Girls cross country: Packed field

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - The good news for Estancia High’s girls cross country

team is that with senior Liz Huipe, the Eagles should be one of the

better teams in Orange County. The bad news is, every other team in the

Pacific Coast League should be even better.

The four favorites in the PCL, Corona del Mar, the defending league,

CIF Southern Section Division IV and state champs, Northwood, University

and Laguna Beach, return most of its runners from last year’s roster.

In its league, Estancia qualifies as a team in turmoil. It lost two

graduates, Vanessa Stevens and Katelyn Aronson, and seniors Maria Arroyo

and Janet Cahuantzi left the team. But four are returning from an Eagles

team that qualified for the CIF section finals. When compared to teams

outside the league, they’re still solid.

“I was aiming for the state meet,� Coach Charlie Appell said. “But

with Maria and Janet gone, we might not even get out of the league.�

That’s the unfortunate drawback of being in the PCL, where CdM,

Northwood, University and Laguna Beach are all CIF title contenders in

their respective divisions. But then, none of them might have a runner

better than Huipe.

Huipe is one of the most illustrious runners in school history.

She is the only Estancia runner to ever post a time under 18:00. Last

season, Huipe was ninth in Division IV at the state meet, fourth in CIF

and fifth in the league. Not only will opponents be hard-pressed to keep

up with her, but the same holds true with her teammates.

“She makes it harder for everyone else on the team,� Appell said.

“Because she’s so far ahead of them, it’s hard for them to keep pace.�

Estancia has two senior returners who should help. Stephanie Melendez

has been turning in solid summer workouts, according to Appell, but

Carmen McNeil was dogged by illness all summer long.

Junior Araceli Morales is Estancia’s fourth returner and has been

running in the 21:00 range. Freshman Marilyn Reich is also clocking in

with times in that area.

Four sophomores are new to the Eagles. Jessica Butler has the fastest

time among them so far. Diane Rosete, Lugi Valdez and Lindsay Freeman

round out the team.

If Huipe continues finding success and the two seniors steadies the

rest of the team, Estancia should be in good shape if the Eagles can find

a way into the CIF preliminaries.

But equaling last year’s fourth-place finish in the PCL could be

tougher than qualifying for the CIF finals. Appell is well aware of this

as the team prepares for rocky road it must travel.

“I’m not making any guesses,� said Appell. “We’re just keeping it up

for the season.�

Estancia girls cross country

Coach: Charlie Appell

Jessica Butler So.

Lindsay Freeman So.

Liz Huipe Sr.

Carmen McNeil Sr.

Stephanie Melendez Sr.

Araceli Morales Jr.

Marilyn Reich Fr.

Diane Rosete So.

Lugi Valdez So.