The goal was not completed for the men’s cross country team as it fell short of its own expectations in the state championships at Fresno on Nov. 20.

Orange Coast remained undefeated and for the second consecutive year was crowned the winner with 50 points.

“The competition is always strong in the state championships,” coach Dean Lofgren. “Clearly we knew Orange Coast were the favorites and they won.”

The Warriors finished in a disappointing ninth place with a total of 236 points.

The squad went into the champions with great expectations, but could only compare themselves to Southern California schools and knew very little of the schools up north.

“We went in knowing we could place anywhere from second on a great day to seventh on an off day,” Lofgren said.

However, the Warriors individually had solid performances from Tyler Stover and sophomore Kendall Lopez.

Stover rebounded nicely finishing in 27th place against some of the best runners competing in the state.

“I was very happy with my race, I felt good,” Stover said. “After cutting up the results, I was the ninth freshman overall which is a good feeling and a moral booster for next season.”

Lopez ran his last meet of the year and was distraught on how things ended.

Lopez placed a respectable 50th, finishing the race in 21:30, but that didn’t meet his standards.

“I was just sad and disappointed,” Lopez said. “I didn’t get any sleep just thinking about the race.”

“I wanted to have my best race that day and finishing 50th was just hard and I know I’m better,” he said.

However, the Warriors did accomplish a lot with such a young and inexperienced squad.

Even though the team was very inexperienced, it managed to consistently finish in the top five in each meet.

It also qualified for the state championships for the 14th time in the past 15 years.

“We were fairly consistent all year and placed well in every meet in which we competed against some very good teams,” Lofgren said.

“Placing in the state’s top ten is a good accomplishment and some teams in the state have never placed among the top ten in their school’s history.”

The Warriors can attribute their success to their work ethic as well as their togetherness, and should come back next season with a vengeance.

“It’s hard adjusting to the new 4-mile distance as opposed to the 3-mile high school distance,” Lofgren said. “They have acquired great experience this season and will carry that into next season.”

The Warriors should come back next season stronger than this year because most of the team will return, with the exception of Lopez.