Sage Hill’s Thies breaks ground

Dylan Thies is a trendsetter of sorts when it comes to the Sage Hill School boys’ cross country team.

The runner will be the first Lightning freshman boy to compete as an individual at the CIF State Championships today in Fresno.

The Corona del Mar High girls’ cross country team will also be at Woodward Park. The Sea Kings are contenders to win a second straight state crown in Division III, and seven overall, unprecedented in the meet’s history.

Thies didn’t go to Fresno to win the Division V title. It’s his first time on the course. He’s wanting to post a personal record and finish among the top 25.

“I’m excited,” Thies said of being Sage Hill’s first individual male freshman at the state meet. “It feels really good knowing that. I’m kind of paving the way for other people to do great things at a young age.”

Already, Thies has shown a knack for performing at his best during a big meet. He ran a personal-best 16 minutes, 13 seconds to finish 10th in Division V Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Championships. He was fourth among individuals who were on a team that did not advance to the state meet.

The Corona del Mar girls also performed well at last week’s section meet, but just missed winning their sixth straight title. The Sea Kings finished three points behind champion Orange Lutheran, which enters today’s Division III competition as the favorite.

But Coach Bill Sumner’s team plans to seek redemption with its best effort. Seniors Melanie Powers, Marisa Cummings and Kristina Funahashi lead the way. They were CdM’s top runners last week, finishing third, fifth and ninth, respectively.

Powers’ younger sister, Ashlee, a sophomore who finished 16th last week, and sophomore Kristen Rivera, who was 23rd last week, round out the Sea Kings’ projected top five.

Seniors Sarah Keddington, Ali Hummelberg and Amanda Garrett, along with freshman Shelby Perez are also on the CdM squad. Sumner wants a state title for them.

“I’m the first guy who will tell you that you can learn from losses,” he said. “But there are also other ways to learn than losing, and those are the ones I prefer.”