San Diego Section Cross-Country Finals : Heat Makes It a Tough Day for Runners : Three Champions Repeat ’85 Victories Despite the Conditions

The hopes of a record-breaking day at the San Diego Section cross-country finals at Kit Carson Park Wednesday were dashed by the heat that slowed the runners’ times.

Three runners--Karen Karcher and Jorge Castro from Ramona High School and Robbie Lopes from Monte Vista--were able to win championships for the second straight year. Senior Marc Davis of San Diego also won his second individual title, winning the 2-A division. He was the 1-A champion as a sophomore.

The boys’ course record was broken twice in Friday’s preliminaries at Kit Carson. But that day was cooler than Wednesday’s 79 degrees.

Shamen Dugger of Coronado, 4-feet 11-inches and 85 pounds, was the first victim of the heat.

Dugger, a junior, was the favorite to win the girls’ 1-A race after winning the preliminary in 16:23, eight seconds faster than Karcher. Dugger and Karcher exchanged the lead four times during the first 3/4-mile of the sloping 2.7-mile course.

As Karcher rounded the final turn in sight of the finish line, Dugger was nowhere to be seen.

“She got ahead of me on the hill,” said Karcher, a junior. “I had to pick it up on the straightaway. When I passed her she didn’t go with me.”

Said Viviana Reza, who finished second to Karcher: “I was passing her, and she was saying ‘Oh my God’ and I went by her.”

Dugger reportedly fell twice while trying to finish.

“I honestly don’t know what happened,” said Dugger. “My legs began to cramp and felt so bad. I don’t understand what happened. My legs just wouldn’t go.”

Still, she finished 10th in 18:21, but had to be carried from the finish line.

Karcher finished only six seconds slower than her preliminary time, winning in 16:37.

“I felt it (the heat) going up the hills,” said Karcher. “I knew I could get her. I knew at prelims, that it was more important to win here, so I just stayed close.”

Others feeling the heat included Castro, who jumped out to a 30-second advantage in the boys’ 1-A race, but had to hold off San Pasqual’s Francis O’Neil by two seconds in the meet’s closest race.

Davis, rated the nation’s top high school runner by Track and Field News, was also slowed by the heat. His race began at 2:30.

“It was so dry,” said Davis, who finished the 3.1-mile course in 15:49, 29 seconds slower than in the preliminaries. “I didn’t really feel the heat until about 2 when I took my sweats off and began to warm up. I’m not a heat runner. There’s really nothing you can do about it. You just have to go out and run a race.”

Nichole Nugent of Torrey Pines was still running strong when she crossed in 16:06 for the girls’ 2-A title.

“I know I’m in better shape than most of the girls,” said Nugent, whose had the best girls’ time Wednesday. She was eight-tenths of a second faster than Kira Jorgensen, the 3-A winner from Vista.

Lopes, who won the 3-A title, suffered a stress fracture in August and missed six weeks of training.

“The 3-A title means a lot to me,” said Lopes, who ran a 15:53. “This was my goal. Today, I was just thinking run .”

Vista and San Pasqual each won two team titles. Vista won the 3-A boys and girls, San Pasqual 1-A boys and 2-A girls. El Camino won the 1-A girls’ title and Serra took 2-A boys.