With a team of only five runners, San Bernardino Valley College women's cross country coach Eric Abrams knew the 2021 season was going to be an uphill battle to get the team to reach the State Championships.

And while the Wolverines missed out on that trip by one spot in the final team standings, Abrams feels as proud of his team as ever.

"In my seven years at Valley, I am as proud of this team as any other that I have coached," he said. "These women worked so hard to acheive what they were able to achieve. In a season where many women's programs fell shy of fielding a complete team, we took this tough froup of women and continued to improve all year."

There will be one member of the Wolverines making the trip to Fresno for the State Championships, however. Diana Bautista continued her impressive freshman season for SBVC, finishing ninth overall in the 5K race. She stopped the clock at 19 minutes, 4.03 seconds. She will attempt to be third SBVC woman to receive All-American honors by finishing in the top 14 at state.

Sashi Torres was the second member of the Wolverines across the line, as she finished 66th with a time of 22:09.74. Noemi Velasquez (23:46.73) and Litzy Sales (23:50.48) finished back-to-back at 88th and 89th respectively. And Lenea Gomez finished at 24:11.59 for 91st in the field of 125 runners.

While the result was not what they wanted, Abrams was happy with the work the team put in.

"I am beside myself on how impressed I am with this year's group," he said. "I could sense minor disappointment, but each one of them were proud of their performances - that they left it all out on the course. How could a coach ask for more than that?"