Corona del Mar shines

Steve Virgen

The Corona del Mar High boys and girls track and field teams won

Pacific Coast League titles in entirely different ways Friday at

Irvine High.

The CdM girls, led by triple-winner Anne St. Geme, cruised to

their second straight crown by winning the PCL finals with 195

points, 104 more than second-place Tesoro. On the other hand, nothing

came easy for the Sea King boys.

The CdM boys finished second at the PCL finals, but because they

went undefeated during the league dual meets they won the title for

the second straight year. Northwood, which was third in the regular

season, won the PCL finals with 146 points, while the Sea Kings edged

Tesoro for second place.

Corona del Mar scored 114.5 points, while the Titans had 111.

Senior Chris Ringstrom went down with a left hamstring injury in the

1,600-meter relay, but clearly his efforts before the final event is

what helped lead the Sea Kings to the second-place finish.

Ringstrom won the 100 in 11.30 seconds, 200 in 22.22 and 400 in

50.16. CdM Coach Bill Sumner called Ringstrom’s back-to-back

victories in the 400 and 100 nearly impossible.

“A true sprinter can’t do what he did,” Sumner said. “But a rough

sprinter like Chris can do it. It’s like the second half of a soccer

game and he needs to give it his all. That’s one of the toughest

doubles around.”

St. Geme, the sophomore sensation, also won three individual PCL

titles, defending her championships in the 1,600 and 800, while

adding the 3,200 to her collection. She ran to win, not for personal

records finishing the 1,600 in 5:04.63, the 800 in 2:15.06 and the

3,200 in 11:39.68.

Senior Kevin Artz doubled, winning the 1,600 in 5:04.63 and 800 in

1:58.88, a personal best. Andrew Wong won the triple jump (41 feet, 8

inches), with a personal record by more than a foot. He also won the

pole vault, yet it was not scored in the PCL finals. However, Wong

advances to the CIF Southern Section Division III preliminaries with

a 13-foot clearance.

Sophomore Kelly Morgan won the girls 400 in 57.17, and anchored the winning 400 relay (49.59) that included Kinzie Kramer, Melissa

Swigert and Whitney Weidner. Morgan also anchored the victorious

1,600 relay (4:04.32), which also featured Sara Claster, Alex

Tobiessen and Swigert.

Freshman Hilary May, who finished second in the 1,600, 800 and

3,200, was one of several CdM athletes who qualified for the CIF

Division III preliminaries at Gahr High May 15.

Lindsay Ensign finished in a three-way tie in the high jump with a

5-0 clearance.

According to the results, the Sea Kings had a great day, yet it

was somewhat tarnished when Ringstrom appeared to pull his left

hamstring in the final event of the day. Sumner said it might have

been a cramp, since Ringstrom worked so hard. However, the longtime

CdM coach was concerned.

“If he’s hurt, it’s my fault,” Sumner said. “That comes back to me

because I put him in those events. You could tell we went after [the

boys PCL finals championship]. When you have a shot you go for it.”

In addition to Ringstrom, the CdM boys will also be represented at

CIF by Hogan Meyer who also qualified for CIF in the pole vault,

finishing second (12-6).

Eemaan Jalili finished third in the 110 high hurdles (16.69).

Bryce Beshore tied for third with teammates Steve Minard and Andrew

Beck who all cleared 5-4 in the high jump.

Zach Wishengrad finished third in the shot put (45-2) and Avery

Fenton took third in the discus (133-9).

On the girls side, freshman Tiffany Liu finished second in the 100

hurdles (16.60), second in the triple jump (33-6 1/2) and third in

the long jump (17-1 1/2).

Swigert finished second in the 200 (26.37) and third in the 400

(59.61). Weidner finished second in the 100 in 13.0.

Ensign finished second in the shot put (32-3) and Ann Klunder took

third (29-11).