HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW:

For Tina and Bucko Theriot, sibling rivalry is institutionalized.

Literally.

Tina is a junior at Corona del Mar High, while her brother Bucko is a senior at Back Bay rival Newport Harbor.

They both compete in track and field.

Somehow, the family ended up splitting by gender across the bay.

Tina and Bucko are the latest products of a lineage of Theriot athletes. Their oldest brother, Trevor, was a standout football player for the Tars. He now plays fullback at UCLA. Danielle Theriot, 19, was another track standout at CdM. She’s slated to start classes at Orange Coast College. Their father Brian, competed in track at Newport Harbor before graduating in 1975.

When Tina and Bucko’s parents divorced about four years ago, they had joint custody of their children. Tina and her older sister Danielle’s primary residence became their mother’s house in Corona del Mar, Tina said. Bucko’s and Trevor’s was with their father in Newport Beach.

Tina, and her brother, who will run today at the Arcadia Invitational, see each other daily for dinner at one house or the other, and of course, at the Battle of the Bay.

“It wasn’t really a decision,” Tina Theriot said of her enrollment at CdM. “It’s just the way the family arrangements worked out.”

This season, the CdM girls won and Newport Habor boys’ teams both won.

“At invitational meets I see her,” Bucko said. “Going against each other at Battle of the Bay, that was weird, too, because my dad’s rooting for two teams. It all worked out because the boys won that day and the girls won, too.”

Theriot transferred to Corona del Mar after her freshman year, and sat out as a sophomore, per CIF Southern Section rules. She wants to run track in her best event, the 800 meters, for UCLA.

“I love him,” Theriot said of CdM Coach Bill Sumner. “He’s much more filled with running. He helps me a lot with speed workouts. I benefit from him a lot. He’s one of the best coaches in the nation.”

While Bucko’s running roots revealed themselves early — in 1997, at age 7, he set the Orange County record in the 200 with a time of 39.5 seconds — he couldn’t run until now, his senior year at Newport Harbor. Bucko broke his left tibia playing soccer when he was in eighth grade, then re-injured his leg the same year, breaking it again in a physical education class.

He estimated he spent about one year total with a cast on his leg. Theriot wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and play football for the Tars, but he pulled a groin muscle as a freshman.

“Everything wasn’t working out so good,” Bucko said. “I lost my speed. I started training with my dad and started coming back.”

The Theriots generally train together in the off-season, though Tina and Bucko usually don’t race each other. She’s better at long distances, and his specialty is sprinting. He competes in the 100, the 200, 400, 4x100, and 4x400 relays. Tina competes in the 200, 400, 800, 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

But this was different.

Because his injuries limited his training ability, Bucko gained about 60 pounds as he sat out. As a sophomore, he was 5-foot-11 and weighed 210 pounds.

“I was all fat,” he said.

He started running 30 minutes a day as a junior. By the end of the school year, he started pulling tires, running hills, and doing speed work, as Brian oversaw the whole operation. Things were looking up.

Last summer, the two started training at a cabin in Oregon near Mt. Shasta. The high altitude sent Bucko’s breath searing through his lungs for three weeks, until the family returned to Costa Mesa. They went back to the mountain for another two weeks and, now, Bucko said he’s at about 75% of what he used to be.

“This year, I felt like I was in really good shape, and I tried to get back into it and it turned out pretty good,” Bucko said. “I trained with my brother [Trevor] a lot and he pushed me and he knows what it takes. That helped a lot, having him next to me.”

The 60 extra pounds are gone and, April 3, he was second in the 100 with a time of 11.6 in a dual meet against Edison. He finished first in his heat and 10th overall at the Surf City Invitational in March, his first competitive foray into his signature event.

Despite how far he’s come, doubts about his leg still linger in his mind.

“If I re-injure it again, I’d probably lose all hope to everything,” said Bucko, who hopes to keep improving at a junior college next year, then transfer to a larger school. “I’m still doing a lot of catching up. I should have been in track all four years.”

THE MUSTANGS

Coach: Diane Bjelland, third year.

2007 record: Boys – second in the Orange Coast League; Girls – first place

Top Returners: Antwon Byrd, Robbie Gemayel, John Sudbeck, James Stucker, Drake Brunette, Cody De La Mater, Steven Guzowski, Thomas Guzowski

Teagan Labare, Tatianna Williams, So; Cheyenne Lopez; Seu Ieremia, Charis Leatigaga, Whitney Crosby, Shelby Herbel, Kim Bjelland, Rachel Daley, So.; Arlene Sanchez, Sr.

Key newcomers: Kevin Astorino, Jr.; Hunter Strodel, Fr.; Shaylen McNulty, Fr.; Armando Mendoza, Fr.

Key dates: Thursday vs. Estancia; April 24 vs. Calvary Chapel; April 5, Trabuco Hills Invitational; April 19, Orange County Championships.

Outlook: Once again, sophomore sprinter Antwon Byrd is a key piece of the puzzle for the Mustangs. Byrd, who excelled in the 100 meters last season, has continued to improve, and could be among the top 10 in the county in the event, Diane Bjelland said. Byrd was first against Laguna Beach April 3, running the 100 in 10.85 seconds.

Bjelland is working with a young team this year after losing anchors such as Emily Cotton a distance runner and 300 hurdler now at Vanguard University. Hunter Strodel has risen as one of the leading freshmen on the team.

THE LIGHTNING

Coach: Nate Miller, sixth year.

2007 record: Boys – second in Academy League; Girls – second place.

Top Returners: Cait Williamson, Jr.; Jackie Dion, So.; Connor Rose, Sr.; Sean McElroy, Sr.; Cody Gates, Sr.; Justin Stroud, Jr.

Key newcomers: Megan Kim, Fr.; Megan Culberson, So.; Iral Brito, Sr.; Molly Dorwerck, So.; Colton Gyulay, Fr.; Kevin Schaefer, So.; Andy Multari, So.; Luc Angel, Fr.; Slater Stanley, Fr.; Lion Wintemute, So.

Key dates: May 1, Academy League Championships; April 19, Orange County Championships; May 10, CIF Preliminaries.

Outlook: With a new jumps coach this year, Kara Covington, the Lightning are hoping to find a way to finally edge past St. Margaret’s, the team that’s won the boys’ and girls’ Academy League title for the past three years.

Jumping was one of the Lightning’s weaknesses, but Nate Miller is hoping Covington, in her first year as co-head coach, can change that.

Covington, who now works as a Sage Hill physical education teacher, competed for UC Irvine and worked with Mike Powell, the current long jump world-record holder.

Once again, the Lightning are rife with distance runners. Cait Williamson was another leader in the 800 and 1,600 last year, while Connor Rose shone in the same events on the boys’ side. Sean McElroy is slated to compete in the 3,200.

The Lightning lost McKenzie Muhonen, who made it to CIF finals in the long jump. Freshman Colton Gyulay will likely make an impact in the boys’ jumping events.

THE SEA KINGS

Coach: Bill Sumner, 23rd year

2007 Record: Boys – second in the Pacific Coast League; Girls – first place.

Top Returners: Shelby Buckley, Sr.; Thomas Dialynas, Sr.; Marisa Cummings, So.; Claire Schmidt, Jr.; Allison Damon, Sr.

Key Newcomers: Blaine Bolus, Jr.; Melanie Powers, So.; Sarah Craig, Fr.; Natalie Rempalski, Fr.; Kayla Marolt, Fr.; Tina Theriot, Jr.

Key Dates: Today, Arcadia Invitational; April 19, Orange County Championships.

Outlook: Once again, the distance runners will likely be the bright spot for the Sea Kings. Seniors Shelby Buckley and Allison Damon, and junior Claire Schmidt have been instrumental to the team’s success in the 800 and 1,600. Thomas Dialynas, a cross country standout leads the boys in both distance events.

This year, Buckley will be aiming for the top spot in the state in the 1,600 after finishing third in the CIF state finals with a time of 4:45.39 last season.

Sophomore Marisa Cummings took over the top spot in the 3,200, which her sister, Sarah, now a freshman at Princeton, previously dominated.

Melanie Powers has proved to be a reliable two-miler, while Sarah Craig has excelled in the 400, Sumner said. The Sea Kings have strong jumpers in freshmen Natalie Rempalski and Kayla Marolt this year, too. Rempalski and Marolt push each other in the long jump, where both jump 16 feet.

Both girls also have cleared 5-0 in the high jump, and Rempalski went 32-0 in the triple jump at the Irvine Invitational, where she won all three events.

THE SAILORS

Coach: Girls: Eric Tweit, 29th year/ Boys: Nowell Kay, sixth year

2007 record: Boys – fifth in Sunset League/ Girls – second place.

Top Returners: Matt Bissonette, Sr.; Sophia Ditty; Cecil Whiteside, So.; Brandon Kula, Jr.; Joel Betonte, Jr.; Mike Puncel, Sr.; Erica Pearson; Cassidy Gayner

Key Newcomers: Bucko Theriot, Sr.

Key Dates: Today, Arcadia Invitational; April 19, Orange County Championships.

Outlook: The Sailors are another team that is trying to improve its performances in field events to glean some points that could be crucial to winning Sunset League meets for a boys’ team that struggled last season.

So far, that help has come from sophomore thrower Cecil Whiteside and senior pole vaulter Avery Paulson. Whiteside reached two personal records in a dual meet against Edison. Whiteside won the discus throw (173-2) and was second in the shot (51-7).

Erica Pearson, the Sailors’ distance specialist, has become the anchor in the 800 and 1,600.

THE EAGLES

Coach: Charlie Appell, 19th year

Top Returners: Eunice Rodriguez, Sr.; Catherine Fuentes, Jr.; Sindy Ramairez, Jr.; Jennifer Thomas, Sr.; Fernando Orozco, Jr.

Key Newcomers: Juan Jeronimo, Fr.

Key Dates: Thursday vs. Costa Mesa; April 5, Trabuco Hills Invitational; April 19, Orange County Championships.

Outlook: The Eagles lost their best hurdler, Ryan Whites, to graduation, so Fernando Orozco appears to be the leader for the Estancia boys this season. Orozco leads in the distance events, and was 16th in the 1,600 at the Surf City Invitational (4:39.85). Jennifer Thomas will likely be the top hurdler for the Eagles on the girls’ side, while Eunice Rodriguez leads in the 1,600.

SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD can be reached at (714) 966-4613 or [email protected].