CdM girls third, boys fourth

In its annual “preview” of the CIF State cross country championships,

the Corona del Mar High boys and girls cross country teams came away

satisfied from Saturday’s Stanford invitational at Stanford

University.

The Sea Kings finished third in the 36-school Division III girls

team standings, while the boys were fourth among 41 Division III

schools.

“We were ranked No. 3 in the state with Anne St. Geme and finished

third without her,” said CdM Coach Bill Sumner, who was extremely

pleased by his young team’s showing.

St. Geme, a junior out with a torn right plantar fascia, watched

freshman Allison Damon pace the Sea Kings over the hilly 5,000-meter

Stanford golf course.

Damon finished eighth in 19 minutes, 12 seconds. She was followed

by teammates Hilary May (13th in 19:39), Christie St. Geme (28th in

20:28), Nicole Slykous (33rd in 20:35) and senior Ahlia Kattan

(39th).

Devon Ahearn (40th in 20:51) and Alison Gushue (22:05) also

competed, but did not score for CdM.

Junior Ryan Guthrie led the Sea King boys with a 16th-place finish

(17:05), while Kenny Wong (17th in 17:06), Jack Turner (31st in

17:26), Tommy Hutchison (39th in 17:37) and Tim Scott (49th in 17:45)

also scored. Cliff Taylor (19:32) and Andrew Boyd (19:38) also

competed for CdM.

Newport’s Blue wins race

* The Newport Harbor High girls cross country team fished fourth

in the Huntington Beach invitational at Central Park Saturday as

junior Whitney Blue won the race in 19:02.

Sophomores Lauren Maddox (sixth place, 19:23), Lily Dierkes (24th,

20:56), Taylor Bryson (33rd, 21:20) and Zuzana Bernard (34th, 21:24)

all had solid showings in the field of 20 schools and 150 racers.

Senior Nick St. Andre of Newport Harbor finished 11th overall in

16:57 as Coach Nowell Kay’s boys placed third behind Torrey Pines and

Valencia at the Huntington Beach invitational Saturday at Central

Park.

Junior Kenny Rakestraw (17:08), senior Martin Bernard (17:24),

junior Wesley Urtusuastegui (17:31) and Cameron MacLaren (17:39)

scored for the Sailors, while Francisco Avonce (18:39) and Michael

Jugan (18:41) rounded out the top seven.

The Sailors closed the time gap between their first and fifth

runners by 40 seconds compared to the prior week.

OCC runners dominate

* Orange Coast College had both individual winners and swept the

men’s and women’s team titles Saturday at the Orange Coast cross

country classic at Fairview Park.

OCC’s Jose Castillas topped the men’s field, completing the

6,400-meter course in 20 minutes, 5 seconds, while OCC’s Ludi Valdez

won the women’s 5,200 race in 18:49.

Humberto Rojas (20:34) was third for the OCC men, who were also

represented by Kellen Acosta (sixth in 20:48), Jason Valenzuela

(seventh in 20:48), Patrick Fitzgerald (13th in 21:03), and Jose

Flores (14th in 21:07).

The OCC women’s win was bolstered by Emilie Vo (eighth in 20:11),

Jewel Butler (ninth in 20:21), Gabriela Santana (11th in 20:28),

Jennifer Sliwa (19th in 21:18), Rebecca Powell (20th in 21:23), and

Araceli Huerta (21st in 21:23).