Seventh Heaven

Throughout the past week, the Corona del Mar High girls’ cross country team noticed a different Coach Bill Sumner.

The training for the CIF State Championships didn’t intensify as much, but Sumner’s words sure stung. He kept reminding the Sea Kings about the second-place finish at the section meet Nov. 21, which ended their streak of titles at five. He kept reminding them the importance of using every ounce of effort at just the right time to win the bigger prize.

The CdM girls did just that Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. Their reward: a state title with historic significance.

The Sea Kings won the CIF State Division III title, their second straight and seventh overall, which tied with San Francisco University High for the most in the meet’s history.

CdM, led by seniors Melanie Powers, Kristina Funahashi and Marisa Cummings, scored 76 points, besting section champ Orange Lutheran, which had 81 points.

Last week, the Sea Kings finished three points behind the Lancers.

“They were mad at me all week,” Sumner said in a telephone interview. “All I’ve been doing is delivering the message. Quite frankly I was a little hard on them. But if you want to be a championship team you have to find out what the weaknesses are. You have to look at yourself. You need to get to it. They came through. These girls worked so hard and they didn’t have a shot. They made that shot and created it. They got closer and closer.

“Today was tougher because Orange Lutheran knew what was coming and they had a plan and their plan was to beat CdM.”

But in Fresno, the Sea Kings proved to be unbeatable.

Powers led the way, finishing in third in 17 minutes, 56 seconds on the 5,000-meter course (3.2 miles).

Funahashi, who also competes in track and field, broke through with her personal best, proving to be the key runner for the Sea Kings. She came in seventh in 18:18.

“We were all really disappointed last week,” said Funahashi, a former tennis player who just began competing in cross country last year. “We really knew we could win the state championship. [Sumner] was a little bit hard on us. This week we left it all on the course and did our best.”

Cummings, who will join her older sister, Sarah, and run at Princeton University next year, finished 13th in 18:27. She is one of the team’s six seniors who started talking about a repeat after they won the state title last year.

“This is really what we worked for since July,” Cummings said. “We just really kept our eyes on the prize the whole season. The loss last week fueled the fire and gave us more motivation. It was a combination of all the work we’ve done and with the motivation. We really wanted it. We just wanted it so bad.”

Cummings said it seemed to take a long time for the Division III results to be announced. Sumner thought he had discovered the tally before the girls and went to their area, trying to surprise them. But the girls already knew and when they saw him, they tackled the coach and celebrated.

Afterward, during the awards ceremony, the Sea Kings were honored as it was announced that the CdM girls’ team was the only program to have won seven state titles. San Francisco University later won the Division V title for its seventh.

“That was a great feeling,” Cummings said. “You’re standing up there knowing you’ve been a part of the CdM legacy. You just feel that you’re a part of something that is so much bigger. It’s just really awesome.”

Sophomore Kristen Rivera, who was 28th in 18:45, also stood with CdM. Senior Ali Hummelberg, who passed several runners over the final 200 meters, finished 34th in 18:54.

Sophomore Ashlee Powers (43rd in 19:00) and senior Sarah Keddington (72nd in 19:22), who had intense back surgery to repair scoliosis just 20 months ago, rounded out the Sea Kings’ top seven.

“This feels great,” Powers said. “I feel honored to have great teammates who work so hard and wanted it bad. I’m so happy. I’m so lucky to have these girls next to me.”

Sumner, who has been at CdM for 25 years, said that each of the championships have its special place. The fact that CdM has won seven state titles was greater for the school’s name, he said.

“It doesn’t’ matter,” Sumner said of the seven state titles. “What matters more is that these girls are going to talk about this state championship from now on. They’re going to talk about how they came in second at the CIF section meet and then came back to win it all.”

CdM is now ranked No. 15 in the nation, Sumner said, and is an alternate for next week’s Nike National Team Championships in Oregon.

SAGE’S THIES 36TH

Now that Sage Hill freshman Dylan Thies has gotten a taste of the state meet, he wants to return. He also wants to improve on his finish Saturday.

He came in 36th, finishing 17:02 in the Division V boys’ race. He was the first individual male to compete at the state meet in the school’s history.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I really loved it. The adrenaline and everyone around really helped. I can’t wait to come back next year.”

— Compiled by Steve Virgen