Coach Debbi McKinnon jokes that she can retire now.
That's because for the first time in school history — and the first in her 20-year cross country coaching career at R.E. Mountain Secondary — the Eagles have captured the provincial blue banner.
"Absolutely I believed they had it in them," she said.
"This is a very talented group of young guys and they also have the determination.
"Just an incredibly determined group."
The Eagles won the junior boys team provincial title under less than ideal conditions on Saturday at Vancouver's Jericho Beach Park.
Mountain was led by Zach Wyatt, who finished the course in 18:11.55.
"The time wasn't great but that was the hardest race I ever ran," admitted the 15-year-old.
He was referring to the conditions, which saw a torrential downpour combined with heavy winds.
The course was like running in a mud pit.
"It took a lot of energy not to slip and trying to stay balanced."
Wyatt's time was second among those schools which were involved in the team competition and fourth overall.
Twin brother Tate Wyatt was sixth overall and Jordan Schmidt was 12th. But in the team portion, they scored two, three and six points, respectively, which put them in great shape. The team title goes to the school with the lowest combined number among their top four runners.
So when Danny Lee crossed the finish line two and a half minutes later, his 55 points gave the Eagles a score of 66, which was four better than second place Dover Bay's 70.
Had Lee been 10 seconds slower, Mountain would not have won the title.
"The school is just incredibly proud of these kids," McKinnon said, adding that a busload of about 20 or 30 Mountain students spent their Saturday in the rain cheering their classmates on.
"I didn't really expect (to win the banner), I don't think any of us really did," Tate Wyatt said.
"But it feels great."
The Eagles finished with an average time of 19:17.17.
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The Walnut Grove Gators came fourth in both the junior girls and senior boys competitions, while the Gator senior girls were eighth.
The junior team of Grace Chalk, Sarah Buckingham, Kelsey Stelnick and Samantha Matthewman had an average time of 20:15.79.
The senior boys squad of Ford McMahon, Paul Buckingham, Ethan Carlson and Will Riley completed the course in an average of 24:40.62.
And the senior girls quartet of Isabella Boccia, Chelsea Borrowdale, Emma Deardon and Breanne Dejong finished in an average of 20:36.66.
Individually, Brookswood's Louise Forsyth cracked the top 10 with a time of 18:25.