Sailors start quickly

LAGUNA HILLS — Newport Harbor High senior Desiree Alexander crossed the finish line first, throwing her hands in the air and sporting a broad smile on her face.

Saturday’s Laguna Hills Invitational was the first cross country meet of the season. But already here the Sailors were, finishing first, just like they did last year when they won the CIF Southern Section and State Division II titles.

Alexander and teammate Erica Pearson went 1-2 in the Division II senior girls’ race Saturday on the three-mile course. Alexander was already a key part of last year’s squad, but her time of 17 minutes, 33 seconds, shattered her former personal-best of 17:59.

“It’s the best race I’ve had in my high school career,” Alexander said. “[The goal] was just to do the best you can do. The better you do, the better the team does. I really couldn’t have done it without Erica; she helped me get through the whole race.”

Pearson finished in 17:48 for the Sailors, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll and No. 11 in the state, regardless of division, by dyestatcal.com.

“That was great,” said Newport Harbor assistant girls’ coach Keira Kirby. “That’s obviously something to be proud of. Hopefully it bodes well for the rest of the year.”

Adding to the Sailors’ success, Ava Nelson was ninth in the Division II junior girls’ race (a personal-best 18:54), and Tori Sarris was fifth in the sophomore girls’ race (18:45).

“We’re looking for some good times,” Nelson said. “We’re more interested in the end of the year and do our best and peak then, and not now. We want to go far.”

Corona del Mar High had to feel good about its chances this season, too. Junior Melanie Powers won the Division III junior girls’ race, smoking the competition in 17:43, the best time in the race by 29 seconds. She was followed by teammates Allison Garrett (sixth, 19:04) and Marisa Cummings (eighth, 19:17). Throw in Christine Light (15th, 19:54) and Amanda Garrett (16th, 19:56), and CdM won the junior girls’ division team standings.

Similarly in the Division III senior girls’ race, CdM had three top-10 finishers. The four-time defending CIF Southern Section Division III champions were paced by Laura Bilder’s second-place time of 18:18. Kim Condino was fourth (18:35), and Tina Theriot was sixth (18:55).

In fact, CdM Coach Bill Sumner counted 17 of his girls who went under 21 minutes Saturday.

“I wasn’t ready for that yet,” Sumner said. “It tells me the course is fast, or else we’re in better shape than I thought we were.”

Bilder said it was definitely a great way to start the season.

“Our entire team worked really hard over the summer and it really showed in this race,” she said. “The nice thing about this sport is the harder you work, the better you do.”

Sage Hill senior Cait Williamson, who placed third in the Division III senior girls’ race in 18:31, has also been working hard. She missed a personal-best time by only two seconds.

“I’ve been fourth all three years before [at Laguna Hills],” Williamson said. “I was kind of like, ‘I’m not coming in fourth again!’ Last year, I actually took a wrong turn on this course, and this year I was like, ‘I’m not getting lost!’... I think it was pretty good. Usually it gets faster from here.”

Estancia’s Alexa Aguilar finished 12th in the Division III senior girls’ race (19:39), leading the Eagles’ senior-laden squad. The Eagles’ Erika Garcia finished fourth in the Division III freshman girls’ race (19:16), followed by CdM’s Ashlee Powers in sixth (19:30) and Estancia’s Mariah Chapin (20:30) in eighth.