Today marked the end of the cross country season as the varsity boys finished in sixth place at the CIF State Championships held in Fresno. The Foothill girls cross country team ended their season last week at the CIF finals.

Junior Moses Bojorquez was the first Foothill runner to finish the three-mile course, coming in 13th place out of the 192 runners with a time of 15 minutes and 59 seconds. Sophomore Jared Rodriguez came in second for Foothill, finishing in 26th place with a time of 16 minutes and 12 seconds and senior Tomas Snyder came at a close third, clocking in at 16 minutes and 21 seconds and coming in 33rd place overall.

Foothill came in sixth place overall in the Division IV boys’ race out of the 23 competing schools. The team’s total time was one hour, 22 minutes and 39 seconds with an average time of 16 minutes and 32 seconds.

Coach Ken Reeves felt the race was “a great accomplishment for the young men on the team,” and was proud of the team’s hard work and perseverance.

“I am very proud of their effort, intensity, and willingness to take a risk,” said Reeves, “and the team atmosphere that this year’s team has helped create.”

For Bojorquez, making it to the state championships was a chance for the cross country team to prove themselves to the competition.

“It feels awesome because nobody expected us to get this far at all,” said Bojorquez. “Nobody believed that a first-year athletic program could make it even to prelims […] we beat the odds. We knew we would make it to State.”

Besides making it to Championships, Bojorquez feels that the team’s greatest accomplishment was establishing a solid relationship among teammates.

“I think the biggest achievement was creating a great atmosphere with everyone on the team, no matter who they were or how good they were,” he said.

Reeves looks forward to next year’s cross country season, and appreciates “the tremendous efforts” of his fellow coaches.

“They have helped build something special in the first year,” said Reeves.

For Bojorquez, the season was a chance for the team to improve both on their own and as a unit.

“I feel that we have grown a lot individually and as a team. We went above and beyond what we dreamed of,” he said. “We didn’t know each other in the beginning and now we are brothers.”