Daily Pilot Girls’ Cross-Country Dream Team: CdM’s Powers upholds legacy
Before she had ever run a race for Corona del Mar High, Raquel Powers was under a considerable amount of pressure.
In part, it was felt because of the highly-decorated nature of the cross-country program she was about to join.
Entering her freshman year, the Sea Kings had advanced to the state meet in all but one of the previous 25 seasons.
Most significant of all, she had a desire to live up to the family’s history. The youngest of three sisters, Powers had determined early on that she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her older siblings.
Melanie and Ashlee Powers helped the Sea Kings get to the Nike Cross Nationals in 2009. Their younger sister spent her high school career trying to uphold the family’s legacy.
Raquel Powers did so quite successfully, becoming the one that Sea Kings coach Bill Sumner would come to affectionately refer to as “Rock.”
“I call her Rock because about a couple of years ago, we realized that she is the keystone,” Sumner said of the Daily Pilot Girls’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year. “Her bad days are not bad.”
“She’s like the Rock of Gibraltar. She doesn’t back up. She’s tough. You’ve got to love that, and you’ve got to take that.”
It was clear that Powers was going to be someone that the Sea Kings could count on from the time that she was a freshman. She was already leading CdM in the CIF Southern Section postseason meets, finishing in the top 20 of the Division 3 Finals.
The Sea Kings did not qualify for the state meet that year, and she did not want to revisit that feeling again.
Powers became a dominant force over the next two years, and the team returned to form by going to state those seasons.
At the start of her senior year, Powers could almost be considered a lock to make the state meet on her own. She was convinced that the Pacific Coast League title would be hers.
Beginning the year with senior race wins at the Laguna Hills and Sunny Hills/Wayne Walker Invitationals did nothing to dispel that notion.
A relatively unknown adversary made themselves known in the league preview meet, and it turned into the saga of Powers’ senior year.
Northwood’s Erika Adler was a first-time cross-country runner after spending her first three years of high school involved in cheerleading. She looked like anything but a rookie, as she ended her season as the runner-up at the state meet in Division 2.
“Going into the season, I thought that I would be the Pacific Coast League champion until we ran our first league race,” Powers said. “Once I saw Erika Adler, she got me worried.”
Adler, like many first-time runners with untapped potential, kept getting better. That didn’t change the goal for Powers, who was doing everything she could to produce a memorable senior year.
Powers and Sea Kings boys’ No. 1 Leif Hellgren were putting in extra miles before school twice a week. When the challenge of Adler arose, Powers went to Sumner looking for answers, not an excuse.
“She never said, ‘I’m going to be happy to be second in league,’” Sumner said of Powers’ resolve. “She said, ‘How are we going to beat Adler? It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to try.’”
“We don’t get to change the goal if Adler shows up.”
Powers cut the gap between herself and Adler to 18 seconds at the Orange County Championships, where she placed fifth overall. She finished as the runner-up again at the Pacific Coast League Finals.
If there were bad days for Powers, those were it. Powers felt that she had left some opportunities on the table, but as Sumner said, her off days were not bad at all.
Case in point, her fifth-place showing in the Orange County Championships rendered a new personal record of 17:27 for three-mile courses.
Powers won her CIF-SS Preliminaries race in 18:07. The senior knocked 30 seconds off of her time from the qualifying round, placing fourth (17:37) in the sectional finals.
She had a phenomenal year, producing top-five showings in every race that she ran before the state meet. Her 19th-place showing was the best finish of her three state championship appearances at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Backed by an impressive resume, Powers was the runaway choice to be named Daily Pilot girls’ cross-country athlete of the year.
“I feel very honored,” Powers said of receiving the award. “I feel like I accomplished my mission of carrying on my sisters’ legacy – the Powers running legacy. I always wanted to follow in their footsteps, train hard, and win like they did.”
Powers had help along the way from those she looked up to. Her sisters wanted to see her succeed as much as the Sea Kings’ top runner wanted to herself.
Ashlee Powers was a visible coaching presence at the meets, and her influence didn’t end there.
“She was basically like my second coach and mom put together,” Raquel Powers said. “She would cheer me on and be all over the course. At home, she would tell me to eat more vegetables, drink more water, and go to sleep by 10.”
The Powerses are headed out the door, and Sumner is in no rush to say goodbye to “Rock.”
“She has been our keystone for the last three years,” he said. “She has been the one that everyone kind of hangs their hat on. We’ll miss her.”
Coach of the Year
Jerry Palazzo
Fountain Valley
In his second year with the program, Palazzo completed a successful transformation of the Fountain Valley girls’ cross-country team. No one truly stood out on the Barons, but that was because the team was the star of the show. Together, four sophomores, two freshmen, and one senior led Fountain Valley to its first league title since a four-year run from 2004-2007. Their coach taught them to run as a pack, and it was a beautiful thing to watch when the Barons’ scoring quintet came across the finish line with a seven-second spread in the Sunset League Finals. Palazzo is grateful to his girls for their belief in the system. “That’s one of the most important things,” he said. “You can train two athletes the same way. One could have great success, and one not so much, based on just that. Actually buying into it.” The Barons’ pack advanced to the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals.
First Team
Ashley Faller
Fountain Valley
Sophomore
The nucleus of the Barons is going to be in place for a long time. Faller was one of three sophomores to regularly appear in Fountain Valley’s scoring five, and she was the first Baron (fourth overall) to come across in the team’s Sunset League title-winning performance. She improved her times at the Great Cow Run and the Dana Hills Invitational by roughly a minute from her freshman year. A model of consistency, Faller helped the Barons advance to the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals, which was one week further than the team achieved in the previous campaign.
Sara Feitz
Fountain Valley
Sophomore
Barons coach Jerry Palazzo raves that Feitz’s name is fitting because she is, in fact, a fighter. She entered the Barons’ program as one of the rawest athletes on the team. Palazzo said that when she first joined the team, she could not run two miles at the pace that she is now running three. Severe muscle tightness kept her from training during track, but she battled back into shape. The proof is in the numbers. She improved by at least two minutes at the Great Cow Run, the Dana Hills Invitational, and the Orange County Championships. Her time of 18:18 at Dana Hills was a new three-mile personal record, and she placed fifth in the Sunset League Finals.
Ana Kelly
Laguna Beach
Senior
Kelly did not begin her cross-country career thinking about the fast times she wanted to throw down on a week-by-week basis. She had gotten into the sport for the team aspect. As is often said, success breeds success, and while she did not run varsity until her junior year, Kelly became inspired by the athletes before her. Suddenly, she was an Orange Coast League individual champion in her own right after running a personal-best time of 18:24 at Irvine Regional Park. That led to the Breakers’ fifth consecutive team league title. Kelly helped Laguna Beach advance to the CIF-SS Division 4 Finals.
Mia Matsunami
Newport Harbor
Sophomore
The mental aspect of this sport can be a runner’s best friend or their worst enemy. More times than not, it worked in Matsunami’s favor. She did not allow herself to become satisfied with moral victories, using the slightest defeats as motivation for the next race. She went from third in the Laguna Hills Invitational to first at the Dana Hills Invitational in September grade-level competitions. After finishing second in the Division 2 race of the Orange County Championships, Matsunami came back in her next opportunity to win the Sunset League’s individual crown. She placed ninth at Prelims to qualify for the CIF-SS Finals as an individual.
Kelsie Newman
Ocean View
Senior
It must be love. How else could someone explain an athlete rehabbing from a laundry list of injuries, hoping to have the chance to endure the strain of an entire cross-country season? Newman had missed significant parts of her first three seasons. She underwent two rounds of physical therapy to her left knee. Add hip, quad, and foot problems, and one would think she had had enough. Instead, the senior returned to finish as the runner-up in the Golden West League Finals and lead the Seahawks to the CIF-SS Division 3 Finals. “When you’re sitting out of a sport that you love, it is hard to see that the rest and rehab that you are doing instead of being able to run with your team is going to be worth it,” Newman said. “All you really want is to go out there and compete.”
Julia Tung
Corona del Mar
Freshman
At 4-foot-10, there’s a good chance that Tung ranked among the shortest runners seen in high school cross-country this year, but she was tough as nails. She stepped into the Sea Kings lineup and solidified the No. 2 spot to help the team make it to the state meet. Tung took grade-level victories in the Laguna Hills and Sunny Hills/Wayne Walker Invitationals in the first three weeks. Knowing that the season is a marathon and not a sprint, CdM coach Bill Sumner held the freshman back to preserve the promising young runner for later in the season. When the Pacific Coast League Finals arrived, the reins came off. She was seventh in that race, and she followed it up with consecutive showings of 18:29 on the Riverside City Cross-Country Course in the CIF-SS postseason meets.
Second Team
Name, School, Year
Ashton Carroll, Sage Hill, Jr.
Bella Gerken, Corona del Mar, Sr.
Isabella Guerra, Fountain Valley, So.
Lauren Hamel, Edison, Jr.
Hannah Hooper, Edison, Sr.
Maddie Jahshan, Fountain Valley, Fr.
Gigi Lee, Corona del Mar, So.
Diane Molina, Costa Mesa, Fr.
Kristen Prado, Fountain Valley, Sr.
Emma St. Geme, Corona del Mar, Sr.
