Sea Kings add another ace

The hype will start from Day 1.

And the best Corona del Mar High girls cross country team ever

assembled under 22-year head man Bill Sumner is set to take the stage

this season.

State championship fever has begun.

“This is the best team the county’s ever seen,” Sumner said. “If I

get everybody to the starting line healthy, this is a very good

team.”

The Sea Kings, already loaded with homegrown talent, including

Annie St. Geme, the CIF State champion in the 1,600 meters, added

another state champion to their roster over the summer.

Sophomore Shelby Buckley, a transfer from Rosary in Fullerton who

won the CIF State Division III cross country title last fall, joined

the talent-laden lineup that finished fourth in the state less than a

year ago.

Prior to the state meet, the CdM squad had captured the CIF

Southern Section Division III title.

Buckley will team with St. Geme, a senior who finished seventh in

the state cross country meet in the same division as a junior, to

form an impressively potent one-two punch.

In addition to the two superstars, junior Sarah Cummings,

sophomore Allison Damon and junior Nichole Slykhous are also proven

commodities.

Junior Hilary May, the fastest freshman 1,600 runner in the state

nearly two years ago, is currently sidelined after sustaining a

stress fracture in her left foot.

She has been training in the pool, however, and is likely to be

available midway through the season, Sumner said.

“Shelby Buckley came into a team that was like the Lakers when

Karl Malone came along,” Sumner said. “It’s like adding that quality

of a player. It’s like adding a Shaq.”

The Sea Kings claimed the Pacific Coast League title and went

undefeated in league dual meets last season, largely due to St. Geme,

who was sidelined with plantar fasciitis for the first three weeks of

the season.

St. Geme recovered, however, and went on to win her second

straight league title.

Damon finished third at the league championships, while May was

10th, Slykhous was 12th and Ahilia Kattan, who graduated last spring,

was 14th.

St. Geme finished third at the Southern Section championships,

while Damon was 14th to help the team cruise to the title.

Cummings was 16th and May finished 18th at the section finals.

Corona del Mar enters this season with the top ranking in CIF

Division III and dyestatcal.com has the team ranked No. 1 in the

state in its division.

The Sea Kings are vying for their 19th straight trip to the state

championships.

“Here’s the deal; I don’t want to sound over confident,” Sumner

said. “But we’ve been [to the CIF State meet] so many times before,

we pretty much know the route and I’m confident we’ll be there. I’m

feeling pretty good about winning state, but there’s no slam dunks.”

However, with the addition of Buckley, and barring an injury

epidemic, a slam dunk just might be order.

“[Buckley] is just a talent waiting to go,” Sumner said. “She was

already a very talented kid before she came here, so there’s not much

more we can do for her. But she’s probably going to do a lot for us.”

Corona del Mar is scheduled to open the season at the Laguna Hills

invitational Sept. 10 at Laguna Hills High.