Newport-Mesa teams looking for titles

Today’s CIF Southern Section cross country championships at Mt. San

Antonio College will be showcasing numerous Newport-Mesa teams that

are looking to add CIF title banners to their collections in their

gymnasiums.

The Corona del Mar High girls team has a decent chance to take

home the title in the Division III race at 8:45 a.m. They will be

competing with the Costa Mesa girls, a surprise qualifier in last

Saturday’s preliminaries. Estancia’s Sydney Barloon is competing

individually in the same race among the 13 total schools.

The Newport Harbor girls will be running in Division II at 8:25.

The CdM and Estancia boys run at 8:05 a.m. in Division III and Sage

Hill’s Katie McKeon will be individually running in the Division V

race at 9:25 a.m.

“This is the best girls team at CdM in 10 years,” Sea Kings Coach

Bill Sumner said. “We have a legitimate chance.”

Sumner said he compares these championships to winning the

National League in baseball, with the state competition being the

World Series.

“We’re cautiously looking for a CIF title,” he said. “It’s a

two-step process; we need to win CIF and get to state healthy. This

isn’t the last race.”

Newport Harbor girls No. 1 runner Whitney Blue is a favorite to

finish in the top three in Division II. Blue holds the second-best

time at Mt. SAC this season at 17 minutes, 59 seconds. Serrano’s

Kauren Tarver holds the fastest time at 17:41.

West Torrance, Edison, Brea Olinda and Mater Dei have all been

ranked No. 1 in Division II at some point this season, and one of

those schools is likely to take home the team title.