Local competitors primed for CIF finals

Chris Yemma

The waiting game has been in play this past week for the Corona del

Mar High girls track and field team, but it could end nicely

Saturday.

Nine CdM girls will be filling in 12 individual entries, as well

as two relay teams for the CIF Southern Section divisional finals at

Cerritos College, where nine other Newport-Mesa athletes will also be

competing.

The CdM girls, who finished third in Division III last season,

were the top Division III team at the Orange County championships

earlier this season. They are now looking for a CIF crown. Their last

team title came in 2001. They also won in 2000.

“I would say this team is as loaded as we’ve ever been,” CdM Coach

Bill Sumner said. “It’s the best team CdM has ever taken to CIF. If

we’ve ever had a chance, this is the team.”

CdM athletes will be joined in Division III by Costa Mesa junior

Jasmin Day, along with Estancia teammates Ernesto Castaneda, a

junior, and senior Bryce McKendry.

Newport Harbor juniors Bo Taylor and Whitney Blue, along with

senior Trevor Theriot, are competing in Division II, while junior

Zach Chandy and senior Laura Gordon are representing Sage Hill in

Division IV.

Senior Andrew Wong is lone CdM boys representative.

But with the biggest contingent in the finals, the CdM girls are

out for a team title. Led by junior defending 1,600- and 800-meter

champion Annie St. Geme, a sixth-place finisher in the state 1,600

last season, the Sea Kings are loaded in the distance and

middle-distance events.

St. Geme, sophomore Hilary May, freshman Allison Damon and

sophomore Sarah Cummings cruised to four of the top five qualifying

spots in the 1,600 at Saturday’s preliminaries, while St. Geme, May

and Damon also qualified in the 800.

Additionally, St. Geme and Cummings qualified in the 3,200.

Senior Melissa Swigert will be competing in the 200 and 400, while

also running on the 400 and 1,600 relays.

She posted the No. 2 qualifying time in the 400 and qualified

third in the 200.

Sophomore Tiffany Liu, as well as juniors Kelly Morgan, Meagan

Benbow and Alex Tobiessen, will also be competing.

Newport’s Taylor and Blue, along with Costa Mesa’s Day and Sage’s

Chandy, have posted some of the top marks in their events and will be

aiming for CIF titles.

Taylor, who finished fourth in Division II in the shot put last

season, qualified first in the discus and second in the shot put at

the preliminaries Saturday. His qualifying mark in the discus was a

personal-best 179 feet, 4 inches.

“I would say it comes down to three guys in the division in discus

and shot,” Newport boys coach Nowell Kay said. “It all depends on

who’s on top of their game.”

Blue, the cross country and 3,200 county champion, qualified first

in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. She posted the fourth-best time

at the CIF State cross country meet in the fall to finish second in

Division II. But she more recently topped cross country state

champion Alma Escobar of Corona in the 3,200 at the Arcadia

invitational.

Day will be looking to defend her Division III high jump title on

her quest to reach the state meet a second straight year. Chandy will

be looking for two CIF titles after qualifying first in both the 200

and 400. Chandy finished second in both events in last season’s

Division IV finals.

The top nine marks from all divisions earn spots in the Masters

meet May 28.