Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Season Meservey - Leading the pack

Tony Altobelli

It’s known by family members and coaches of Corona del Mar High

cross country runner Season Meservey as, “The Look.”

“She starts out great and she’s looking like she’s going to break

every record ever made in cross country,” Coach Bill Sumner said with a

laugh. “Then, at around the two-mile mark or so, her face starts to

contort and I start to get worried like I ought to call 911 or something.

But that’s just how she is when she’s in that zone. When she finishes,

she’s all smiles, so as long as she smiles coming across the finish line,

everything’s fine in my world.”

But one thing’s for sure, it’s not a look of surrender.

“I feel sorry if runners out there misinterpret that look,” Sumner

said.

So far Sumner’s world has been fine and the CdM junior has had a large

part to do with it.

In last week’s season-opening Laguna Hills Invitational, Meservey used

her trademark opening kick and posted a winning time of 18:49, the only

racer to come in under 19 minutes.

“It was a good time, but right now, I still have more work to do,”

Meservey said. “I need more strength in the hills and my kick in the last

half-mile needs some work.”

Which leads us back to, “The Look.” What exactly is that?

“I guess I squint my face up and everyone makes fun of it,” Meservey

said. “I guess I think that by doing that I’ll run faster or something.”

Meservey comes from a long line of family athletic success.

“Her grandfather played semi-pro football back in the 1950s and her

grandmother was a member of the Army women’s basketball team,” Season’s

father, Mike, said.

When she’s not hitting the hills, Meservey also plays on the girls

basketball team for the Sea Kings.

“That first week of basketball is always the worst,” Meservey said.

“You lose weight in cross country and when basketball comes around, I get

banged up a little bit from the bigger players.”

According to Sumner, her faster-than-normal start is a good thing, as

long as it’s done properly.

“Some coaches choose not to let their runners go out fast,” Sumner

said. “With Season, that’s her normal, natural running style. So I

decided that if she’s going to do that, it’s my job to make sure she’s

doing it right.”

With even more depth than last year’s CIF Southern Section Division IV

champions, Meservey thinks that her fast starts and the rest of the

pack’s solid finishes complement each other.

“I think I help them come out faster than normal and I know they help

me with my finish,” Meservey said. “It’s a nice mixture. All us girls are

close and that’s nice to have.”

Last year’s Pacific Coast League champion in the 3,200 meters,

Meservey will now attempt to take over the reign that has been left

behind by Princeton University’s Liz Morse.

“When we go easy, she can go easy with the best of them,” Sumner

quipped. “But when we’re running hard, she’s waiting for us at the end of

it. I was real pleased with how she ran last week and I’m expecting some

great things this year from her.”