Trials and trails

Barry Faulkner

The Estancia High boys cross country team would have preferred the

more hilly course available at Irvine Park for Friday’s Pacific Coast

League Finals.

Hills are mere speed bumps, after all, compared to the adversity Coach

Charlie Appell’s Eagles have faced this fall.

Outvoted by other league coaches who liked the flatter, faster course --

all the better to end the regular season with rewarding personal records

-- the Eagles took it in stride and won the meet anyway.

The victory, their third straight at league finals, allowed them to earn

a share of the league championship, their fifth this decade, with

dual-meet champion Corona del Mar. It was the same CdM squad, loping

leisurely through its first PCL season, which had earlier ended the

Eagles’ 15-meet home winning streak, when three Estancia runners

inexplicably bonked (the endurance athlete’s term for running completely

out of gas) attempting to negotiate a hill they routinely conquer in

training runs.

The Eagles bonked, sprained ankles, lost one key returner to his

part-time job, jarred hip muscles, nursed season-long shin splits, and

routinely missed Saturday workouts due to job commitments. They

generally tried the patience of their gravel-voiced head man, who in 10

years with the program has been forced to soften his old-school

expectations to maintain sanity, not to mention the team’s competitive

edge.

“I get frustrated, but I have learned to grin and bear it,” said Appell,

whose children Carrie (Class of ‘95), Johann (‘96), Michael (‘97) and

Stephan (‘99) put in more miles than the family vehicles, while

representing Estancia. All four continued their running careers in

college.

“I owe a lot to Joan Carlisle,” Appell said of his colleague, officially

listed as the girls coach. Carlisle handles any administrative work and

offers the program’s athletes (boys and girls) endless patience,

compassion and encouragement.

“If I get a little overbearing at times, she’s the one the kids can talk

to,” Appell said. “She does a lot of work, so all I have to do is coach.”

Despite the constant trials, Appell’s love for Estancia will likely keep

him at the school well into the next millennium.

“I could coach for another 10 years, or until I can leave feeling

comfortable that I’ve put the program in someone else’s hands,” said

Appell, who can frequently be spotted cheering on Estancia teams in other

sports throughout the school year.

With CdM, as well as emerging power Northwood (under the expert guidance

of former Irvine High Coach Randy Rossi), as newly installed PCL rivals,

league title contention could become more tenuous in the future.

“We went from the frying pan to the fire,” Appell said of the newly

configured PCL, which sent Laguna Hills and Aliso Niguel to the Sea View

League.

But Appell’s optimism is fueled by a strong crop of freshmen runners, who

won two of three invitationals that separated runners by class this

season.

Freshman Humberto Rojas finished third at league finals (15:40),

sophomore Luis Segoviano was sixth (16:13) and sophomore Mike Casillas

was seventh (16:17). Seniors Danny Vargas (16:17) and Abe Inouye (16:17)

were eighth and 10th, respectively.

And, he also points out, there is something special about athletes who

continue to turn travail into triumph.

“Our kids do the work and they believe they can do well,” said Appell,

perhaps the ultimate believer.

q

Reliance upon records from those who vote in CIF Southern Section Top 10

football polls (my fellow sportswriters), has, I believe, done a huge

disservice to Corona del Mar and Estancia this fall.

Costa Mesa (7-2 with only one win against a team likely to make the

playoffs, as well as a 34-14 loss to the Eagles) is a lofty No. 4 in this

week’s final regular-season Division IX poll. The Mustangs are ranked one

spot above Western, which beat them, 35-34, Sept. 30. I voted them No. 10

in my poll.

Meanwhile, Estancia (6-3) and CdM (3-6, but assured no worse than a share

of the PCL title) remain unranked, a predicament which figures to damage

their positioning in the 16-team playoff draw announced Sunday.

I voted CdM (a 9-0 winner over Estancia just 11 days ago and o7

favoredf7 to defeat Mesa Friday) No. 8 and Estancia No. 9.

Fullerton (5-4 but without a win against a playoff-bound opponent) is

currently No. 10.

Should Estancia be forced to battle for an at-large berth (which could

happen with a loss to University), it would be a shame to lose out to

Fullerton on the basis of poll voters’ ignorance.