Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Becky Cummins

Steve Virgen

There once was this chubby girl who watched her older sisters run

for the Corona del Mar High cross country team. She dreamed to be a Sea

King, to run like Christy, and then later, Jenny.

Today, little Becky Cummins, who described herself as a “chubby kid”

who wanted to run for CdM, is making her dreams come true. Her ascension

to one of the CIF Southern Section Division III’s elite runners has come

from that motivation that started at a young age. It didn’t hurt that

Christy and Jenny completed quite successful careers while at CdM. That,

too, inspired Becky Cummins.

“I guess you could say I’m a little overly competitive when it comes

to the sisters, but hey oh well,” said the Daily Pilot Athlete of the

Week. “Both of my sisters have been Athlete of the Week. That’s kind of

strange, but in a good way. It’s another thing I’ve always wanted to use

to measure up to them, that I wanted to be one of the best.”

So far the CdM junior is making her claim as the best of the Cummins

sisters. She proved that with her runner-up showing in the Division III

race of the CIF Finals Nov. 17 at Mt. San Antonio College. Cummins began

the race aggressively, relaxed on the uphill runs and made up for that

with a strong kick on the downhill. After the last hill, Cummins made her

move and finished in 18:24.6 to help the Sea Kings finish second in

Division III.

“My whole life I have been measured by my sisters and I’m known as the

youngest Cummins girl,” she said and then added with mild sarcasm: “I

wouldn’t call it pressure. It’s not a big deal. There is a certain degree

of support from my family for me to be the best I can be, to put it

mildly.”

Cummins’ desire to outdo her sisters also resulted in a personal-best

time in the Pacific Coast League finals, a 17:34, which also helped the

Sea Kings win the title Nov. 2 at Irvine Regional Park.

Before the meet, she took a marker and wrote on her shoes Jenny’s best

time on the course (17:41).

“Jenny came home (from Yale) last weekend and saw that,” Cummins said.

“She laughed and thought I was weird.”

“This year, was the first year I’ve been on the team alone, my sister

(Jenny) hasn’t been on the team,” she continued. “I’m the older kid now,

and people are looking up to me. I’m an upperclassmen and I need to be

responsible.”

Over the summer, Cummins developed her running skills and improved her

stamina with cross training, including swimming and weightlifting. She

also focused on becoming one of the leaders for the young Sea Kings. She

is the only junior on the team, which means she will likely be the only

senior on the squad next year, when Corona’s current No. 1, Julie Allen,

will be gone.

“Becky has been working harder to get to No. 1 and in the process this

is what the result is,” Sumner said of Cummins’ remarkable improvement.

“The younger girls (on CdM) are thinking, she is not beating Julie Allen

but she is beating all the other people, and the kids notice it. That

shows the work she has done has paid off. She would finish No. 12 (in

most races) last year.”

Cummins will look to continue to display her improvement as the Sea

Kings compete in the State Finals today at Woodward Park in Fresno.