St. Geme Masters Her Toughest Foe

Annie St. Geme has steadily closed the gap on Nicole Blood over the last two years. On Friday night at the Southern Section Masters track and field meet, she finished the pursuit.

St. Geme, a senior at Corona del Mar and the defending state champion in the girls’ 1,600 meters, won the four-lap race at Cerritos College in a nation-leading 4 minutes 42.10 seconds. Blood, a senior at Simi Valley Royal who owns the fastest girls’ mile ever by a high school sophomore, finished second in 4:44.24, her best time in two years.

“I just remember reading about [Blood] when we were both freshmen and how great she was,” said St. Geme, who also won the 3,200 in a personal-best 10:15.89. “I remember her running a 4:42 [mile] when she was a sophomore and I thought that was unbelievable.”

Royal Coach Jay Sramek said Blood is just getting into “mile shape” after moving from New York in February. Her performance Friday came six days after she lost in the 1,600 to Shannon Murakami of Saugus at the section’s Division I final. In the rematch, Blood stalked Murakami and St. Geme for 3 1/2 laps before passing Murakami on the final backstretch.

Ebony Collins, a junior at Long Beach Wilson, ran a nation-leading 40.45 in winning the 300 hurdles, inching closer to the national high school record of 39.98.

However, the Bruins might have suffered a setback in their bid to win the state title next week at Cerritos College when senior De Ana Carson pulled up in the 100 because of a hamstring injury. Carson came into the meet with the state’s second-best mark in the long jump and was a member of Wilson’s nation-leading 400 relay team.

The title hopes for the Long Beach Poly boys’ team also took a hit when they were disqualified in the meet-opening 400 relay when lead runner Evant Orange was flagged for taking too many steps on the lane line. Poly came into the event with the state’s fastest time.

Junior Bryshon Nellum gave Poly some hope after winning the 200 in 21.00 and the 400 in 46.89. Nellum’s winning time in the 200 is the fastest wind-legal time in the state.

Other double winners were Claremont senior Ashika Charan in the long jump (19-7) and triple jump (wind-aided 41-8), and Woodland Hills Louisville senior Elizabeth Olear in the 100 (11.45) and 200 (23.41). Olear’s time in the 100 is second-fastest in the nation this season.