Costa Mesa Forced to Forfeit Three Victories

Costa Mesa, which had aspirations of competing in the girls’ state cross-country championships, had to forfeit three Pacific Coast League victories for using an ineligible athlete.

Costa Mesa’s victories over University, Estancia and Aliso Niguel were reversed. The Mustangs are ranked third in this week’s Southern Section Division IV poll.

Joe Busi, Costa Mesa coach, said Zoila Gomez was ruled to have exceeded the eight-semester window available for CIF competition after beginning the ninth grade. Busi was upset because he pointed out the situation before the season to the school’s athletic and counseling departments.

According to Costa Mesa Athletic Director Jerry Howell, Gomez attended high school in Mexico for two years, then spent the next year in the United States attending adult education classes and learning to speak English. She was listed as a senior last year at Costa Mesa, but was ruled this year to be a junior academically.

This is her seventh semester of attending school, but ninth since becoming a ninth-grader.

Gomez, who turned 18 in June, is the Mustangs’ No. 2 runner. Busi, concerned that Gomez had been called a senior last year, had cleared her apparent eligibility through the school’s counseling office.

The school plans to appeal.