Cross Country: CdM girls back at state

WALNUT — The members of the Corona del Mar High girls’ cross country team do a lot of things together.

On Saturday, they each had little black letters that read “CDM” on their cheek. Even along the three-mile course, they tend to group together for much of the time.

They also grouped together after the Division 3 girls’ race of the CIF Southern Section Cross Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio College. Now, they were just awaiting results, waiting to see if they finished top seven as a team to advance to the CIF State Championships next weekend.

They can start making plans for Fresno’s Woodward Park. CdM’s girls are back at state.

The Sea Kings placed seventh in the race won by Palos Verdes with a team time of 1:36:02, narrowly punching their ticket to the state meet for the first time since 2011.

A couple of individuals also had strong days to medal and advance to state. Sage Hill sophomore Julia Lowe was fourth in the Division 5 girls’ race in 19:03. Costa Mesa senior Anuare Magana was eighth in the Division 4 boys’ race in a personal-best time of 15:33.

Magana is the first Costa Mesa boys’ runner to make state since Bruce Hancock in 1998, Mustangs Coach Steve Moreno said.

The drought hadn’t been as long for CdM’s girls, but they showed they could perform on the big stage. They truly advanced to state as a team, as their spread (the difference between first runner and fifth runner) was 45 seconds, the least of any of the 16 teams in the Division 3 girls’ race.

“We finished out strong,” said senior Tess St. Geme, who was the top CdM finisher in 24th in 18:42. “It was super-aggressive the first 800, people shoving and stuff. But we kind of stuck together, which was what our plan was ... If one of us has an off-day, the other ones just have to kick it up a notch. We’re just kind of used to it. It works for us.”

The Sea Kings had to do some lineup shuffling. Junior Lily Schmidt, who had been out with a stress fracture, raced for the first time since September. And junior Hannah Crane did not race due to sickness.

But the times were good enough for CdM. Senior Elin Wolker placed 45th, in 19:11. Schmidt was 49th in 19:21, the same time as sophomore Raquel Powers in 50th, while senior Kirsten Hansen was 55th in 19:27. Junior Jacqueline Choe (78th, 19:58) and senior Emily Meckler (81st, 19:59) also competed for the Sea Kings.

“We had a really good performance,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner said. “They can look at themselves as a group and say that, ‘We made it because of all seven girls.’ It’s more challenging, so the reward might be greater too. But it’s challenging. I hate to say that we don’t have a front-runner, because that’s not a good message to send. Maybe you’ve got one in there, they just haven’t developed yet. But at the same time, we’re getting through this whole deal with just solid, hard-working runners, and we know that. They know that every single runner counts.”

Lowe, meanwhile, has been a consistent performer all season for the Lightning. She did it again Saturday with what Coach Nate Miller called her best race of the year. She was the top individual not on a top-seven team in the Division 5 girls’ race, easily qualifying for state. Lowe also is the first Sage Hill girls’ runner to make state since the Cait Williamson-led team of 2008-09 made it.

She has earned the nickname of “The Machine” that her teammates call her.

“It’s really cool to be able to make goals that are higher and higher, and keep meeting them every time,” Lowe said. “I’m excited.”

Magana felt the same way after easily bettering his former PR, set at last week’s Division 4 preliminaries at Mt. SAC, by more than nine seconds.

“I was just trying to get top five individual, but I also PR’ed, so it was good,” Magana said. “It was good weather, and the guys were fast, so they helped push the pace.”

Sage Hill’s girls’ team finished 10th in Division 5, with the boys in 12th. Senior Brittany Andressoo was the second Sage Hill girls’ finisher, placing 42nd overall in 20:52. Sophomore Julia Dupuis (72nd in 21:49), junior Kurisa Suhr (81st in 22:17), senior Rebecca Fudge (82nd in 22:18), freshman Yena Chung (98th in 22:59) and senior Brittany Murphy (100th in 23:06) also competed.

Senior Patrick Hynes and junior Calvin Shimano paced the Sage boys, finishing 47th and 48th, respectively, and each crossing in 17:05. Senior Alexis Michaca (60th in 17:23), senior Brian Slaughter (62nd in 17:25), junior Cameron Knollenberg (78th in 17:43), junior Jacob Diaz (97th in 18:22) and sophomore Matt Warden (110th in 19:14) also competed for the Lightning.

Newport Harbor junior Emily Bacon was the lone Sailors runner to advance to the finals. She placed 26th in the Division 2 girls’ race, in 18:15, a time that was nearly identical (one second slower) than her preliminaries time.

“It was her first time all year long as an individual,” Sailors Coach Eric Tweit said. “She’s only been running for about a year and four months. All in all, it was a good race.”

Only girls ran for the Back Bay rival Sea Kings at finals. CdM’s Parker Nostrand qualified for the Division 3 boys’ race, but did not race due to plantar fasciitis, Sumner said.

Sumner hopes for one more good race for his girls in Fresno. He said his goal for next weekend is to be top seven in the state, too.

“Everybody goes, ‘How are you going to do that?’” he said. “I don’t know yet.”

The answer is simple: As a team.