State of domination

Joseph Boo

WALNUT - Saturday morning’s CIF cross country finals at Mt. San

Antonio College was less a race and more of a coronation for Corona del

Mar’s girls cross country team.

Not only did the Sea Kings win the Division IV race, it annihilated the

field and archrival Nordhoff to win their second straight CIF

championship on a rain-slicked course that produced unusually fast times

for the conditions.

“It feels great,” CdM junior Katie Quinlan said about the title. “We were

looking forward to this all year.”

CdM, No. 1 in Division IV, placed five runners in the top eight in team

scoring, ran the second fastest team time of the day, ran one of the

fastest times in course history, and its score of 24 was 38 points better

than traditional powerhouse Nordhoff.

“I actually wanted a 40-point victory,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner said. “We

wanted to send a message. Not to Nordhoff, but to ourselves. I wanted

them to know that they’re really talented and they better use it.”

Liz Morse led the talent show contestants with a second place finish.

With first place runner’s team Christina Jimenez of Granite Hills not

entered, Morse captured the top spot in scoring.

Nordhoff won the second spot, but that was pretty much it. Jenny Cummins,

Diana Hossfeld and Quinlan came in after fourth place finisher Liz Huipe

of Estancia. Katherine Morse was eighth in team scoring to wrap up the

title for CdM.

Nordhoff’s pack still finished in the top 20, and the race was close for

the first half. But CdM promptly blew the race open after the second

hill.

CdM also goes to Fresno on Saturday to look for its first state

championship. Last year, the Sea Kings finished second to Nordhoff by one

point at the Woodward Park course.

“There better not be a letdown,” Sumner said. “We know what happened last

year. Kids forget quickly, but the adults will remind them.”

After winning her heat last week in the preliminaries, Newport Harbor’s

Amber Steen won the Division II individual championship by 0.65 seconds.

Trailing for nearly the entire race, Steen surpassed Agoura’s Laura

Jakosky in the last 50 meters and barely held on at the finish line.

“For the first couple of miles, I stay back, pretty mellow,” Steen said.

“I don’t like to take the lead at the start.”

“(Jakosky’s) a great downhill runner. I felt I was going faster, but I

wasn’t gaining any ground. I thought this could be our last race, so I

went all out.”

Newport Harbor will have another race, advancing to the state finals

after a one-year absence by the skin of its teeth. The Sailors tied

Barstow for the fourth and final spot. Because Newport Harbor’s No. 6

runner, Carrie Foss, finished ahead of Barstow’s No. 6, Newport Harbor

won the tiebreaker.

The close win avenges last year’s near miss, where the Sailors missed the

state meet by one spot.

“Sonya (Mechkor) and Amber (Steen) would’ve probably gone to state as

individuals,” Foss said. “To go as a team, it’s very good.”

“Obviously, you can’t get any closer,” Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit

said.

Tweit felt this was one of his team’s best performance.

“Sonya Mechkor decided she wanted to run a 19:00 flat, and she ran an

18:59.99. And Ashley Steen. She’s not one of our normal scorers, but she

was fifth today. She made a 30 second improvement from last time. She

really stepped up. All of them did. They all deserve a pat on the back.”

“I’m very happy we qualified for state. Last year, we missed by one spot,

and it would have been heartbreaking to miss close again,” said Tweit.

Huipe will also advance to the state meet for the second consecutive

year.

“This is definitely one of her best races she ran all year,” Estancia

Coach Charlie Appell said. “She gutted this one out.”

“Liz ran 50 seconds faster than her personal record on the course.”

Huipe, who finished 29th at state last year, hopes for an improved

showing.

“I want to get in the top 20,” she said. “Last year, I was 29th, but I

think I can make the top 20.”

Appell thinks Huipe can do even better though.

“She should be in the top 10,” he said.

Estancia, as a team, finished sixth in Division IV, winning a tiebreaker

over Laguna Beach because Carmen McNeil beat the Artists’ sixth runner.

“Our middle girls did an excellent job,” Appell said. “They all ran a

minute faster than their p.r.”

CIF FINALS

(at Mt. San Antonio College)

Corona del Mar

2. Liz Morse, 18:30; 5. Jenny Cummins, 18:54; 6. Diana Hossfeld, 18:55;

7. Katie Quinlan, 18:59; 9. Katherine Morse; 15. Jill Quye, 19:26; 22.

Season Meservey, 19:39.

Estancia

4. Liz Huipe, 18:48; 46. Maria Arroyo, 20:45; 49. 20:55; 54. Stephanie

Melendez, 21:02; 73. Katelyn Aronson, 21:58; 84. Carmen McNeil, 22:31;

93. Anna Perez, 23:39.

Newport Harbor

1. Amber Steen, 17:51; 12. Sonya Mechkor, 18:59; 49. Lynn Rinek, 20:07;

52. Natalie St. Andre, 20:09; 56. Ashley Steen, 20:20; 69. Carrie Foss,

20:57; 82. Erin Friedman, 21:22.