CdM’s St. Geme a real jewel on track

Chris Yemma

On a team labeled the best group of girls the coach has ever had in

his 21 years with the program -- a team that is loaded with top

talent in the county, state and country -- being the top individual

athlete on it is quite an achievement, to say the least.

Enter junior Annie St. Geme of the Corona del Mar High girls track

and field team, daughter of former 5,000-meter national champion Ceci

St. Geme.

California’s sixth-best 1,600 runner last year as a sophomore, the

younger St. Geme is on pace this year to be the top dog in the state.

Her latest, greatest achievements? Anchoring the record-breaking

distance medley relay team at the Arcadia invitational last Saturday

and the record-breaking four-mile relay team at the Mt. San Antonio

College Relays Friday night.

On a track and field team that has a standout athlete in almost

every event, St. Geme is a gem among diamonds.

“She’s the best girl on this team,” Corona del Mar Coach Bill

Sumner said. “Now remember what you’re talking about. We have a very

good team. We have two of the top 10 mile runners in the state. But

Annie is our No. 1 girl.”

The distance medley relay team at Arcadia, assembled and running

together for the first time, broke a CdM school record and the

Arcadia invitational record while notching the third fastest time in

state history and the current fastest time in the nation.

Consisting of 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600, St. Geme ran the last and

longest leg, keeping the gap sizable for the blistering finish in

front of an estimated 7,500 people. Sophomore Hilary May opened the

race, followed by senior Melissa Swigert and freshman Allison Damon.

“[St. Geme] anchored probably the hardest leg of the course,”

Sumner said. “Of course, the girls gave her an 80-yard lead, but it’s

very difficult to run alone.”

The medley was run shortly after St. Geme and May had competed in

the individual mile event. St. Geme finished third and May finished

sixth, both in times they have bettered before.

In addition, St. Geme and May were the last two legs of the more

recent Mt. Sac record-breaking four-mile relay team Friday night,

which also clocked the fastest time in the nation this year.

Both runners, though, are used to running with the pace of the

race. That is, they stick with the leader until the last half lap or

so and then break out. The first two laps of the individual mile at

Arcadia, both May and St. Geme said, were an unusually slow pace.

“What I need to learn, is if it’s not going the way it should be,

then I need to take it into my own hands,” St. Geme said. “Coach

keeps telling me to do that and so do all the [mile runners] on the

team.”

And who would have known, there is a strategy in running four laps

around a track. Sumner has entered St. Geme and May into as many mile

races as possible this year in hopes of having them find the right

strategy, while also hoping that by the time the CIF State meet rolls

along, St. Geme will be in peak form.

“There’s so many different ways to run a mile and you never know

what type of race it’s going to be,” St. Geme said.