about yourself, it’s about how you impact your teammates,” said Bojorquez. “Some of us [on the team] might not have gotten faster individually, but as a team we got faster by closing the gap between each other. Now we don’t have as big as a gap from the first league meet.”

The girls’ cross country team also did well at the meet. Sophomore Brieanna Tafoya was the first among them to finish the race, coming in 23rd out of 122 runners from across Southern California, with a time of 19 minutes and 12 seconds. Overall, the girls took ninth place out of 16 teams, with a total time of one hour, 39 minutes, and 51 seconds.

According to Coach Ken Reeves, this put them “under the the magical 100 minute barrier at Mt. Sac, meaning that they averaged under 20 minutes for their five scorers.” Reeves stated that this means the girls defeated the Tri-Valley League champions, La Reina, in their overall time.

For Bojorquez, qualifying for CIF represented a culmination of the hard work the team has put in throughout the season. The accomplishment took on even more meaning to him, as it was a chance to prove to the community “that an academic school can succeed in athletics too.”

“I have been dreaming about this for a very long time, and ever since the first day of practice we have been telling ourselves that we are going to state,” said Bojorquez. “Now here we are on our way to state next week.”

According to Reeves, the Foothill runners will not be the only Tri-Valley team heading to the state championships.

“In all, the Tri Valley League had a very good day, with St. Bonaventure boys and the Thacher girls and boys also qualifying for state,” said Reeves.

Bojorquez feels that the Foothill team needs to rest in preparation for the upcoming championships, but that their efforts from over the course of the season will serve them well.

“We already put in the work in the bank, now we need to make a big withdrawal from it,” said Bojorquez.