Sea Kings sparkle at Sunny Hills

The Corona del Mar High girls cross country team didn’t just finish

with the best team time in CIF Division III in Saturday’s Sunny Hills

invitational.

The CdM girls combined to run faster than the other 36 schools in

all divisions at Craig Regional Park in Fullerton. CdM’s boys team,

meanwhile, claimed the Division III title and finished fifth among

all divisions.

Junior Anne St. Geme (18:43), sophomore Hilary May (19:09),

freshman Allison Damon (19:29) and senior Ahlia Kattan (20:00) all

won their respective Division III races while sophomore Nicole

Slykhous (19:45) and senior Devon Ahearn (20:07) each took second in

their respective races.

CdM sophomore Christie St. Geme finished in 20:04.

Brea’s Ann Gustafson finished with the top girls time (18:26).

The Sea King girls’ team time of 97:06 was 18 seconds faster than

second-place Brea, CdM Coach Bill Sumner said.

“We were favored to win Division III, but I didn’t know we would

finish with the top team time of the day,” Sumner said. “We had a

good day.”

Jack Turner (16:35), Kenneth Wong (16:35) and Ryan Guthrie (16:46)

placed 1-2-3, respectively, in the junior race while sophomore Tommy

Hutchison won the sophomore race in 17:10. Sophomore Tim Scott

(17:18) finished second to Hutchison while seniors Andrew Boyd

(18:12) and Cliff Taylor (18:13) rounded out CdM’s contingent.

The CdM boys ran 18 seconds faster than Whittier Christian to

capture the Division III team title.

“[Turner, Wong and Guthrie] are coming into their own,” Sumner

said.

Estancia’s Gomez wins crown

* Freshman Hector Gomez ran a personal best and placed first in

the freshman boys race to lead the Estancia High boys cross country

team at the Rosemead invitational at Rosemead High Saturday.

Gomez claimed the overall freshman title in 17:30, leading the

Eagles’ boys and girls contingent that competed in four divisions

(freshman through senior) in the 25-team event.

Seventeen of 30 Eagle runners earned medals, Estancia Coach

Charlie Appell said.

Alex Cahuantzi took second (15:50) in the senior boys race

followed in the division by Ernie Castaneda (ninth, 16:23) Geo Rodea (28th, 17:31), Ben Morales (42nd, 18:08), Curtis Fisher (47th, 18:41)

and Eric Palafox (49th, 18:50).

Estancia’s Jose Garcia (17:10) placed fourth in the sophomore boys

followed by Enrique Vivar (ninth, 17:27), Kenneth Zich (18th, 17:47),

24th place Ibriham Muradian (24th, 17:59), Taylor McClanahan (27th,

18:11), Ryan Whites (92nd, 21:08), James Kasper (95th, 21:13) and

Aldo Capistran (24:09).

Estancia’s Paula Negrete finished fifth (21:00) in the freshmen

girls race while teammates Eunice Rodriguez (sixth, 21:16), Carina

Rios (18th, 22:21), Jasmin Calderon (37th, 24:42) and Karla Luna

(55th, 27:50) also placed.

Cesar Casillas finished fifth (17:39) in the freshmen boys race

followed by teammates Ricardo Medina (ninth, 18:24), Andy Navarrete

(14th, 18:39), Joe Ludlow (56th, 21:30) and Oscar Lara (63rd, 21:42).

Sydney Barloon took sixth (20:00), running a personal best in the

sophomore girls race, followed by Liz Moreno (57th, 27:13).

Estancia senior Lucy Leon placed 18th in the senior girls division

in 21:13 while Okairy Lomeli took 20th in 21:19.

Jesse Rincon placed 46th in the junior girls division in 25:49.

Appell was especially impressed with Gomez and Cahuantzi’s

performances.

“Alex did well after [encountering stomach problems at the Laguna

Hills Invitational Sept. 11,” Appell said.

McKeon breaks mark

* For the second consecutive Saturday, Sage Hill School freshman

standout Katie McKeon set another school record in 20:01 as she won

the girls Division IV race at the Woodbridge invitational. She ran 35

seconds faster than last week’s previous school-record time at the

Laguna Hills invitational.

Sage Hill’s Connor Rose finished ninth in the freshmen boys

Division IV race in 17:41.