Different strides for local teams at OC meet

The 40th annual Orange County Championships Saturday bring cross country teams from throughout the county with differing agendas.

The five Newport-Mesa schools are no different.

The meet, which crams all of the teams into three divisions based not on school size, but talent, will be at Irvine Regional Park, starting at 8 a.m.

Estancia High will not be there. The Eagles haven’t made an appearance the past five years. Coach Charlie Appell along with the Southern Section holds the larger Mt. San Antonio College meet the following week in higher regard, and so Appell does not want to risk injury or wear and tear to the team from the second-smallest public school in the county.

The Eagles’ cross-town rival, Costa Mesa, has its eye on improving a young girls’ team and testing an up-and-coming boys’ team.

For a Division V program like Sage Hill School it’s a chance to face off against schools which are much bigger than the Lightning, who will compete in the Division III race, and use it as a springboard into the final portion of the season.

But the sight of the race, the same as the Academy League meet, is the real draw.

With one week instead of two between the Mt. SAC meet and league finals, Newport Harbor is holding the Championships in even greater importance.

The Corona del Mar girls’ team is continuing the steady ascent until Coach Bill Sumner’s crew peaks at the end of the season. The boys, seemingly in the girls’ shadows, and ranked in the top eight of Division III all season, will test themselves against an elite field, with three of the top seven Division III teams residing in Orange County.

A youthful Costa Mesa girls’ team will be even younger without senior Emily Cotton, who will be busy taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test. So, freshman Wendi Way will take the reins of the Mustangs.

“It’s nice to see her run when she opens up and tries her hardest,” Co-coach Sarah Nguyen said.

The boys’ team, with seniors Mitch Friedmann and John Zapata, along with sophomores Jake Burnette, John Sudbeck and Jason Rosello, has been on a roll.

“The three sophomores, they’re really strong willed,” Nguyen said. “The boys stand to do really well.”

The Lightning are equally strong in both genders. Each team is ranked No. 5 in Division V, with the girls holding steady and the boys moving up from No. 7 two weeks ago.

Sage Hill Coach Nate Miller has talked to his team about learning the nooks and crannies of the Irvine Park course for the looming league finals. With the Lightning having run a league meet on Tuesday, running hard will not be as important as running smart.

Miller said juniors Connor Rose and Sean McElroy along with sophomore Cait Williamson should have strong showings.

“From this point forward we up the ante each week,” Miller said. “They get to see from the teams like Corona del Mar what it takes to put together a good program.”

Corona del Mar, recently a dominant program, is the defending girls’ champion and the boys’ team finished sixth, 18 spots higher than any other Newport-Mesa team, in 2005.

The girls’ team is led by senior Sarah Cummings and junior Shelby Buckley. The duo finished third and seventh, respectively last season, with now-graduated Annie St. Geme winning the race. Senior Nichole Slykhous is getting over a hip injury, and after finishing 17th last season could make her first big impact of the season.

Last year, junior Tommy Dialynas was not in the mix for the Sea Kings at the Orange County Championships, but this year he has been their top runner. Senior Tom Hutchison finished under 16 minutes last season and in 31st place.

The Sailors, in the Sunset League for the first time, can never have too much high level competition. Girls’ coach Eric Tweit called his team the deepest in his 27-year career.

In what he referred to as the toughest league in the state, he’ll need it for a league title. With Fountain Valley already having defeated Newport Harbor it’s also a chance for revenge.

But since the Sailors are ranked No. 1 in Division II girls, qualifying for CIF will be an automatic by just maintaining.

“It’s a good chance for us to see where we are,” Tweit said. “Outside of the league meets this is the one for us, at least until you get to CIF. It’s always fun to run against all the people you’ve known for years.”

The Newport Harbor boys’ team is without graduated Kenny Rakestraw, who finished ninth last season, but the Sailors remain competitive with juniors Rex Nelson and Scott Puncel. Newport Harbor is young with three juniors and two sophomores in the top five.

“They don’t seem very intimidated,” Coach Nowell Kay said. “It’s always nice to run against schools from the area. It’s not as important as a league or CIF meet, but it’s an important meet to get county recognition going into the home stretch.”

Appell said the few times he has taken his Eagles teams to the Orange County Championships is because of the runners’ extreme desire to compete in the race. He said his team for the most part understands that the wear and tear from a course which features a good percentage of concrete is not worth the payoff of doing well.

“The Orange County Championships is very well run and very good,” said Appell, who added that if Mt. SAC was not the following week things might be different. “This way we’ll be fresher.”