Grand opening

Joseph Boo

LAGUNA HILLS - It was only the first cross country meet of the

year, but the Corona del Mar High’s girls team was in midseason form at

the Laguna Hills Invitational Saturday on the Laguna Hills High campus.

“We just tried to get through the race and get the bugs out,” CdM Coach

Bill Sumner said. “ We had to deal with the heat, bugs and long lines at

the bathroom. It gets a little bit of getting used to.”

The Sea Kings got acquainted at the meet quickly. The freshman girls ran

first and won the Division III race, blowing away second-place Pacifica

by 55 points behind top two finishes by Becky Cummins and Jennifer Long.

The sophomore team placed first with Catherine Morse winning.

Then came the junior and senior girls, and they crushed the competition

by finishing 63 points ahead of second-place Pacifica.

Liz Morse, who ran the only sub-19-minute time in the race, and Jenny

Cummins finished 1-2 in the Division III race. The Sea Kings had six

runners in the Top 10, with Katie Quinlan, Laura Ligaye, Jill Quye and

Diana Hossfeld finishing up there. Lindsey Yourman, Jean Garcia and Tess

Maguire also received plaques for finishing in the top 40. “Awesome,” was

how Quiye simply described her team’s performance.

Despite the impressive performance, Sumner stressed there are tougher

meets ahead. “This was only a tuneup,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of

competition in Division II.” We’re looking at the Mt. SAC Relay, the

Orange County Meet and Stanford. Those are the big days.”

Estancia also looked strong in the season opener.

Junior Liz Huipe placed 10th in the junior/senior Division III race to

lead the Eagles to a fourth-place finish. Three Estancia runners,

Stephanie Melendez, Maria Avery and Janet Cahuentzi, finished in a tight

group in the same race and placed 25-27. Katelyn Aronson received a

plaque by finishing 40th.

“We did alright considering the situation we were in,” Estancia Coach

Charlie Appell said, referring to the team’s youth.

Newport Harbor was impressive in the junior/senior Division II race by

placing third despite the loss of Erin Friedman to Rosh Hashana and Lynn

Rinek to an injury.

Junior Amber Steen was second, losing out to Sarah Rettman of Mission

Viejo in a very close finish. Steen’s performance was impressive because

she was fighting an illness and had difficulty talking and breathing.

“I wasn’t actually expecting to be doing this well because I was sick,”

Steen said.

“She ran one of the fastest times of her career,” Newport Harbor Coach

Eric Tweit said. “At the end of the year, I think she’ll be one of the

best runners in the county, and I think she’ll surprise a lot of people.”

Sonya Mechka and Carrie Foss also finished in the top 15 to help the

Sailors. Foss came back from an injury-plagued season to finish 13th.

“Carrie did really well for us,” Tweit said. “She nursed a lot of

injuries this year, and we’re really excited about her.”

Sarah Cotton was the top finisher for Costa Mesa by placing 13th.

Michelle Barnett, Julie Hitt and Jackie Nyugen also won plaques by

placing 31, 36 and 37, respectively.”They did pretty good,” Costa Mesa

Coach Eric Davies said. “All my senior girls came home with plaques. We

make progress with each and every race we have.”

The new course at Laguna Hills made the run more difficult from last

year, and a lot of teams were talking about it. The course moved away

from the track oval around the football field and featured two hills,

including one at the end that tested a lot of runners.

“The last hill was so long,” CdM runner Liz Morse said. “The end was the

worst. That very last mile.”

“The course was a lot harder this year,” Steen said. “You come to a flat

area after the first hill, and you think you’re almost done. And then you

have to go over another hill.”

All the results are unofficial, as it was computed by hand. The computer

that handles it went down, leaving some results unposted.