Girls cross country: Sea Kings ready to take their shot

Richard Dunn

FRESNO - How the chips fall in the CIF Southern Section finals in

girls cross country isn’t necessarily how things will materialize in the

state championships.

That’s part of the philosophy for Coach Bill Sumner’s Corona del Mar

High Sea Kings as they compete Saturday in the CIF State Division III

Championships at Woodward Park.

Corona del Mar, making its 16th consecutive appearance in the state

meet, has won three state championships, including the last two Division

IV titles in Fresno.

Last week, the Sea Kings were edged out by La Canada for the Southern

Section Division III championship by a whopping three points, but Sumner

is hoping this year’s squad will resemble that of the 1992 team.

“I had a team one year (‘92) that was third in CIF, finishing about 30

points out of first, but we went up to the state meet and won the state

(Division III) title,” Sumner said. “It really comes down to the fourth

and fifth runners. We can still win state, even though we’re ranked

(eighth). We know the road to the state meet and we’re going to take a

shot at it.”

The Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings, led by individual CIF

Division III champion Julie Allen and runner-up Becky Cummins, are young

and inexperienced aside from Allen and Cummins.

“But the good news is that I’ve been there before and they trust me,”

Sumner said. “If the kids trust me and perform well, we’re going to do

well. I know what the patterns have to be like.”

The Sea Kings will compete Saturday at 11:45 a.m. in the state

Division III meet, in which Estancia junior Diana Rosete will run as an

individual.

Campolindo of the North Coast Section is the top-ranked team in the

division, followed by Clovis East (Central), San Lorenzo Valley (Central

Coast), St. Francis (Central Coast), Harbor (Central Coast), University

City (San Diego), La Canada and CdM.

“I have a team that has matured very well in a short period of time,”

Sumner said. “We have Melissa Swigert, who was a sprinter in junior high

who tried out for cross country and now she’s our No. 5 runner. And

there’s (freshman) Ahlia Kattan, who came through the P.E. system and had

no clue what cross country was, and now she’s our No. 3 runner. (Kattan)

just showed up to cross country during the summer, so she’s brand new to

distance running.”

Allen, who clocked a 17:12 in the CIF Southern Section preliminaries

two weeks ago before winning the CIF Division III title last week (in

17:41.7), will be making her fourth trip to the state meet.

Cummins, meanwhile, who was second last week in 18:24.6, “has been

running off the charts,” Sumner said.

Taryn Kawata, a sophomore, is Corona del Mar’s fourth runner, rounding

out the team’s usual top five.

Sophomore Kinzie Kramer and senior Katherine Morse are hoping for

breakthrough performances Saturday and finish among the Sea Kings’

top-five scorers.

Rosete, who clocked a personal-course-best 19:03.5 in the CIF Division

III finals last week to finish sixth overall, has “come out of nowhere”

this season, according to Estancia Coach Charlie Appell.