Who’s the best runner around?

Steve Virgen

The best of the best, locally, will be competing in the 35th annual

Orange County Championships today, and that is why Costa Mesa High

cross country coach Joe Busi will enter his girls team in the

sweepstakes race at 9:30 a.m. at Irvine Regional Park.

Busi wants to find out what his team is all about. The Mustangs

have been coasting through the Golden West League and have not found

a challenge yet, Busi said.

“We need to see if the girls are willing to produce,” the Costa

Mesa coach said. “It’s time to see how the girls respond to this

challenge. Most definitely, this is a test, on what they plan on

doing from here on out.”

Costa Mesa is one of five schools in the Newport-Mesa area that

will be finding out what they are made of as teams prepare for league

finals.

The Mustangs are led by senior Christine Bjelland and sophomore

Jasmin Day. They will compete in the sweepstakes race, the highest

division, which will also feature highly regarded Corona del Mar.

Senior Taryn Kawata and sophomore Annie St. Geme are two standouts

among a deep team for the Sea Kings.

The Newport Harbor girls will race in Division II at 9:45 a.m. The

Sailors were without top runners Lauren Paul and Courtney Marshall,

yet still defeated four of their five opponents in a Sea View League

six-way meet Oct. 9, also at Irvine Park.

Sophomore Whitney Blue continues to show remarkable improvement,

as she was Newport’s top finisher, clocking an 18:53 to place sixth

among the Sea View League individuals.

Sage Hill, led by freshman Mollie McGann, will compete in Division

II at 10 a.m.

The Estancia girls will not compete today because they ran last

week in the Central Park Invitational, where they took second place.

On the boys side, the Division II race, which starts at 10:30

a.m., will feature three schools from the Newport-Mesa District,

including CdM, Newport Harbor and Estancia. Senior Kevin Artz leads a

balanced CdM squad, that should receive strong competition from the

Sailors and the Eagles. Senior Nick Miller is among the leaders for

Newport, while junior Alex Cahuantzi is Estancia’s top runner.

Costa Mesa, led by senior Marco Huipe, and Sage Hill, led by

senior Chris Chiboucas, will race in Division III, which starts at

10:45 a.m.