CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS:

For a photo gallery of the meet, click here.

WALNUT — Keep it in the neighborhood.

Two rival girls’ cross country powerhouse programs crossed paths when it was all over at Mt. San Antonio College like they do in the Back Bay.

Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor stood tall, proud of each other after conquering the hilly, three-mile course in Walnut. First-place finishes for both in their respective divisions at the CIF Southern Section championships Saturday.

CdM in Division III and Newport Harbor in Division II, and just as similar as the results were the responses from the program’s longtime successful coaches.

After the Sea Kings won their impressive fourth straight section crown by edging out Orange Lutheran, 49-53, Coach Bill Sumner said he was “surprised.”

When Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit heard that his Sailors claimed their second section title in three years by beating Mira Costa, 131-135, he said it was “unexpected.”

It is the second time in three years the cross-town rivals have swept their respective divisions. The other local girls’ coach with a team at the finals, Sage Hill School’s Nate Miller, knows why.

“Must be something in the water,” said Miller, who also saw his team in Division V benefit from the water, especially one runner.

Junior Cait Williamson placed first in 18 minutes, 32 seconds in Division V, making her the first Sage Hill runner to win an individual section cross country title in school history. About two hours later it was CdM senior Shelby Buckley winning the Division II race at 17:51, making it two Newport-Mesa-area runners finishing at the top.

Big-time performances turned in by CdM, Newport Harbor and Sage Hill, but each coach told their runners that it’s not over. The state finals at Fresno’s Woodward Park is next and it comes two days after Thanksgiving Day.

Don’t expect any of the runners to go “cold turkey” with running.

“We’re treating this week like every other week,” said Sumner, sounding like Tweit and Miller. “So there won’t be any stuffing your face.”

Sumner made one exception before the Sea Kings go on their Division III state title defense. After winning Saturday, giving Sumner seven girls’ section cross country titles, the 25th year coach took the Sea Kings to the nearest In-N-Out Burger. CdM has made the stop a tradition, so much so that Sumner said the place knows their orders.

“Double-doubles with chocolate shakes,” he said. “Everyone recorded a personal-best on this course, so we got to celebrate, right?”

It took awhile for the victory to sink in for Sumner. He sat down on the grass after the Sea Kings beat out two teams finishing ahead of them earlier at the Stanford Invitational, Orange Lutheran and Oak Park.

Orange Lutheran proved to be the tougher opponent this time as Oak Park placed third (99). Orange Lutheran was on pace to match CdM runner for runner during the race until CdM’s top girl came through first, setting the tone for the end.

After Buckley won her first section crown, beating out Orange Lutheran junior Staci Foster by five seconds, the rest of the Sea Kings came in. Senior Allison Damon took third at 18:04, making it the third straight year she’s placed in the top five.

Next was junior Laura Bilder in seventh (18:23), and Sumner was happy to see Melanie Powers (14th, 18:45) and Marisa Cummings (27th, 19:18) stepping up as sophomores, allowing the Sea Kings to keep its section winning streak alive.

“Somebody told me the last team to win four [Southern Section] titles in a row was the Long Beach Poly boys from 1996 to [2000], and that’s incredible. Four is unbelievable,” said Sumner, adding that it’s neat that Damon has been a part of the success all four years and Buckley for three after transferring over from Rosary in Fullerton. “I’ll never forget this one because someone before the race came up to me and said, ‘Coach, you’re going to just run through it, because you can’t beat Oak Park, right?’ I said, ‘You’re crazy!’

“We never take it easy. State is next and we’re going for it again.”

With Buckley and Damon giving Corona del Mar a devastating one-two punch, CdM is on track to make it three straight state titles.

Newport Harbor is looking to get that elusive state victory after back-to-back runner-up finishes. Tweit, in his 18th year with the girls, understands it’s a tough task with defending state champ Carondelet of Concord returning its entire seven.

The Sailors will give it a shot despite not having one blazing runner like they’ve had the past two years with Whitney Blue and Melissa Mead. That’s OK with Tweit because this Newport Harbor version is more of a pack and the expectation Saturday was as senior Sophia Ditty put it, “to just run hard.”

They did just that Saturday. Ditty finished 18th at 18:21 and freshman standout Tori Sarris was 27th at 18:41, ahead of Erica Pearson, who’s usually either the first Sailor to cross the finish line or second. The senior ended up 34th (18:48).

Newport Harbor received a boost from Jennifer Cain as she finished 43rd (18:58), signs that the senior is healthy again. Sophomore Ava Nelson was the fifth runner (52nd, 19:06) and she cut 53 seconds off last week’s time at the section preliminaries, helping the Sailors beat out Mira Costa, which had two runners finish in the top 20, but the other three were beat out by Sailors.

“This one was wide open after last week’s prelims, where five or six teams had a chance, but what helped us was the tough competition we’ve faced all year in the Sunset League,” said Tweit, as league foe Edison took fifth in the same race, and in the Division I event Esperanza was second and Fountain Valley fourth. “Our main goal was to get to state. I’m really excited for Erica, Sophia and Desiree [Alexander], because this is their third year together and it’s a special time.

“It’s been awhile since we last won state [in 1991], but we should be in the mix. We know the course.”

Sage Hill is also familiar with Woodward Park as it is making its third straight trip to the state meet after finishing sixth place Saturday.

Woodcrest Christian of Riverside won the Division V event, but at least Williamson beat its top runner, Amber Collier (second, 18:43) by 11 seconds. It was Williamson’s first win against the sophomore in three races this year.

“I was just happy we ran well enough to go to state again,” said Williamson, referring to senior Katie McKeon (13th, 20:17) placing in the top 15 for the fourth straight year and the performances turned in by sophomore Jackie Dion (31st, 21:09), senior Iral Brito (59th, 22:31) and sophomore Megan Culberson (62nd, 22:42).

“After last week’s [prelim] heat, I knew I could catch [Collier]. I was close to surpassing my [personal-best] time on any course. Now I’m confident about state. Hopefully I can bring home something special.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].