Michael Ramirez earned All-American honors and the Carlos de la Torre and Mauricio Ramos ran their best races of the season as the San Bernardino Valley College men's cross country team finished seventh at the State Finals at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 17.
Poor air conditions from the wildfires that ravaged the state caused the race start time to be moved up an hour, but the smoke still lingered over the course during the race.
But Ramirez got out early with the leaders, and he parlayed that into a 10th place finish overall, earning the All-American status. He crossed the finish line at 20 minutes, 43 seconds on the four-mile course.
The Wolverines had four runners in the top 18 after two miles, but others could not keep up the pace in the tight field.
De la Torre, who was an All-American last year, crossed the line in 31st place this year, ending his injury-slowed season with a time of 21:11.1. Ramos finished seven places behind with a time of 21:19.3.
Freshman Luis Garcia may have been affected by the air quality, as he got sick with one mile to go, dropping 50 places to 86th with a time of 22:01.3.
Rounding out the Wolverines' finishers were Isaiah Gonzalez (105th, 22:16.7), Humberto Guzman (122nd, 22:33.4) and Anthony Salgado (152nd, 23:06.9).