In the first ever conference championship for the newly formed Inland Empire Athletic Conference, San Bernardino Valley College was nearly perfect claiming both the men's and women's cross-country title.
On the men's side, Alvaro Heredia led the Wolverines completing the four-mile run in 21:21.9. Kevin Quinteros followed with a time of 21:33.1. Jose Escalante turned in a 21:56.6 for third place. Fernando Duenas crossed at 22:06.3 finishing in fourth. Eddie Perez- Sandoval in fifth place at 22:12.4. Jeffory Phelps with a 22:14.0. And completing the sweep was Elvis Rojas turning in a 22:33.3.
"Our goal going into conference championship was to finish #1 through #7," state men's head coach Jim Ratigan. "This is the smallest and least experience group I've had in my eight years at San Bernardino. We didn't have anyone on this year's squad that competed for us at the state level last season. Alvaro, this year's conference winner didn't run at states due to an injury. He worked his tail off during the offseason and was dedicated with his rehab and I am so proud of what he accomplished today."
"Kevin Quinteros has been solid all year," adds Ratigan. "He is a diamond in the rough and is a natural. He only started running cross country during his senior year in high school, he's more of a track and field guy, but he is a super runner, focused and dedicated. We are blessed to have him."
"Our goal at San Bernardino is to always get all our athletes in and out in two years," explains Ratigan. "We build and create a family atmosphere. We pull and cheer for each other, there are no individual accolades we chase, it's all about the team."
The squad will continue to train and prepare for the regionals leading into the state championships. The team's success is strategically designed in progressions. The team started running hard and fast two weeks ago, putting in five miles of quality runs. With the upcoming meets, the plan is to run four miles running faster, but the mileage stays the same.
"We've reached all our goals at this point, "continues Ratigan. "We have to keep our group mentality in place. If we run as a group, we'll win as a group."
On the women's side, the Wolverines were led by freshman sensation Kimberly Pena who turned in a blistering 20:45.6 in the 5K run. Jayda Martinez placed fifth with a 22:38.7 time and was immediately followed by Jessica Aguilera at 22:46.9.
Kimberly Pena has been lights out all season and her impressive score came as no surprise. "She is a blessing that fell in our lap and has been a phenomenal teammate here at San Bernardino," states women's head coach Eric Abrams. "She was a girl that we pursued during recruiting period and we are so blessed to have her. Although she suffered an injury coming out of high school, she was dedicated throughout rehab and her work is paying off."
In the 12th spot, Ximena Martinez contributed her 24:47.6 which was immediately followed by teammates Megan Knox (25:02.7) and Emily Lopez 25:13.4.
After all the runners crossed the finish line and scores were added, San Bernardino College and Chaffey College were in a 37-37 overall tie.
After consulting with race officials and both head coaches, the NCAA tiebreaker is used to determine the winner. The method used to break the tie will be based on the top five finishers of each school. For example, San Bernardino's first finisher to Chaffey's; second finisher to second finisher; etc. Whichever team wins the majority of those five matchups wins the tiebreaker and is awarded the conference title.
"I would be lying to you if I didn't say that I was surprised by our results today," states head coach Eric Abrams. "Similar to our men's team, we struggled this year in recruiting. We have a small team and with such a small group, we don't have any room for mistakes."
"From what we know of our competition and on paper, we knew we were five to seven points behind," explains Abrams. "But as the race progressed, and from seeing the faces of our athletes, I knew something was brewing and we would be in for a special day."
In his fifth season at San Bernardino, Abrams believes in programming his team to peak at the right time. "I told our team that we will determine how successful we are at the end of the year. Conference is very important, but our goal will always be to qualify for state. Once you are in the state championships, anything can literally happen."
The coaching staff believes in training in three phases.
"There's the pre-season phase, followed by the championship phase, and now we are in the maintenance phase," coach Abrams explains. "I call it maintenance phase because it provides our athletes a chance to listen to their body. It also provides them the opportunity to optimize what it is they need."
With the team's current success in 2019, Abrams concludes, "we have been focused all year and each individual runner knows their role. We know who we are and know what we need to do. As long as we stick with our program and strategy, we should be successful at the end of the season."