St. Geme steals the show

MISSION VIEJO ? Corona del Mar High senior Annie St. Geme wasn’t sure if she’d compete in the 3,200 meters, much less the 1,600 relay, at the Orange County Track and Field Championships at Trabuco Hills High on Saturday.

After all, St. Geme had already competed in the 800 and the 1,600 and won them both in record times. Then Coach Bill Sumner mentioned that the Corona del Mar girls had a shot at winning the team title.

Keeping an agreement the two had made before the meet, St. Geme prepared herself for the 3,200 and promptly set her third record of the day, winning with a time of 10 minutes, 25.04 seconds.

After seeing how easily St. Geme won the 3,200, Sumner talked his star runner into running the final girls’ event, the 1,600 relay. But the Sea Kings fell short in the relay and had to settle for second place overall in the meet with 58 points, nine short of Mission Viejo’s 67.

Going into the meet, St. Geme’s goal wasn’t to break three meet records, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“Our major goal is to win the girls’ team county title,” St. Geme said after winning the 800. “So if we have a shot at winning the team title, I’ll run the two-mile.”

She began her day by winning the 1,600 with a time of 4:50.66, breaking her previous record of 4:52.82 set last year.

In the 800, she clocked in with a first-place time of 2:10.47, breaking the previous record of 2:13.2 set by Newport Harbor’s Maggie Henson in 1986.

“I just wanted to stay relaxed the first 300 meters and go all out the last 500 and it seemed to work,” St. Geme said. “Usually, I go out too hard and die by the end, so I felt I ran a smart race.”

The Sea Kings were within striking distance, and St. Geme had plenty of juice left, so off she went in the 3,200, smoking the field by more than 24 seconds and breaking the record of 10:47.93 set last year by Newport Harbor’s Whitney Blue.

“Annie is a team player, she didn’t plan to break three meet records,” Sumner said. “She ran controlled, but she didn’t seem to back off.”

In the relay, the Sea Kings were out of contention by the time St. Geme got the baton and had to settle for second place in the meet overall.

“I knew, by the way she was running, she had a 60-second [leg] left in her,” Sumner said. “She had something left if we needed it, but we didn’t place her close enough.”

The Sea Kings weren’t in contention for the team title just on St. Geme’s standout performance. Shelby Buckley ran a personal-best time of 4:59 in the 1,600, which was good for third place overall. Buckley also took fourth in the 3,200 at 10:55.77.

Tiffany Liu got it done for Corona del Mar in the field events, scoring 18 points by taking second in the long jump (16 feet, 10 1/2 ), third in the 100 hurdles (15.87) and fourth in the triple jump (35-3 3/4 ).

“Tiffany and Shelby did great,” St. Geme said. “We just wanted to come out and show we have a strong team overall.”

“Liu kept us in the hunt,” Sumner said.

Other top finishers in the girls’ events included Costa Mesa’s Jasmin Day, who took first place in the high jump at 5-4; Newport Harbor’s Jessica Robson, who took third in the high jump, fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 100 hurdles; Allison Stokke, who took second in the pole vault at 11-6; and Newport Harbor’s Laura Clayton, who finished sixth in the triple jump (35-3.25).

The Newport Harbor girls took ninth place while Costa Mesa finished 15th.

Bo Taylor led the Newport Harbor boys to a fifth-place finish by winning the discus with a distance of 202-7 and taking second in the shot put at 61-4.25. He split the two events with El Toro High rival Nick Robinson, who won the shot put at 63-1.50.

Estancia High’s Ryan Whites turned in an impressive individual performance, taking third overall in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.62 and fourth overall in the 110 hurdles at 15.24.