Far off in the distance along a woodchip trail covered with trees and a light ocean breeze kicking up dust along the path, a pack of runners can be heard in the distance.

Their colorful shoes stomp against the wood chips, sending splinters of wood flying in every direction as the pack passes by in what seems like mere seconds.

With the state championship just days away, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams gear up for what they expect to be the run of their lives.

“I definitely think we are going to have our best race of the year. We have too,” Dean Lofgren, coach, said. “We try to stay relaxed, which is very important in a state race because there is a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety and excitement. We try to maintain composure and relaxation.”

Although the teams are not looking at the state race as “just another meet,” Lofgren said that the teams are keeping calm and trying to run as best as they can in preparation for the state championship.

“We have been tapering down in our training so it is not as hard as it’s been,” Nicole Sroczynski, freshman, said. “We’ve been doing a lot of recovering and I think we are definitely peaking.”

In the days leading up to the big race Saturday at Fresno, the women will be running only eight miles during practice; while the men will be cutting back to 10 miles, which is considered a relaxing run for the EC Warriors.

The teams have been switching up running spots and run anywhere from Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes to the woodchip trail that leads through the beach cities where they run mile repeats as well as hard runs.

“We are definitely training hard, but aren’t trying to be too serious,” Sroczynski said. “We are more excited to get to spend more time together.”

Over the course of the semester, the men’s and women’s teams have come close together and have made a core group of not only teammates, but friends also.

“We are a solid team and it’s really cool that we get to go to State together,” Sroczynski said.

To support their school and show team spirit, the women’s team is planning to wear matching braids with ribbons in their hair as well as blue and white socks and go all out in order to show off their Warrior pride.

The state championship race will host 28 of the top teams in the state with about 220 runners taking part in each race.

“One of our goals is to come out of that state championship race 10th or better,” Lofgren said. “Traditionally we do quite well in the championship race and we are going to try to do our best.”