Corona del Mar’s Morse Back in Form Entering Finals

Liz Morse has had a few memorable races during her four years running for Corona del Mar High. Most she remembers fondly, but there are a few she’d rather forget.

At the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational last month, Morse was pulled from the team sweepstakes race by Coach Bill Sumner after breathing problems forced her into last place on the team. It was initially believed the flu had sapped her strength and hindered her breathing, but Morse said she was dealing with more than that.

“That was quite a stressful point in my life,” Morse said. “I think I was a bit sick, but my body had been going nonstop for two months.”

Morse, who led the Sea Kings to the Orange County Invitational title a week earlier and was their top finisher in team victories at the Laguna Hills, Sunny Hills and Stanford invitationals, said her problems stemmed from juggling four Advanced Placement classes, trying to decide on a college and competing in five invitationals in seven weeks.

“I think it was an accumulation of things,” she said. “I was real stressed out and it became clear in my running, especially when we were going full-tilt every weekend.”

Morse didn’t fare too well two weeks after Mt. SAC, when she finished sixth overall and third on her team in the Pacific Coast League finals. She began to show her old form at the Southern Section preliminaries this month on the same Mt. SAC course. Morse was the first Corona del Mar runner to finish the Division IV race and the second runner overall.

Saturday, she came back to finish second in the section championships, leading the Sea Kings to their second consecutive Division IV title.

“I’ve never run nearly this fast here,” Morse said after the race. “My training this week has been going really well. I’ve run a lot of stress off, my grades are fine, and I’ve picked my college.”

Morse has decided on Princeton but is still waiting for the school to decide on her. She hopes to get word from the Ivy League school next month and, if accepted, Morse plans on running cross-country and track and field for the Tigers. She finished third in the 800 meters at the state track and field finals last June and could be the top half-miler in the state this season.

“I love cross-country because it’s a break from track and it’s a team sport for me,” Morse said. “Track has always been pretty individual. That’s why I chose Princeton, because I can run cross-country there. At some of the other schools, there’s just no way. Like Stanford was also one of my top choices, but their teams are just so phenomenal.”

Morse will run her final high school cross-country race with the Sea Kings at the state finals Saturday in Fresno. Corona del Mar is the top-ranked team in the state in Division IV and hopes to knock off Ojai Nordhoff, which defeated the Sea Kings by one point at the state championships last season.

“I’m a senior, we have to win,” Morse said. “Every year we could always say, ‘Oh well, we didn’t win this time, but we’ll win it next year.’ This is it, no more chances.”

STATE FINALS PREVIEW

Corona del Mar isn’t the only Orange County school favored to bring home a state title Saturday.

The meet opens with the girls’ Division II race at 8:30 a.m. and the county will be well represented. Foothill is a slight favorite over third-ranked Santa Margarita, having beaten the Eagles at the Stanford Invitational, the Orange County Championships and the Southern Section finals.

Brea Olinda is also capable of a big race this time of year and the Wildcats already have won on the Fresno Woodward Park course, taking the large-school title at the Clovis Invitational last month.

Two-time state champion Sarah Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery runs in Division II, which is bad news for Newport Harbor junior Amber Steen, the Southern Section champion, and Santa Margarita junior Lori Mann, who was runner-up in this race last season.

The boys’ division II race begins at 9:40 and will feature Southern Section champion Santiago trying to match top-ranked Eureka, the North Coast Section champion, which had its top five run under 16:23 in the section finals.

Villa Park’s Augie Escobar gives the county its best shot at an individual championship in this race. Escobar cruised to a Southern Section title five days ago and has focused his entire training schedule on this race. Escobar’s competition figures to come from Norwalk’s Puneet Mahan, whom Escobar defeated in both the prelims and finals, and Spring Valley Monte Vista’s Jon Rankin, who finished five spots ahead of Escobar in fifth last season.

Corona del Mar races at 10:40 a.m. and the Division I girls will follow about an hour later. Woodbridge is ranked fourth in Division I, but those polls were compiled a week before the Warriors singed the Mt. SAC course Saturday with the third-best time in Southern Section history.

The meet concludes with the Division I boys’ race at 1:25 p.m. and the county has an outside shot at team and individual titles. Katella, which won a Division II title last season, is ranked sixth in Division I. Seniors Danny Mejia of Katella and Ryan Bousquet of Esperanza have the potential to be near the lead.

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State Polls

BOYS’ CROSS--COUNTRY

Division I--1. Chino Don Lugo, 2. Clovis, 3. Poway, 4. Vista, 5. L.A. Belmont, 6. Katella, 7. San Diego Mt. Carmel, 8. Long Beach Poly, 9. Clovis Buchanan, 10. Sacramento Jesuit.

Division II--1. Eureka, 2. Concord Da La Salle, 3. San Diego Scripps Ranch, 4. Santiago, 5. La Jolla, 6. San Diego Ramona, 7. Newport Harbor, 8. Agoura, 9. Santa Margarita, 10. Villa Park.

Division III--1. West Covina South Hills, 2. Los Gatos, 3. Rosemead Don Bosco, 4. Larkspur Redwood, 5. Livermore Granada, 6. Mountain View St. Francis, 7. Ridgecrest Burroughs, 8. La Canada, 9. Sonora, 10. San Luis Obispo.

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Division I--1. San Diego Rancho Bernardo, 2. Palos Verdes Peninsula, 3. San Diego Mt. Carmel, 4. Woodbridge, 5. Hesperia Sultana, 6. Clovis, 7. Del Mar Torrey Pines, 8. San Pedro, 9. Rialto, 10. Madera.

Division II--1. Foothill, 2. La Jolla, 3. Santa Margarita, 4. Antioch, 5. Vacaville, 6. Santa Rosa Montgomery, 7. Westlake Village Westlake, 8. Brea Olinda, 9. Newport Harbor, 10. Agoura.

Division IV--1. Corona del Mar, 2. Ojai Nordhoff, 3. Moraga Campolindo, 4. Woodland Hills Louisville, 5. San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, 6. McFarland, 7. Orinda Miramonte, 8. Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, 9. Morro Bay, 10. Valley Center.

Division V--1. Palos Verdes Chadwick, 2. San Francisco University, 3. Lancaster Desert Christian, 4. Northwood, 5. Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian, 6. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 7. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 8. Lick-Wilmerding, 9. Oakland Head Royce, 10. San Francisco Covenant of the Sacred Heart.