MARK GARCIA, OCVARSITY.COM
San Clemente's Alex Dunne, who lost a shoe along the way, nears the finish line on her way to winning the Division I race Saturday at the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.
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Dunne a one-shoe wonder as she wins state title
Comments 0 | Recommend 0Dunne a one-shoe wonder as she wins state title
November 29, 2008 3:00 AM
OCVarsity.com
FRESNO - To win a state cross country championship is a great achievement.
To win with just one shoe on your foot ... that's just ridiculous.
But that's exactly what happened to San Clemente's Alex Dunne, who, despite running almost the entire 5K race without her left shoe, captured the Division I race on Saturday at the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park.
Dunne, a senior, won the race in 17 minutes, 27 seconds, the 12th fastest time by a female at the state meet.
"Somebody gave me a flat tire in the first mile," Dunne said, explaining how how her shoe came off after someone stepped on the back of her foot. "I kept it on, but right before going up Killer Hill (roughly just past the first mile mark), I kicked it off. That's never happened to me before."
Her effort - an all-time best for a San Clemente runner - lifted the Tritons to a third-place finish, also a school record.
"My foot is throbbing right now," Dunne said at the finish line, "but winning state makes it feel better."
Dunne was the lone female county runner to win a race Saturday, but the county did have two teams - Dana Hills and Corona del Mar - capture team titles.
The top-ranked Dolphins won their first state championship in Division I, edging Torrey Pines of San Diego, 65-81. San Clemente (163 points) took third, followed by Esperanza (164) and Trabuco Hills (177).
"This one is for Megan," Dolphins coach Rex Hall said, referring to Dana Hills runner Megan Myers, who died last season while competing in a race. "She was with us today."
The top-ranked Dolphins placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 27. Torrey Pines placed two runners among the top four finishers and four in the top 14, but it's fifth runner placed 62nd.
"This is remarkable," Hall said. "We always thought we had the speed to get it done, and obviously we stepped it up (from last year's third-place finish)."
Corona del Mar squeaked by Orange Lutheran to win the Division III race for its sixth state championship, tying them with San Francisco's University High for the most titles in state meet history.
"If you would have told me two months ago that we were going to be on the podium at state, I would've thought you were on something," Sea Kings coach Bill Sumner said.
Corona del Mar began the season out of the top 10 rankings, but gradually moved up throughout the season, eventually edging out Orange Lutheran at last week's section meet, and again Saturday.
Earning individual all-state honors for placing in the top 10 in their races were: Dunne; Esperanza's Teeny Adams; Dana Hills' Alaina Alvarez; El Toro's Gianna Velasquez; Edison's Hillary Hayes; Corona del Mar's Melanie Poweis; JSerra's Kat Delaney, St. Margaret's Tasha Pavlovich; Orange Lutheran's Ally Sciara and Crean Lutheran's Ally Sciarra.
To win with just one shoe on your foot ... that's just ridiculous.
But that's exactly what happened to San Clemente's Alex Dunne, who, despite running almost the entire 5K race without her left shoe, captured the Division I race on Saturday at the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park.
Dunne, a senior, won the race in 17 minutes, 27 seconds, the 12th fastest time by a female at the state meet.
"Somebody gave me a flat tire in the first mile," Dunne said, explaining how how her shoe came off after someone stepped on the back of her foot. "I kept it on, but right before going up Killer Hill (roughly just past the first mile mark), I kicked it off. That's never happened to me before."
Her effort - an all-time best for a San Clemente runner - lifted the Tritons to a third-place finish, also a school record.
"My foot is throbbing right now," Dunne said at the finish line, "but winning state makes it feel better."
Dunne was the lone female county runner to win a race Saturday, but the county did have two teams - Dana Hills and Corona del Mar - capture team titles.
The top-ranked Dolphins won their first state championship in Division I, edging Torrey Pines of San Diego, 65-81. San Clemente (163 points) took third, followed by Esperanza (164) and Trabuco Hills (177).
"This one is for Megan," Dolphins coach Rex Hall said, referring to Dana Hills runner Megan Myers, who died last season while competing in a race. "She was with us today."
The top-ranked Dolphins placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 27. Torrey Pines placed two runners among the top four finishers and four in the top 14, but it's fifth runner placed 62nd.
"This is remarkable," Hall said. "We always thought we had the speed to get it done, and obviously we stepped it up (from last year's third-place finish)."
Corona del Mar squeaked by Orange Lutheran to win the Division III race for its sixth state championship, tying them with San Francisco's University High for the most titles in state meet history.
"If you would have told me two months ago that we were going to be on the podium at state, I would've thought you were on something," Sea Kings coach Bill Sumner said.
Corona del Mar began the season out of the top 10 rankings, but gradually moved up throughout the season, eventually edging out Orange Lutheran at last week's section meet, and again Saturday.
Earning individual all-state honors for placing in the top 10 in their races were: Dunne; Esperanza's Teeny Adams; Dana Hills' Alaina Alvarez; El Toro's Gianna Velasquez; Edison's Hillary Hayes; Corona del Mar's Melanie Poweis; JSerra's Kat Delaney, St. Margaret's Tasha Pavlovich; Orange Lutheran's Ally Sciara and Crean Lutheran's Ally Sciarra.
Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com
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