St. Geme, CdM top county field

OC cross country championshipsSea Kings’ ace cruises to first while leading the girls to the team title at the Orange County championships Saturday.ORANGE -- Corona del Mar High lived up to its first-rate billing, running away with the competition at the Orange County cross country championships Saturday at Irvine Park.

And with an individual Back Bay rivalry on the line, senior Annie St. Geme proved she’s for real, if she even had to.

St. Geme dethroned Newport Harbor senior Whitney Blue and finished first in a lifetime-best 16 minutes, 55 seconds in the sweepstakes race to lead the CdM girls to a first-place finish.

Multiple Newport-Mesa area high schools participated in the event, including Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa and Sage Hill.

The Sea Kings dominated the meet by taking first place as a team in both boys (Division III) and girls (sweepstakes) varsity races.

Even after taking a wrong turn on the course, St. Geme finished first in the three-mile race, while Sarah Cummings (third, 17:16), Shelby Buckley (seventh, 17:46), Allison Damon (11th, 18:08) and Nichole Slykhous (16th, 18:22) followed for the Sea Kings, recently named No. 1 in the nation in the Nike/Footlocker Super 25 high school rankings.

“I went out relaxed and stayed back a little for the first two miles, but I ran the last half mile pretty much by myself,� St. Geme said about her race.

Blue, last year’s champion, finished fourth in 17:19 to lead the Sailors to a sixth-place finish.

“Whitney knows she could have run a better race, but it’s about her running her best race, not about who she’s running against,� Newport Coach Eric Tweit said.

Taylor Bryson (31st, 18:45) and Melissa Mead (33rd, 18:47) also put in solid performances for the Sailors.

Before the race, CdM Coach Bill Sumner gave the girls a goal, which was to have five of his runners finish in the top 15. The girls achieved their goal.

Meanwhile, Costa Mesa and Sage Hill were both in the Division III girls varsity race.

The Mustangs finished in ninth place as a team with the help of Emily Cotton and Kyla Flores. Cotton took 10th place while Flores finished 33rd.

For the Lightning, Katie McKeon took 13th place, while Cait Williamson and Aiyana Bobrownicki took 39th and 40th, respectively, to help their team finish 10th overall.

“We were short people so our plan was to just go out and do our best,� Williamson said.

Sumner also set a goal for the CdM boys team, which raced in the Division II boys varsity race with Newport. The Sea Kings’ goals were to have seven runners place in the top 15, to combine for 80 minutes or less and to win the team race.

“We ran 80 minutes and won the race so two out of three isn’t bad,� Sumner said.

With the help of Tom Hutchison (ninth), Ryan Guthrie (11th), Kenneth Wong (14th), Jack Turner (15th) and Tim Scott (16th), CdM claimed the race.

Although CdM won as a team, Newport’s Kenny Rakestraw finished first individually with a personal record of 15:21, which is 10 seconds faster than his previous personal record that has taken him two years to beat.

The Sailors finished 19th as a team.

Running in the Division III boys varsity race were Costa Mesa and Sage Hill.

Mesa placed eighth as a team with an eighth-place finish from Luis Genis and a 17th-place finish by Mitch Friedman.