HIGH SCHOOLS:

Vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, and injuries are all reasons Newport Harbor High Coach Eric Tweit has seen during his 38-year career for stopping a runner in his or her tracks during a cross country meet.

But death, never had Tweit heard of that. Until Wednesday, when 14-year-old runner Megan Myers of Dana Hills collapsed during a three-mile race.

Myers’ death has hit the cross country community, but Tweit, 59, said he hasn’t talked to his team about the incident at Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

“I didn’t want to start talking about it because I didn’t know what the cause was,” said Tweit, referring to an inconclusive preliminary autopsy report on Myers. It is expected to take up to six weeks for the coroner to learn the cause of death. “You want to be careful. In reality, we don’t know if [running] had anything to do with it. I’m not going to talk about something that I don’t have any answers for.

“We always stress safety. When you’re out running in the streets, it’s dangerous for the kids. The biggest [danger] is the cars, because when you cross at a light, you don’t know what the car is going to do.”

Tweit, who has been at Newport Harbor for 28 years, said he also discusses health-related topics, from food to dehydration to sleep.

“It caught everybody by surprise,” Tweit said of Myers’ death. “It is by far the worst scenario that could happen to a coach. You don’t want anybody to go through that.”

Estancia Coach Charlie Appell said he couldn’t imagine what Dana Hills Coach Rex Hall is experiencing right now. Hall administered CPR on Myers before paramedics arrived and took her to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later.

Dana Hills, ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division I, is a well-established program.

“The coaches that are there are excellent people and it’s disheartening to think people might think they’re working them too hard,” said Appell, who has been at Estancia for 18 years and has been involved with cross country since 1968. “I don’t think this will affect cross country. It didn’t with football when that kid [Kenny Wilson, 16] died at Beckman [during practice] a couple of months ago.”

Once again, Cait Williamson broke another Sage Hill School girls’ cross country record, held by her, of course.

The junior finished with a time of 18 minutes, 11 seconds on the three-mile course to win the Brentwood Invitational Saturday, helping her team claim first place at the 14-school event.

Earlier in the season, Williamson, at the 27th annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, ran 18:28, bettering her previous mark by 27 seconds. Williamson appears on pace to improve on last year’s fifth-place showing in the CIF Southern Section Division V final.

So does the team, ranked fifth, with senior Katie McKeon giving Sage Hill a strong one-two punch. McKeon, who placed fourth (20:14) at the invitational, is back from seriously injuring her right ankle during a summer league basketball game.

At the Stanford Invitational, Corona del Mar senior Shelby Buckley placed second in the girls’ Division III race in 18:28 as CdM was third as a team.

CdM, ranked third in Division III, saw senior Allison Damon place fourth in 18:33.

The boys were fourth behind senior Richard DeMarco (seventh in 16:02).

After scrambling to put together a competitive boys’ cross country team, with the best runner moving to Mexico, and another injuring his arm riding a motorcycle, Appell has Estancia moving in the right direction.

The Eagles won the Yucaipa Invitational Division III race Saturday. Junior Fernando Orozco, a key returnee, placed second in 16:19 on the three-mile course. Sophomore Jorge Martin and junior Wes Barloon finished fifth (16:33) and ninth (16:43), respectively.

One thing is certain to girls’ volleyball coach Bill Christiansen — Corona del Mar is better now for having played at the Mother McAuley Tournament in Chicago last week.

The defending Pacific Coast League champs open league tonight at Beckman at 5.

Christiansen said even though the Sea Kings (7-6) went 3-2 and finished 11th in Chicago, beating Gross Catholic of Nebraska in the silver consolation title match, they’re ready for league.

“The tournament was really productive,” he said, adding that outside hitter Kara Chatham, setter Maddie Smith and libero Ashley Pries played well.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com