Stumble proves costly for St. Geme

Corona del Mar senior trips and slips out of top 10 at Footlocker National Championships.Corona del Mar’s Annie St. Geme finished 13th Saturday in the 27th Foot Locker National Championships at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Running with 39 of the top high school girls in the nation, St. Geme literally stumbled in with a time of 17 minutes, 54 seconds.

The Stanford-bound senior was in fourth place, going into the last 20 meters of the race, when she fell and ended up in 13th.

“My legs were tying up and I tripped,” St. Geme said. “I got up and I fell again. Then I got up and kind of stumbled over the finish line.”

St. Geme, who still earned All-American honors, ran hard the first 50 meters of the race, then hung back.

“I just wanted to stay as relaxed as possible during the first loop and let other people make mistakes,” St. Geme said.

St. Geme stayed in the top 10 for most of the race and worked her way up to fourth place.

“I felt really good until the last 100 meters of the race, then my legs got really heavy,” she said. “I couldn’t talk for 30 minutes after the race I was so exhausted.”

St. Geme was fifth among West Region runners, who took first place with 25 points to beat the Midwest (56), South (63) and Northeast (66).

Freshman Jordan Hasey of Arroyo Grande’s Mission College Prep took first place with a time of 17:05.

St. Geme competed with her team at the Nike Team Nationals in Portland, Ore., last Saturday. The course was full of mud pits and potholes, but St. Geme still managed to finish second, leading the Sea Kings to a sixth-place finish.

Conditions were much better Saturday on the dry, hilly course at Balboa Park, where the temperature was around 75 degrees

St. Geme, running alone for the first time this season, was supported by her family, coach and teammates, who made the trek to San Diego. Her teammates helped her warm up for the 9:15 a.m. race.

“That was really comforting,” St. Geme said. “They helped me get relaxed before the race -- we joked around and that relieved my nervous energy. I’m grateful the team was willing to take time out of their Saturday and do that.”

Despite the stumble, St. Geme felt good about her performance.

“I performed to the best of my abilities today,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to have this as my last race. I wouldn’t have been satisfied with my season ending at state or the Western Regionals. I’ve watched the last three Foot Locker Nationals with my mom, and I’ve always wanted to compete in this race.”

St. Geme will get a short breather before track and field starts in the spring. Last year, she won the 1,600-meter state championship in track and field.

“I’m looking forward to what the cross country season will have done for me for track and field,” she said.200512118I1LT25KNo Caption20051211immmb8ncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Annie St. Geme finished 13th at the Footlocker National Championships.