No hills, but a big thrill for Tennison at CIF prelims
WALNUT - Kicking off the most important stretch of the season, Newport Harbor junior Paige Tennison provided further evidence of her growing status as one of Southern California's best runners.
Tennison (16:13) produced the second best overall qualifying time of the meet (best among all county runners) at the CIF-SS Divisional Preliminaries Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
“It’s been an exciting season and I really want to make it to state,” said Tennison. “I’ve just been pushing myself in practice.”
Heavy rains overnight forced the runners to the Mt. SAC “rain course” for the qualifying meet. Though measured as the same distance as the regular course (2.91 miles), the rain course was void of the steep inclines and sharp turns that highlight the standard course.
The change in courses seemed to make little difference to Tennison, as she took an early lead and cruised to a win her in her qualifying heat.
“I was planning on running the usual course and prepared myself for hills,” said Tennison.
“The standard course is much more challenging from a mental standpoint, but I love to run it because so many great runners have run here and it’s an honor to be running on the course.”
Only Simi Valley standout Sarah Baxter (16:09) had a faster qualifying time.
Newport Harbor qualified for the finals with a fourth-place team finish in the heat.
Woodbridge senior Molly Babcock (16:33) was the other county race winner in Division 2. Behind Babcock, Woodbridge (50 points) won its heat to advance to the finals. Tesoro (61 points) also advanced.
Also moving on in Division 2 was Foothill and Canyon. Esperanza senior Hannah Bell and University junior Maya Desai qualified as individuals.
In Division 1 qualifying, Marina senior Laura Hollander once again took home a first place finish. She trailed Centennial of Corona senior Adriana Olivas for a good portion of the race before rallying with a late burst to win in a time of 16:21. It was the third best overall time of the meet and second best among county runners behind Tennison.
“I know in the beginning I have to go out hard because that’s how I race,” said Hollander. “I haven’t been behind much this season and it felt good to have that competition. Though my time was fast, I felt relaxed.”
The Vikings (58 points) qualified as a team, finishing second in the heat to San Clemente (46 points). Running much of the race in a tight pack, the Tritons had four runners finish in the top 10 and within three seconds of each other.
Dana Hills (48 points) won its Division 1 qualifying heat by placing five runners in the top 15, led by senior Sheridan Gomez (16:59) who used a late surge in the final 100 meters to tie two other runners with the same time for the top finish.
“We have worked finishing and when I saw the two girls ahead of me, I knew that I could catch up to them with my speed,” said Gomez.
Trabuco Hills (85 points) finished second and Edison (131 points) fourth in the same heat to advance to the finals.
Capistrano Valley will also compete in the finals. The Cougars tied Valencia of Valencia for the best team time among teams that finished sixth in each heat and both teams advanced.
Aliso Niguel senior Danica Wyson was the only Division 1 runner to move on as an individual.
In the Division 3, Corona del Mar senior Ashlee Powers was the lone country runner to claim a heat win in a time of 17:13.
“I wanted to run the regular course and used this more as a tempo run for next week,” said Powers.
Northwood (61 points) won the heat, with the Sea Kings (62 points), Bolsa Grande (111 points), Mater Dei (112 points), and Laguna Hills (121 points) also moving on to the finals.
Santa Margarita and Yorba Linda also earned their way into the Division 3 finals. Qualifying individually was Tustin junior Emely Portillo.
JSerra will look to defend its 2010 title in Division 4, as the Lions (27 points) had five runners finish in the top 10 to win their heat. Sophomore Hannah Hunsaker (17:35) was the Lions’ top runner, crossing the finishing line fourth in the race.
Qualifying as an individual in the same heat was Whittier Christian senior Kellian Hunt, who finished first in a time of 17:20.
“I’ve done this course before and worked on speed work which helped get the edge on the sprinting part,” said Hunt.
Sage Hill was the lone county team to qualify for the Division 5 final, as the Lightning finished fourth in their heat.
