Sailors don’t give up

WALNUT — On a three-mile cross country course where there is a portion called “poop out hill,” Newport Harbor High’s boys sure had a couple of moments where they could have given up.

With a half mile to go, the top Sailor, Rex Nelson, saw his left toes hanging out of his ripped shoe, allowing his feet to feel the ground.

The Sailor who should’ve finished fifth on the team, Carlo Urquidez, tripped over someone, who lost their balance, just six feet away from crossing the finish line.

Everyone laughed about the setbacks at the end of the Division I and II team sweepstakes race at the 60th annual Mt. San Antonio College Invitational Saturday. A second-place finish by the Sailors, behind Dana Hills, allowed them to and Coach Nowell Kay teased the two runners affected the most.

“You couldn’t out-kick any of them without a shoe?” Kay asked Nelson, holding his damaged yellow Nike after finishing seventh in 15 minutes, 34 seconds.

As for Urquidez, still near the trainer’s tent in pain after taking seventh at 16:35, Kay said his senior is “not a hurdler.” One thing Urquidez, like the rest of the Sailors did, was show that he’s a battler.

Even though eight runners passed him up, Urquidez bounced back up and finished, doing whatever to contribute. Listening to the loudspeaker, the race sounded as close as it looked.

The Sailors eventually finished with 112 points, trailing Dana Hills by 44 and finishing ahead of third-place Upland (141), fourth-place Chino Hills (166), fifth-place Foothill (170) and sixth-place Woodcreek of Roseville (191). Woodcreek came into the race ranked No. 2 in the state in Division II by dyestatcal.com, ahead of No. 3 Newport Harbor.

Not so bad for the Sailors, even against a Dana Hills program ranked second in CIF Southern Section Division I. The Sailors are No. 2 in Division II in the section and their combined times, one through five, added up to 79 minutes, 45 seconds, impressing the former boys’ coach, Eric Tweit.

The overall time also left a mark at the Mt. SAC Invitational, as it is now the fourth fastest recorded by a Division II school. No wonder Tweit, a longtime coach, was awestruck hours after the boys’ race and after Tweit guided his Newport Harbor girls to first place in the Division II varsity race.

“I don’t remember the last time the boys ran that well here [at Mt. SAC],” said Tweit of the time that ended up being the second best turned in by a Division II program on Saturday to top-ranked Loyola’s 78:59 in the Division I and II super sweepstakes race it placed third in. “Any time you can break 80 minutes here as a team, you’ve run really, really well. We may have done it in all the years they have been doing a three-mile course I think once.

“They have the chance to be the fastest team we have ever had here by CIF finals, if they can stay healthy.”

The key is health, something some Sailors took for granted the last time they competed at the Mt. SAC Invitational, a course almost as hilly as San Francisco. It’s never a run in the park.

Mike Puncel understands. After last year’s visit, the senior made sure to be hydrated the week leading up to the two-day invitational luring thousands in-state runners and from outside. Puncel hung with Nelson, ripped shoe and all, shifting past runners on the “poop out hill” and “reservoir hill,” the two he planned to make his moves before placing eighth at 15:38.

What a difference a year and water makes, not only for Puncel. But check out the marks recorded by the next three Sailors, junior Jake Dawson (12th, 15:49), senior Murphy Hitchcock (38th, 16:15) and junior Saul De La Rosa (47th, 16:29).

“Running up the hills [last year], my legs were just so dead. I wanted to start walking so bad,” Puncel said, leaving the walking this time around to his injured teammate, Alex Crawford.

The brace on his left leg has left Crawford, the Sailors’ usual No. 4 runner, to a spectator role. Crawford said he suffered a stress fracture recently, knocking the junior out of action for four to six weeks.

For now, he’s in charge of the camera, but unfortunately he said his batteries ran out by the time Newport Harbor’s race ended.

Crawford is planning to return in time for the Southern Section finals, the precursor to the state finals at Woodward Park in Fresno, a site the Sailors haven’t reached in late November since 1998.

“I think I can help us maybe win state or something like that,” said Crawford, knowing he has to get rid of that brace with the blue button that comforts his leg in order to help out.

Helping Nelson get a new pair of running shoes before his senior season ends will only help, too, if the Sailors plan to claim a state title like they last did in 1992.

“I liked what I saw [Saturday] from our first three guys,” said Kay, who’s enjoying the most success in his six years as the boys’ head coach. “Just right in the middle, the last two scores got to close the gap with the first three guys.”

The Sailors are accelerating at the right time with the Sunset League finals this upcoming week, followed by a week off before the section preliminaries, finals, and state. One at a time, though, Kay said. His Sailors are on pace to win their first league title since 2001, when they were in the Sea View League.

The girls are in a much closer fight in league. Seeing Newport Harbor easily claim the top prize is a good sign to Tweit, whose team is in third place in league.

Not much pressure on Saturday for the Sailors, ranked fifth in Southern Section Division II. Erica Pearson, the No. 1 runner, described the day as “super mellow” with not having to compete in any of the Division I and II sweepstakes events, with much tougher opponents.

Pearson took second at 18:53 and Sophia Ditty third at 19:02, allowing Newport Harbor to finish with 30 points, far ahead of second-place Redondo Union (91), third-place Pacifica (113), fourth-place Bonita Vista (126) and fifth-place Beckman (166).

“It was really nice to be able to work together as a team because that’s how we like to do all our workouts,” said Pearson, finally healthy with the postseason ahead after missing last year’s action with shin splint issues.

With Pearson, a junior, in full stride and Pearson, a senior, and Tori Sarris continuing to succeed as a freshman, placing sixth at 19:41 in her first trip to Mt. SAC, the Sailors can possibly end up at state with a third straight second-place showing.

Junior Desiree Alexander was 12th at 20:01, making her one of six Sailors cracking the top 15. The other two were sophomore Ava Nelson (15th, 20:11) and senior Jennifer Cain (19th, 20:14).

“I just wanted to give the girls a chance to see the course. We’ll be here for prelims, hopefully finals,” Tweit said. “This was really a good confidence builder for them. Cain, who’s been hurt most of the year, this is like her third race back. It was really good to see her run.

“Regardless of the race, that’s the best we’ve run at Mt. SAC in this invitational in a long time. We didn’t do what the boys did.”

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