Cross-Country: CdM’s Hellgren bests rival Souther

IRVINE — In both the literal and figurative senses, Corona del Mar High’s Leif Hellgren had to be feeling the heat.

Outspoken in recent weeks about the rivalry that he has with Woodbridge’s Ryuya Souther, the words of the Sea Kings’ ace left him solely responsible for the pressure he was feeling.

On an uncharacteristically warm November afternoon, Hellgren braved heat, pressure, and opponent to back up his statement that he was ready to take down Souther in a league meet.

Hellgren came up with one of the biggest wins of his career, defeating Souther by nine seconds on Thursday in the Pacific Coast League Finals at Mason Park.

The senior came across in 15:02 to dethrone Souther as the league’s individual champion.

Out of breath, Hellgren fell across the finish line. He gathered himself, walked through the timing tent, and then sought out his fans.

He hugged his girlfriend, Kylie Tasu (a former Sea Kings tennis player). He then embraced his parents, who beamed with pride.

None of the above had had the opportunity to see Hellgren in action for much of his running career. He wanted to win for them.

“My girlfriend Kylie was here, and this is the first race that she ever came to,” Hellgren said. “She was part of the reason that I was able to do it, I believe.”

As for the race itself, Hellgren ran right on the heels of Souther for the first two miles. He felt that he was losing the fitness battle.

“It just seemed like as the pace was picking up, he wasn’t getting tired at all,” Hellgren said. “I couldn’t even hear him breathing.”

“I was right behind him just gasping for air, so I thought eventually I was going to fall off.”

Hearing words of encouragement kept Hellgren invested in the race. Among them, Sea Kings coach Bill Sumner was shouting, “Don’t give him an inch,” as the two frontrunners ran shoulder-to-shoulder at the two-mile mark.

“I noticed every time I would come around crowds of people, hearing their voices, the fatigue I was feeling would just go away,” Hellgren said. “It’s like I started back up with more energy.”

“It was kind of checkpoint to checkpoint.”

Souther was joined by Drew Arguelles, Sean McConville, Brett Knutson, and Brandon Christ in the top eight as Woodbridge won the boys’ team title, 22-55, over Beckman.

Corona del Mar also qualified for the CIF Southern Section Preliminaries by placing third with 58 points.

On the girls’ side, Northwood’s surprising senior Erika Adler continued to distinguish herself as one of the best in the sport.

A three-year cheerleader who is running cross country for the first time this year, Adler blew away the field by an astonishing 44 seconds.

Unfamiliar with the fact that different courses yielded different times, Adler thought that some of her earlier results weren’t up to par. Her coach, Louie Muniz, spoke of her innocence to the sport earlier this year, but now she appears to be realizing her potential.

“Since I’ve been on the team, I’ve developed my race strategy, and I know now what I can achieve,” Adler said. “We knew from the start that we could set some records here, and we did.”

Northwood’s girls won their second team title in school history. The first came in 2013. That effort was headed by another impressive runner in Bethan Knights, who currently runs for Cal.

Adler posted a 16:44, the fastest time ever run by a Northwood girl at the Pacific Coast League Finals at Mason Park. Knights ran 16:47 in 2013.

Adler, Aleks Crampton, Samantha Murphy, Mary King, and Chloe Muller were the scoring five for the Timberwolves, all of which placed in the top 10 for a team total of 26 points.

Corona del Mar edged Woodbridge, 71-74, for second place, sending the Sea Kings on to the platform where they always believed their season would begin – the Road to State.

“We’re just getting started,” senior Raquel Powers said. “We have to give it our all every race. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Powers took second, completing the race in 17:28.

Drama came later with a battle for sixth place. As the two were in a dead sprint, University’s Cecilia Langlois was able to lunge past CdM freshman Julia Tung.

Both runners came in at 18:13, but finishing in sixth was the difference between advancing to CIF and going home for Langlois because University did not qualify as a team.

BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY

Pacific Coast League Finals

At Mason Park, Irvine

3-mile course

Team Results

1. Woodbridge 22; 2. Beckman 55; 3. Corona del Mar 58; 4. Northwood 114; 5. Irvine 126; 6. University 135.

Individuals

1. Hellgren (Corona del Mar) 15:02; 2. Souther (Woodbridge) 15:11; 3. Arguelles (Woodbridge) 15:35; 4. McConville (Woodbridge) 15:35; 5. Knutson (Woodbridge) 15:42; 6. Ipcizade (Beckman) 15:44; 7. Cianfrani (Corona del Mar) 15:55; 8. Christ (Woodbridge) 15:55; 9. Suhr (Beckman) 16:02; 10. Aggarwal (Beckman) 16:06; 12. Nelson (Northwood) 16:10; 14. Kipper (Irvine) 16:14; 23. Go (University) 16:47.

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY

Pacific Coast League Finals

At Mason Park, Irvine

3-mile course

Q – denotes CIF-SS individual qualifier

Team Results

1. Northwood 26; 2. Corona del Mar 71; 3. Woodbridge 74; 4. Beckman 90; 5. University 94; 6. Irvine 186.

Individuals

1. Adler (Northwood) 16:44; 2. Powers (Corona del Mar) 17:28; 3. Crampton (Northwood) 17:42; 4. Murphy (Northwood) 18:06; 5. Gonzalez (Woodbridge) 18:10; 6. Langlois (University) 18:13Q; 7. Tung (Corona del Mar) 18:13; 8. King (Northwood) 18:30; 9. Oefelein (Woodbridge) 18:30; 10. Muller (Northwood) 18:31; 12. Pelayo (Beckman) 18:44; 32. Rea (Irvine) 20:21.