Sea Kings take 10th

At the start of the season, the Corona del Mar High girls’ cross country team wasn’t ranked among the top teams in the state, much less in the nation. But to end the season, the Sea Kings are definitely among the elite.

Corona del Mar finished 10th out of 22 teams at the Nike Team Nationals Saturday in Portland, Ore.

“No one ever said you had to start at the top; you just have to finish there,” said CdM Coach Bill Sumner, whose team won the CIF State Division III title last week. “It wouldn’t be any fun if you started at the top.”

The Sea Kings weren’t even ranked among the top 100 in the nation to begin the season, Sumner said. But his team built momentum recently as it chased after Southern Section champ Orange Lutheran.

“For us, this was a big giant mountain to climb,” Sumner said. “And, the view from the top is nice.”

Senior Melanie Powers led the way for the Sea Kings, who competed by the name of Newport Beach XC Club. She finished 60th, completing the 5K course at Portland Meadows in 18 minutes, 54 seconds.

Senior Marisa Cummings came in 68th in 18:58. Senior Kristina Funahashi battled cramps in her shoulder, but finished the race. She was 121st in 19:45.

Sophomores Kristen Rivera (125th in 19:50) and Ashlee Powers (140th in 20:01), as well as seniors Ali Hummelberg (158th in 20:19) and Sarah Keddington (160th in 20:23) also competed for CdM.

Manlius XC Club of New York won the race with 74 points and a team time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, 46.20 seconds. CdM had 313 points and a team time of 1:37:30.00.

Catherine Flood of Des Moines XC Club was the individual champion who finished in 17:47.20.

— Compiled by Steve Virgen