Cruise control

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - Not even Mother Nature cold slow down Corona del Mar

High’s girls cross country team. On a brutally hot, dry and dusty course,

the Sea Kings captured five of the top six spots in an 18-45 Pacific

Coast League victory over host Estancia at Fairview Park.

The course left all the runners struggling and gasping for air.

Nevertheless, CdM managed to win fairly easily, while saving some of its

effort for the Stanford Invitational on Saturday.

“My girls are on cruise control right now,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner said.

“Their confidence is way up.”

Liz Morse won the race with a time of 19:39, followed by Katie Quinlan.

Estancia’s Liz Huipe came in third with a 20:11, even more impressive

considering the heat slowed her down noticeably.

“I thought the heat really hit her,” Estancia Coach Charlie Appell said.

“She could’ve ran with Quinlan.”

Huipe, Maria Arroyo and Stephanie Melendez, who finished ninth among

varsity runners for Estancia. After Huipe, CdM’s pack remained in place

with Diana Hossfeld, recent transfer Season Messervey, Katherine Morse

and Lindsay Yourman.

The hot race conditions were not the ideal way for CdM to get prepared

for the Stanford Invitational, and both teams had to run harder than

expected.

“We ran what we had to do,” Hossfeld said. “We’re saving ourselves for

Saturday.”

Hopefully, it’ll also be a lot cooler up in the Bay Area.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Corona del Mar 18, Estancia 45

(at Fairview Park)

1. L. Morse (CdM), 19:39; 2. Katie Quinlan (CdM), 19:43; 3. Huipe (Est),

20:11; 4. Hossfeld (CdM), 20:18; 5. Messervey (CdM), 20:35; 6. K. Morse

(CdM), 20:41; 7. Yourman (CdM), 20:44; 8. Long (CdM), 20:45; 9. Arroyo

(Est), 10. Melendez (Est).