Sophomore Courtney Stephens and freshman Naomi Altamirano are finding it lonely these days. So far this season, they are the only runners who have competed for the women’s cross country team.

“We are not ready to put out a group,” coach Dean Lofgren said.

At the last event on Saturday at the So Cal preview in Bakersfield, Stephens finished 18th while Altamirano finished a respectful 101st.

“We are very proud of (Stephens) because she has worked so hard the last few weeks,” Lofgren said.

Assistant coach Sean Sheil said that the team is not putting out a group to compete anytime soon as long as the other freshmen are not ready.

“They just have to work a little bit harder,” Sheil said.

Altamirano sais she is finding it hard these days being the number two runner for the team as a freshman.

“Poor (Altamirano) having to run this hard because she never experienced this in high school,” Sheil said. “Even though she is not finishing as high as we would want her to, we’re proud of her for working so hard.”

As a freshman runner, Altamirano is quickly learning how much her work is paying off. She is the only freshman running for the team along with Stephens. Since they are the only two competing, Altamirano said the other freshmen are working extremely hard.

“Even though we only have (Stephens) and I running as of now, my teammates are working extremely hard so that they will get a chance to compete,” Altamirano said.

“With (Stephens) having a year of experience, it is really paying off for her,” Altamirano said.

Being a freshmen can be tough for anybody but she says all that has to be done is hard work and lots of practice.

“We really want to compete as a team that’s why the freshmen runners are working hard,” she said.

If the team wishes to put out a full group for a race, it would either have to get some of the runners from the track team or the freshmen runners will just have to work really hard.

“Either we pull some of the girls from the track team, or we simply just have to get better, it’s that simple” Sheil said.

Although they have the option to race with some of the track runners, Lofgren said that is impossible at this point.

“Distance running and track are a lot different from each other, so, as of now, it is a long shot,” Lofgren said.

Since Lofgren and Sheil think the women have to work harder and try to be better, they will have that chance this week.

“We’re off this week because they have been running extremely hard,” Sheil said.

Lofgren said the team will run hard this week so the women will have a chance to race as a group the next time they compete.

With the inexperience of some of the runners, Lofgren and Sheil said they think that it is a long shot for them to compete as a group anytime soon until the championships.

“The only thing we could do now, is hope for the best and remain optimistic,” Lofgren said. “You always want to remain positive, but at this point, were going to have to work really hard.”