Mater Dei Wins Title on Wells’ Last Gasp

It was the final straightaway in the last event at the Orange County Championships on Saturday, and the girls’ team title still was up for grabs.

Mater Dei trailed Esperanza by one point when Lindsay Wells, anchoring the Monarchs’ 1,600 relay team, came out of the curve with Esperanza’s Maribeth Buche right on her heels. Buche moved to the outside and appeared in position to pass, but the Mater Dei senior shifted gears and held off Buche, giving the Monarchs a one-point victory over Esperanza and a two-point cushion over Edison and Corona del Mar.

“Oh man, that was a close one,” Wells said at the finish line. “I saw [Buche’s] shadow coming around the corner. That was really scary.”

Wells would have had a good excuse had Buche passed her. She had already won the 100 hurdles (15.56) and 300 hurdles (45.88) for the Monarchs and was being asked to hold off a seasoned competitor in Buche.

“My coach just came up to me and said, ‘Beat Esperanza. No matter what you do, beat Esperanza,’ ” Wells said.

Mater Dei Coach Rick Martinez pointed to some less noticeable but equally valuable contributions. Senior Lauren Adams obliterated her personal best in the 400 meters while taking third place in 59.78. Adams was running in the event because Martinez had entered sophomore Catherine Schmidt in the underclassmen competition, before he realized Schmidt was his top one-lap runner.

“We didn’t think Catherine Schmidt was running that fast at the beginning of the season, so I put her down in frosh/soph,” Martinez said. “And then when she started to pop in the low 59s, I realized I made a mistake.”

Other key points were delivered by sophomore Jenny Sears, who finished third in the 1,600 in a personal-best 5:07.44. Sears then came back and finished second in the 3,200 in another personal best (10:59.40).

The meet also featured two dazzling individual performances from Corona del Mar senior Liz Morse and Woodbridge freshman Michelle Sanford. Morse was the expected winner in the 400 (56.54) and 800 (2:14.18), but it was her victory against the top sprinters in the county in the 200 (25.40) that was the biggest shock of the meet.

Sanford easily won the long jump (18-2) and triple jump (38-9), and just edged out Santa Ana Valley’s Crystal Davis in the 100.