Peninsula’s Vince Always Looks for an Edge in Race With Clock

Emily Vince of the Palos Verdes Peninsula High girls’ cross-country team knew the answer to the question before she asked it. She knew that longtime Panther Coach Joe Kelly wouldn’t allow her to wear racing flats in an early-season meet.

Her desire to run as fast as possible led her to approach Kelly before the Dana Hills Invitational on Saturday and ask if she could shun her heavier, bulkier training shoes for her lighter, thinner-soled racing flats.

“I thought it was a good chance to get a good time on a pretty fast course,” Vince said. “But he looked at me and said, ‘Emily, you know we don’t wear our racing flats until the [Southern Section] finals.”’

Kelly prohibits wearing racing flats until the championship meets for two reasons:

* Racing in training flats saves wear and tear on his runners’ bodies.

* Lacing on a pair of racing shoes for the first time at the end of the season makes runners tapering their workouts even more confident of performing well.

Kelly understood the reason behind Vince’s request.

“She likes to push herself,” he said. “Like a lot of the great runners, she wants to run fast all the time.”

A fourth-year varsity runner with a 3.8 grade-point average, Vince has improved steadily and is undefeated in four races this season.

She won the first Bay League meet of the season by 11/2 minutes on Wednesday. She placed fourth in the state Division I final last year to lead Peninsula to the team title and, during track season, lowered her career best in the 3,200 meters to 10 minutes 38.1 seconds.

Kelly figures her best race might ultimately be the 10,000 meters.

“She has a 10,000-meter mentality,” he said. “The longer the race, the more she likes it.”

*

Changing times: Corrections have been made in the team times recorded by Peninsula and Irvine Woodbridge at the Dana Hills Invitational. Peninsula, which had the fastest girls’ time in the meet, ran 92:26, not 92:44. Woodbridge clocked 92:27, not 92:55. The changes came about after some individual times in the original results were corrected.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

1. Dana Point Dana Hills (SS-South Coast)

Dolphins displayed impressive depth in their own invitational on Saturday.

2. Murrieta Valley (SS-Southwestern)

Nighthawks’ next race will be Inland Empire championships on Oct. 13.

3. Irvine Woodbridge (SS-Sea View)

Warriors posted second-fastest team time in Dana Hills Invitational.

4. Yucaipa (SS-San Andreas)

Thunderbirds had fourth-fastest team time in Dana Hills Invitational.

5. Chino Hills Ayala (SS-Sierra)

Bulldogs expected to race Yucaipa in Yucaipa Invitational on Saturday.

6. Huntington Beach Marina (SS-Sunset)

Vikings will run against Esperanza and Edison in first league meet of season Tuesday.

7. Anaheim Esperanza (SS-Sunset)

Aztecs hope to run in Brea Olinda Invitational on Saturday.

8. Canyon Country Canyon (SS-Foothill)

Cowboys had seven of top 13 finishers in first Foothill League meet on Tuesday.

9. Palos Verdes Peninsula (SS-Bay)

Emily Vince paced Panthers to fastest team time in Dana Hills Invitational.

10. Huntington Beach Edison (SS-Sunset)

Chargers have talented front runner in junior Maryann Pynchon.