Local athletes looking for CIF State crowns

Chris Yemma

Four minutes, 46.47 seconds -- the winning time from last year’s

girls state championship 1,600-meter race, posted by Alicia Follmar

of Saratoga High for her second straight CIF State title.

Four minutes, 49.84 seconds -- Corona del Mar junior Annie St.

Geme’s lifetime best, clocked at the Golden West invitational one

week after she finished sixth at the state championships last season.

The CIF State track and field championships begin today at

Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium, with the preliminaries

tonight and the finals Saturday.

Three Newport-Mesa girls athletes have serious chances for state

titles, while two boys and another girl are making their first

appearances.

Newport Harbor juniors Whitney Blue and Bo Taylor, Costa Mesa

junior Jasmin Day, Sage Hill junior Zach Chandy and CdM sophomore

Sarah Cummings will be joining St. Geme, all vying for this state’s

ultimate accomplishment in high school track and field.

St. Geme, the Southern Section Masters Meet champion in the 1,600,

will be up against Follmar, who is shooting for her third straight

state title -- a feat only accomplished by two other athletes in CIF

history.

St. Geme’s best time this season was 4:52.81 to win the CIF Division III finals. Follmar’s best time this season is 4:50.27,

while the top time that has been clocked in the state this year is

4:49.26, by Oak Ridge’s Alex Kosinski, according to listings on

DyeStatCal.com.

“[St. Geme] will need a personal record to win,” Corona del Mar

Coach Bill Sumner said. “She is so close, it’s crazy. She has the

ability, but she has got her hands full with Follmar and Kosinski.”

The Corona del Mar junior’s most competitive race this season was

at the Arcadia invitational April 9, when she finished third behind

Kosinski and national leader Brie Felnagle of Tacoma, Wa.

St. Geme’s list of accolades this year already runs deep. But at

the top, there is a blank line that could be filled in Saturday

night. Other accolades this season include: three Pacific Coast

League titles, an Orange County championships crown, a Southern

Section Division III title -- along with being the main point scorer

for the Division III co-champion Sea Kings -- a Masters Meet title

and a contributor to the Division III champion cross country team in

the fall.

* Newport Harbor’s Blue is making her CIF State meet debut in

track and field. She competed in the cross country state meet in the

fall and finished second in Division II, with the fourth-best time

throughout all divisions.

Her lifetime best in the 3,200 -- her main event -- is 10:35.64,

posted at the Arcadia invitational. The winning time at last season’s

state championship race was 10:26.25 by then-senior Lindsay Flacks of

Harvard-Westlake. The top time in the state this year was clocked by

Tori Tyler (10:31.04) of Palo Alto, according to DyeStatCal.

“The times right now -- there’s nobody faster than 10:30s,”

Newport Coach Eric Tweit said. “But there’s no doubt in my mind it

will change this week. I’d be shocked if I didn’t see low 10:20s.”

Tweit said he is confident Blue has the ability to run in the

10:20s.

* Costa Mesa’s Day, who finished eighth in the state last year in

the high jump with a 5-foot, 5-inch clearance, recently jumped 5-9 to

win her second straight Division III title. The winning jump at last

year’s state meet was 5-9 1/4 and the top mark this year is 5-11,

according to DyeStatCal.

* Sage Hill’s Chandy, the CIF Division IV champion in the 200 and

400, will be up against one of the nation’s top 400 runners in

two-time defending state champion David Gettis of Dorsey. Gettis

recently clocked 46.08 at the City Section finals. Chandy’s lifetime

best is 47.74, the eighth-fastest time in the state.

He’ll also be in the 200.

* Newport’s Taylor finished third in the shot put at the Masters

Meet with a lifetime-best 59-5 1/2 to qualify for state, while CdM’s

Sarah Cummings, ran a personal-best 4:59.59 in the 1,600 at the

Masters Meet.