Locals advance to state meet

Chris Yemma

Annie St. Geme wasn’t even out for a CIF Southern Section Masters

Meet championship Friday at Cerritos College. Since the beginning of

the track and field season, she has had her eyes on just one race.

Now the time has finally arrived, as the Corona del Mar High

junior broke away during her last lap of the 1,600 meters to easily

win the event, marking her first Masters Meet title and her third

straight qualification to the state championships.

Still, as she has been saying all season long, it’s just a

precursor to the CIF State title.

“It’s just steps to state,” said St. Geme, who clocked in at 4

minutes, 52.81 seconds, nearly two seconds ahead of second-place

finisher Kauren Tarver (4:54.33) of Serrano. “[Coach Bill Sumner]

wanted me to move ahead in my last lap, so I kept telling myself to

save a little for the last lap.”

She did just that, sticking with the herd for the first three laps

and then making her move in the last 400.

St. Geme, along with teammate Sarah Cummings, led a pack of

Newport-Mesa athletes that qualified for the state championships

Friday and Saturday at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. Other qualifiers

include Newport Harbor’s Bo Taylor and Whitney Blue; Sage Hill’s Zach

Chandy; and Costa Mesa’s Jasmin Day.

St. Geme, who finished sixth at state last season, qualified in

the third spot in the 800 Friday, but will drop the event to focus

solely on the 1,600. And now that she has conquered the Southern

Section, there is just the one level left.

“For Annie, the 1,600 [Friday] was about getting to next week --

it was practice for next week,” said Sumner, in his 21st year as

CdM’s coach. “That’s not her competition out there. No disrespect

because Tarver’s out there and some other people are out there.”

Cummings, a sophomore, qualified in the same race, finishing in a

lifetime-best 4:59.59 for seventh. This marks the second straight

year CdM will send two girls to state in the 1,600 -- last season it

was Hilary May accompanying St. Geme. May, the fastest freshman in

the state last year, has been ailed with the flu, Sumner said.

Costa Mesa’s Day also became a Masters champion, defending her

title in the high jump to qualify for state a second straight year.

Day, who entered with the top mark of 5 feet, 9 inches she cleared to

win a Division III title Saturday, cleared 5-6 Friday to tie with

Tustin’s Khristina Curtis. But Day had made the mark on her first

attempt while Curtis missed her first, giving the title to the

Mustangs’ junior.

Sage’s Chandy, entering as the Division IV 200 and 400 champion,

both with lifetime bests he marked Saturday, claimed second in the

400 Friday in 48.02 and fourth in the 200 (21.65), both good for

state-meet qualification.

“I’m just happy to go [to state] for my first time,” Chandy said.

“My first goal was to make it to state.”

Chandy’s top competition in the 400 will be against Long Beach

Poly’s Bryshon Nellum, who edged Chandy in 47.05 Friday, and Dorsey’s

David Gettis, the two-time defending state champion who recently

clocked the fastest prep time in the nation (46.08) at the CIF City

Section championships.

Newport teammates Blue and Taylor both finished third in their

respective events to qualify for state. Taylor, a junior, tossed a

lifetime best 59-5 1/2 in the shot put, topping his previous best of

58-1 1/4 by more than a foot. Blue, also a junior, ran 10:38.77 in

the 3,200.

Blue is coming off a second-place finish in Division II at the CIF

State cross country championships in the fall.

“I’m really pleased with myself,” Blue said. “It’s been a long two

seasons and I’m glad I could come out here and do that.”