The men’s and women’s cross country team dominated at the Coyote Challenge on Sept. 24 in San Bernardino.

Head Cross Country Coach Steve Scott is extremely proud of the way his athletes have been succeeding.

“We just have some very talented, hard working athletes, they work hard everyday. Everything that happens now is because they did their work in the summer on their own,” said Scott. “There is a saying amongst all cross country: ‘Championships are won in the summer’. And it is pretty obvious these kids worked hard when they needed to.”

Junior Natalie Rodriguez continued her success, placing second in the 5k with a time of 18:39.5.

“She could be on any Division I team in the country, that’s how good she is,” Scott said. “I knew she always had talent, but talent can only take you so far, you have to do the work. She got that message and she is working hard.”

Junior Raelyn Werley placed third with a time of 19:05.4 in the women’s 5k. Sophomore Lisa Flora placed sixth with a time of 19:17.1. The women’s overall team placed second with a score of 48 points.

On the men’s side, Junior Vahagn Isayan came in first with a time of 26:06.9 for the men’s 8k race.

“He is another very talented runner who also works hard. He is very tenacious, he doesn’t like to lose,” said Scott. “I actually told everybody to just to back off and try not to do such a hard effort this week because we are racing three weeks in a row but he just can’t help himself. He is just a competitor and he took care of that deal today.”

Sophomore Steven Terris placed seventh respectively with a time of 26:45.4. The men’s team placed fourth with 97 points overall.

Terris owes his success based on his hard word and his loved ones encouragement.

“What helps me succeed in racing each week would be my friends and family and coaches for motivating me,” said Terris. “I have to give it to my self-discipline. Running takes a lot of discipline and determination to do well.”

Terris enjoys traveling with his teammates due to the strong relationship they have as a team.

“What I love most about cross country is the traveling. I love traveling with the team and racing in a different location each week. This also lets our team bond more this way as well.”

Though running is an individual sport, Scott believes the Cougars work together to help each other succeed.

“That’s the funny thing about cross country, it is a team sport because you are only as strong as your fifth runner. So it puts a lot of pressure on the fifth runner because they want to perform with the team,” said Scott. “People can be top five this week but not next week. But if you are scoring top five [you] definitely care about the team’s score and you are always doing the best you can to move up.”

The next meet for the Cougars is The Mustang Challenge at 8:00 am on Oct. 1 at Santa Clarita.