CIF SOUTHERN SECTION CROSS COUNTRY PRELIMINARIES:

WALNUT — During the CIF Southern Section cross country preliminaries, coaches are just looking for their respective teams to advance to next week’s finals.

Corona del Mar High Coach Bill Sumner said he was a wreck before the races began at Mt. San Antonio College Saturday. He needed a No. 5 runner for his boys’ team after losing Ricky Valdez during the week to an injury.

He eventually found one. Matt Hauge ran well enough as the Sea Kings were one of 13 teams qualifying for the Division III finals in Walnut, where Sumner saw his girls finish at 94 minutes, 44 seconds, the fastest time in the Division III prelims for the fourth straight year.

Also advancing to the finals from the Newport-Mesa area were the Newport Harbor boys’ and girls’ teams in Division II and the Sage Hill School boys’ and girls’ teams in Division V.

The Estancia boys’ and girls’ team missed the Division III cut.

“I’m really happy about how our guys responded after losing our No. 5 guy and they didn’t get all depressed,” said Sumner, who for the 25th consecutive year has a team in the section finals. “We made it through this week with the eighth fastest time. Only seven teams next week will get to go to state. I told my guys that we’re just seconds away from the seventh spot.”

Thomas Dialynas led CdM, which finished fourth in its heat at 82 minutes, 57 seconds. Dialynas qualified third in the heat at 15:44, followed by teammates Richard DeMarco (16:09), John Leonard (16:42), Sebastien Welch (16:59) and Hauge (17:23).

For the CdM girls, Shelby Buckley placed first with an 18:25 in front of second-place Allison Damon (18:35) and third-place Laura Builder (18:36). Marisa Cummings (19:22) and Kim Condino (19:46) were the Sea Kings’ two other scorers. CdM will try to claim its fourth straight section crown and the way it beat Orange Lutheran, 39-53, in the heat, it might just pull it off.

“This is just the prelims. You can’t get too excited and start thinking four-peat,” said Sumner, whose team is also the defending state champ. “We ran well, but next week is what really counts.”

Newport Harbor girls also ran strong. They finished atop their heat with 43 points, edging out El Modena by 16 points. They did it with Sophia Ditty, who finished in 18:44, and qualified fourth, Erica Pearson (18:50, sixth) and Tori Sarris (19:05, ninth) finishing in the top 10 in their heat. Jennifer Cain (19:13) and Desiree Alexander (19:39) scored for the Sailors, who have finished runner-up at the state championships the last two years.

“Most of the girls had their [personal record] on this difficult course,” Newport Harbor assistant coach Keira Kirby said. “Next week will be tighter and I think the girls are ready to get back to state.”

The Newport Harbor boys are looking to join them. The Sailors haven’t been to the state meet since 1998. Rex Nelson, the Sunset League champion, led the way with a 16:06 mark to qualify eighth in the heat Newport Harbor took second, finishing one point behind Granite Hills (68). Mike Puncel (16:08), Carlo Urquidez (16:37), Jake Dawson (16:39) and Saul De La Rosa (16:41) were the Sailors next top four runners.

For Sage Hill, Sean McElroy qualified first at 16:27 and Connor Rose second at 16:38 in the heat the boys were in second place. Lion Wintemute (17:17), Kyle Simon (18:51) and Alex Jimenez (18:51) were the next three finishers, giving the Lightning the sixth fastest time (88:04) out of the qualifying teams.

The girls were led by Cait Williamson, who qualified second in her heat at 18:58. Katie McKeon (21:07), Jackie Dion (21:51), Lena Xiao (23:26) and Megan Culberson (23:44) helped the Lightning take fourth in their heat.

“I was happy with our day,” Sage Hill Coach Nate Miller said. “This is the third straight year that both the girls and boys are going to the section finals. The boys are looking to get back to state after going two years ago.”

— From staff reports