CdM, Estancia win PCL championship

Joseph Boo

ORANGE - As expected, Corona del Mar High’s girls cross country

team won the Pacific Coast League Cross Country championship meet at

Irvine Park. On the boys side, the PCL saw a familiar meet champion, but

a surprise nevertheless, in Estancia, which won Friday’s finale to grab a

share of the crown with dual-meet kingpin Corona del Mar.

CdM’s girls team won the race by placing its seven runners in the top 11.

The fight for first place was a dogfight between CdM’s Liz Morse and

University’s Jessica Howard for most of the race. Morse faded at the end

of the race, and Howard won.

“They were step-for-step in the beginning,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner said.

“She just didn’t feel good at the end and she let go. She was sick two

weeks ago, but she was running fine in practice.”

Morse slipped all the way to fifth, but Jenny Cummins and Katie Quinlan

spearheaded the Sea Kings attack by finishing second and third.

Uni looked like it could make the contest tight, when Shey Manafian

finished fourth in a surprise. But the Trojans’ last three runners lagged

way behind, while CdM’s runner finished in a pack.

Estancia’s Liz Huipe started out stuck behind a pack of runners, but she

not only ended up with her personal best, but she broke the school record

with a 17:57, good for fifth place. She became the first Estancia runner

to post a sub-18:00 time.

Costa Mesa’s Sarah Cotten turned in the best time for the Mustangs with a

19:01.

For Estancia’s boys cross country team, the third attempt was the

sweetest. Not only did it win its third straight PCL meet, but the Eagles

beat CdM for the first time in three tries.

“Yesterday, the kids were bouncing on a trampoline and one kid hurt his

shoulder,” Estancia Coach Charlie Appell said. “There was no usual

pre-race jitters. Maybe that said something.”

“This was probably the best performance they had all year.”

It was CdM’s Travis Beardslee and Josh Yelsey who raced out to an early

lead, and they won the race easily. But behind those two, Estancia

managed to maintain its pack fairly well.

Humberto Rojas finished third to lead the Eagles. Laguna Beach had two

runners race right next to Rojas and Estancia’s Luis Segoviano.

But Segoviano and Estancia Mike Casillas, Danny Vargas and Abe Inouye

finished in the top ten to clinch the win.

Behind the top two finishers, the Sea Kings’ next highest placer was Jud

Heitbrink at 14th.

“They threw out my game plan in the first 800 meters,” Sumner said. “We

wanted to stick with the Estancia runners for a while and then overcome

them. But they blasted out, and got picked off at the end.”

For Costa Mesa, Mike Williams turned in the best time with a 17:27, good

for 21st.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

(at Irvine Park)

Girls

Team: 1. Corona del Mar 26, 2. University 44, 3. Northwood 89, 4.

Estancia 106, 5. Laguna Beach 125, 6. Costa Mesa 156.

Individual: 1. Howard (Uni), 17:43; 2. Cummins (CdM), 17:47; 3. Quinlan

(CdM) 17:53; 4. Manafian (Uni), 17:57; 5. Huipe (Est), 17:57; 6. L. Morse

(CdM), 17:58; 7. K. Morse (CdM), 18:00; 8. Hossfeld (CdM), 18:00; 9. Chou

(Uni), 18:23; 10. Long (CdM), 18:30.

Boys

Team: 1. Estancia 34, 2. Corona del Mar 44, 3. Laguna Beach 58, 4.

University 5. Costa Mesa 134.

Individual: 1. Beardslee (CdM), 15:18; 2. Yelsey (CdM), 3. Rojas (Est),

15:40; 4. Moore (LB), 15:43; 5. Zuckert (LB), 16:00; 6. Segoviano (Est),

16:13; 7. Casillas (Est), 16:17; 8. Vargas (Est), 16:17; 9. Peel (LB),

16:22; 10. Inouye (Est), 16:17.