Being a freshman on a team can take its toll, including the inexperience that comes along with it. But for freshman runner Naomi Altamirano, hard work pays off.

Competing as a tandem all year long, sophomore runner Courtney Stephens and Altamirano qualified for the Southern California championship by finishing fourth and 14th respectively at the South Coast Conference championship Friday. During the week off, coach Dean Lofgren trained the runners hard so Altamirano and Stephens would be ready.

The training and work paid dividends for Altamirano, whose drastic improvement made an impression to her coaches, especially Lofgren. Lofgren said that Altamirano has been running well in the last few races and Friday’s South Coast Conference championship was a culmination of the time and hard work she has put in.

“(Altamirano) has been great,” Lofgren said. “She was been running extremely well, and on Friday she was just so focused and determined to qualify.”

The women will travel to Bakersfield tomorrow to compete in the Southern California championships.

Altamirano was satisfied with her performance and was thrilled to have made the SoCal championship round. She credits her coaches and Stephens for her drastic improvement and her outstanding performances in her races.

“Because of (Lofgren), (assistant coach) Sean Sheil and (Stephens), I have been very fortunate to be where I am today,” Altamirano said. “The coaching staff always pushed me to do my best especially during those days when I feel like I have done well, but they still find ways to bring out the best in me.”

With the way Altamirano and Stephens ran, Lofgren was very satisfied. He said that despite the fact only these two have competed this year, they have not been discouraged but instead have worked even harder to represent the women.

“I am really proud of (Altamirano) and (Stephens),” Lofgren said. “They have done so well, they have worked extremely hard and have been positive throughout all of this.”

Stephens is also credited by Altamirano for the way she has improved throughout the season. Whenever Altamirano becomes fatigued, or feels she can no longer run, Stephens is always there for her and pushes her to be the best she can be and to do her best in the races. Altamirano said Stephens is a very supportive teammate.

“(Stephens) is awesome,” Altamirano said. “She is very unselfish and such a team player. She is very helpful, and she always pushes to bring the best out of me so that I will always put out a good race.”

Lofgren said he believes Stephens has a chance to be in the top 10 for tomorrow’s Southern California championship’s in Bakersfield while Altamirano has a great chance to qualify.

Despite being part of the group that won the conference championship last year, Lofgren said Stephens has not been bothered by the fact that only the two of them have competed. It has actually made her a better runner.

“(Stephens) has been tremendous as usual,” Lofgren said. “She has an excellent chance to be in the top ten this weekend (in Bakersfield). Despite the kind of year we have had with only her and (Altamirano) competing, it has made her into a better leader and one heck of a runner.”

With only two races left, Lofgren is hoping that both of them qualify for the state championship round where the top 25 finishers advance.

For tomorrow’s race at the SoCal championship in Bakersfield, Lofgren said that despite the fact there will only be two women competing, they will represent the women and still remember the fact that they are the defending South Coast Conference champions.

“Let’s not forget that we are back-to-back conference champions,” Lofgren said.

“So even though we only have the two of them running this weekend, we will represent all of EC and we will run one heck of a race because we know that (Stephens) and (Altamirano) are capable of doing just that,” Lofgren said.