Cross country: CdM sweeps Laguna Beach

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - Corona del Mar High’s Liz Morse took the expression

“run through the finish line” a bit too far in Thursday’s Pacific Coast

League cross country race against Laguna Beach.

Not quite knowing exactly where the end of the race was, the Sea King

standout capped off her winning time of 17:51 with a 50-foot burst of

speed after the finish line.

Morse had a logical reason for this.

“I thought the finish line was at the end of the finishing channel,

not at the beginning,” Morse said, laughing. “I’ve run this course a

bunch of times and for some reason, I goofed.”

Sea King Coach Bill Sumner had a more colorful explanation.

“Liz is a lamebrain,” Sumner joked about his standout runner. “She

gets a 1,540 on her SAT and she can’t remember where the finish line is?

That’s why she did so well on the tests, because they teach it in pieces.

I guess I’ll teach her where the finish line is tomorrow.”

Flattery aside, Morse led from start to finish to lead CdM, ranked No.

1 in Orange County to a dominating win over Laguna Beach, 17-46 (lowest

score wins in cross country).

Following behind Morse was Jenny Cummins at 18:02 and Katie Quinlan at

18:05.

In fact, seven of the top eight times for the girls varsity race came

from Corona del Mar.

“We weren’t really running for times today,” Morse said. “We were

working on our first mile and starting hard from the beginning.”

With some runners totally focused on their race at hand, Sumner tries

to keep the big picture in perspective for his runners.

“Our goal for all the girls was to have a first mile under six

minutes,” Sumner said. “We need to be crystal clear on what we are

focused on as a team. Some people see this as one race. I see it as one

step toward our long-term goals, which is CIF and State.

On the boys side, Travis Beardslee (15:04) and Josh Yelsey (15:26)

each posted personal-best times for the Sea Kings in their 18-39 win.

Judd Heitbrink rounded out the top three at 16:05.

“Travis ran very well today,” Sumner said. “I think today was a

breakthrough day for him. Hopefully this will make a new path for him. It

was also nice to see Josh run his best-ever today.”

Thursday’s three-mile race was run at Bonita Creek Park, where some of

the athletes really enjoy running.

“It’s my favorite course, because there are hardly any hills out

there,” Cummins said.

Despite losing to Nordoff High by one point in last year’s State

Finals, the Sea Kings have themselves as top motivators.

“Nobody owns their spots on this team,” Sumner said. “After the fourth

or fifth spot, it’s pretty much up for grabs. We have guys and girls on

our teams that would be a top-three runner elsewhere, but won’t make the

top seven here, we’re that deep.”

What’s the best way to describe Sumner’s situation with his group?

“They’re just renting their spots and I’m the landlord. It’s a nice

problem to have and hopefully, I’ll have this same problem when the

finals come around.”