Primed for Masters

Chris Yemma

After improving in their respective events all the way to the CIF

Southern Section divisional track and field finals, eight

Newport-Mesa athletes will be perfecting their abilities at today’s

prestigious Masters meet at Cerritos College.

Headlining the local athletes striving for qualification to the

state meet in Sacramento are two distance runners, a high jumper and

a sprinter.

Corona del Mar High junior Annie St. Geme, a two-time state-meet

qualifier, will be running the 800- and 1,600-meter races after

claiming Division III titles in both events Saturday. She also

qualified in the 3,200 but chose to drop it to focus on the other two

races.

St. Geme finished sixth in the state last season in the 1,600, the

event herself and Sea Kings’ Coach Bill Sumner have deemed her main

focus.

But winning a Masters title isn’t her main goal, Sumner said.

“She told me that if she doesn’t win Masters, it’s not a big

deal,” said Sumner, whose girls team finished tied for first in

Division III at Saturday’s divisional finals. “It’s not what were

looking for, for her. She’s saving her ace for the state

championships. Everything else is practice for that.”

St. Geme, Newport-Mesa’s most decorated runner with back-to-back

Division III titles in the 1,600 and 800, along with back-to-back

appearances at the CIF State meet, will be joined by teammates

Melissa Swigert and Sarah Cummings.

Cummings initially qualified in the second alternate spot in the

1,600 for the Masters, but after Newport Harbor’s Whitney Blue and

Saugus’ Shannon Murakami dropped the event, the CdM sophomore

received the nod.

Swigert, a senior, qualified in the eighth spot in the 400 with a

56.15 clocking. She is fresh off Division III runner-up finishes in

the 400 and 200, though her time in the latter event was just off a

Masters’ qualification.

Blue, a junior, is currently one of Newport-Mesa’s most

accomplished long distance runners. The Division II champion in the

3,200, Blue has claimed first at both the cross country and track and

field Orange County championships this season. She had the

fourth-best cross country time at the state meet in the fall and

enters today’s contest the second seed.

Costa Mesa junior Jasmin Day enters today’s high jump competition

the top seed after jumping 5 feet, 9 inches at Saturday’s finals to

post the top mark of the day and her second-straight Division III

title. The eighth-place finisher at last season’s state meet, Day has

added one inch this season to her best jump last year.

Sage Hill junior Zach Chandy enters today’s boys 400 as the third

seed after clocking a lifetime-best 47.74 Saturday to claim the

Division IV title. He will be up against Long Beach Poly sophomore

Bryshon Nellum -- the top seed with a time of 47.28 -- and La Sierra

junior Ennis Jones, entering with 47.60.

Chandy will also be running the 200, coming off a Division IV

title Saturday.

“He’s certainly got a lot of good momentum going,” Sage Coach Nate

Miller said. “I think in the 400 particularly he has a good shot. His

time is really competitive.”

Miller added that Chandy’s starting block slipped in the 400

Saturday, which could have caused for some lost time.

Newport Harbor teammates Bo Taylor, a junior, and senior Trevor

Theriot head into today’s shot put competition the fourth and seventh

seeds, respectively. Taylor and Theriot paced the Sailors with a 3-4

finish in the Division II event Saturday. Taylor will also be

competing in today’s discus.

Sage Hill’s Laura Gordon is the first alternate for the girls

triple jump, but as of press time, no one had dropped the event.

Gordon will attend today’s meet, Miller said.

Field and running events begin at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.,

respectively. The top five finishers in each event will advance to

the state meet June 3-4 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.