Artz, St. Geme win PCL titles
Steve Virgen
Senior Kevin Artz and sophomore Annie St. Geme showed what cross
country should be all about at the Pacific Coast League finals at
Irvine Regional Park Thursday.
Artz and St. Geme ran their best races of the season to earn PCL
individual titles. St. Geme, along with freshman Hillary May’s
second-place finish and senior Taryn Kawata’s eighth-place
contribution, led the Sea Kings to the PCL team championship.
CdM has won six league titles in a row, including five straight in
the PCL. The Sea King boys finished second to Laguna Beach, which
scored 35 points to CdM’s 46.
CdM Coach Bill Sumner’s girls team earned 32 points, while Tesoro
finished second with 51. There were five of the seven girls who
completed personal-best performances, including May, Kawata, Devon
Ahearn and Annie’s younger sister, Christine St. Geme.
After overcoming a groin injury early in the season, which caused
her to miss the first month of training, Annie St. Geme finished in
17:47 to win her first league title in cross country. Last year, she
was plagued by a hip injury throughout the season and never gained
her true form.
But, St. Geme has avoided injuries as of late and quickly turned
around her season.
“Last year was a whole different ballgame,” she said. “I injured
my hip last year, but with this injury this year I learned how to
track it a lot better. I knew how to work through it. I don’t feel
[the pain] at all anymore.”
St. Geme maintained a steady pace through the first mile, then
picked up speed to overtake the lead and hold it over the final two
miles. May, who finished in 18:20, also ran a smart race, and was one
of seven CdM runners who finished in the top 16.
Kawata finished in 18:50, while junior Melissa Swigert (19:04),
Ahearn (19:11), junior Ahlia Kattan (19:15) and Christine St. Geme
(19:25) followed, finishing, 11th, 12th, 13th and 16th, respectively.
While the CdM girls were undefeated in the PCL, the Sea King boys
team were in a three-way tie with Laguna Beach and Northwood, heading
into Thursday’s finals.
Artz won, while Jack Turner, who finished sixth (16:13), and
sophomore Ryan Guthrie, who finished 10th (16:15), also finished with
all-league honors, but the Breakers placed four runners in the top
nine and gained the narrow victory over the Sea Kings.
“You have to hand it to Laguna Beach,” Sumner said. “They ran
well.”
Corona’s bright spot turned out to be Artz, who pumped his fist
and shouted, “Yes,” as he crossed the finish line in 15:26.
“It felt incredible,” Artz said.
In addition to Artz, CdM also received solid performances from
senior Brandon Borcoman (14th in 16:31), sophomore Kenneth Wong (15th
in 16:31), sophomore Garrett Prechel (19th in 16:43) and junior
Jeritt Thayer (21st in 16:52), who was a bit under the weather.
Guthrie, Wong and Prechel earned personal records.
Both CdM teams advance to the CIF Southern Section Division III
preliminaries Nov. 15 at Mt. San Antonio College. The CdM girls are
ranked No. 2 in the CIF Division III poll.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.