Boys cross country: Sea Kings keep an eagle eye out

Joseph Boo

CORONA DEL MAR - The source of Corona del Mar High’s focus,

bordering obsession, lies to the west, in Costa Mesa. That is where

Estancia is located, and that’s where the three-time defending Pacific

Coast League boys cross country champion Eagles dwell.

Last season, CdM team blew through the PCL schedule with a perfect

dual meet record, but it had to share the league title after Estancia won

the PCL championship meet.

Both teams bring back the majority of last year’s squad, which means a

saga that’s as long and engrossing as a “Real World” marathon on MTV will

continue well into the season.

CdM and Estancia advanced to the CIF Division IV state meet last year

where the Sea Kings placed 12th, succeeding with the legs of Travis

Beardslee and Josh Yelsey.

Beardslee and Yelsey, seniors, finished 1-2 in the PCL championships,

respectively. Beardslee went on to place fourth at CIF Southern Section

Division IV while Yelsey was seventh. Barring unforeseen circumstances

they will bring about another successful season for the Sea Kings.

“Both of them are a little stronger this year,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner

said. “Since they were 1-2 in league last year, that’s pretty strong.”

In terms of pure speed, Beardslee is the faster, Yelsey is the

stronger and more consistent runner who usually sets the pace for the Sea

Kings.

But it’s the runners behind Yelsey and Beardslee who will determine

the PCL title. Although Beardslee and Yelsey were the top two in league,

Estancia placed its entire team ahead of CdM’s No. 3 finisher, Judd

Heitbrink, the only departed senior for the Sea Kings.

Juniors John Grod, Dustin Hodges, Ben Inouye and Mark Pomerantz, along

with sophomore Blake Dillion, are the returners. Last year they were

young and inconsistent, but showed promise.

“We’re a little older and hopefully a little wiser too,” Sumner said.

“All summer long, they were within 10 seconds of each other. At the end

of the summer they were still within 10 seconds, except everybody

improved their time by 45 seconds.”

Two freshmen, J.C. Turner and Danny Quinlan, have the potential to

contribute later in the season. For CdM to surpass last year’s

accomplishments, Sumner needs the rest of his runners to close the gap

with Beardslee and Yelsey, as well as Estancia.

“The reality is that our pack moved up and Estancia’s pack moved up,”

Sumner said. “The key is, how much did our pack move up. They have to

catch up to the Estancia runners. That’s the key to the league title.”

It’s not just the league title at stake. CdM and Estancia will be

duking it out at the Orange County, CIF and state championships. Sumner’s

strategy is to gear his team up for what he thinks will be the toughest

competitor. Traditional power Oak Park is a big threat, but Sumner set

his eyes squarely on Estancia.

“Normally, we only look at November and our working plan is for the

state meet,” Sumner said. “We take it for granted at CdM that we’ll be in

Fresno after Thanksgiving. This year, we better not do that because of

Estancia. They’ll be right there in the state meet.”

Corona del Mar boys cross country

Coach: Bill Sumner

Travis Beardslee Sr.

Blake Dillion So.

John Grod Jr.

Dustin Hodges Jr.

Ben Inouye Jr.

Mark Pomerantz Jr.

Danny Quinlan Fr.

J.C. Turner Fr.

Josh Yelsey Sr.