ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Sutton Conquered Her Nerves--Then the Mt. SAC Course

Melissa Sutton of Newbury Park High appeared to be a cool, confident, two-time defending 4-A champion as she awaited the start of the Southern Section cross-country championships at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday. Inside, though, her stomach was churning.

“I felt a lot of pressure,” she said after winning an third consecutive girls 4-A title. “Not from my coach or family, but from myself. When you’re introduced over the loudspeaker as the defending champion it makes you nervous.”

Sutton shared the lead with junior Brigid Freyene of Riverside Poly for the first mile, then made a decisive move up the first of three hills on the course. Her 17:30 effort over the three-mile course was a personal best on the Mt. SAC course by two seconds.

And it would have been faster, but Sutton tripped and almost fell on the course’s final hill. For a few anxious moments she thought that Freyene might catch her.

“I looked back after that happened but luckily she wasn’t that close to me,” Sutton said.