By Mike Kennedy
      (Walnut, CA) -- Sarah Sumpter. Remember the name.
      You’re going to be seeing a lot of it in the weeks and months to come.
      Three weeks ago in the Stanford Invitational she ran 17:50 for the third fastest time of the meet in winning the Division IV race but was overshadowed by the Sweepstakes Race that featured the Bishton twins from Mountain Ridge in Glendale, Arizona and Jesuit. High of Portland, Oregon—the best team in the Northwest U.S.
       Friday in the first day of the Mt. San Antonio Invitation, Sumpter, who runs for Healdsburg, again found herself competing outside the Sweepstakes Races, but unlike Stanford, she made sure she was recognized by winning a Division IV-V varsity race in 17:27 over the hilly 2.91-mile course for the fastest time of the day. Her time is even more remarkable given the 90-plus degree temperatures and a total lack of competition. It was more than 30 seconds faster then any other runner Friday.
       So who is Sarah Sumpter? Prior to her Stanford performance, the wiry-strong senior she had placed just 11th in the State Division IV cross-country meet as a junior and had bettered neither 5:10 for 1,600 or 11:10 for 3,200 on the track. A full summer of 100-mile a week training sessions looks to have brought about quite a transformation.
      This was Sumpter's first run at Mt. SAC but she certainly seemed to enjoy the outing. “I like the hills,” she said. “I knew that if I just pushed the hilly parts of the course that the rest (of the running) would take of itself. The middle hill (poop-out) was the toughest part of the course.” The weather was also to Sumpters liking. “The heat had no effect on me. We run the hills and do a lot of speed work in the hills.” Pausing for a moment and looking out at the course after the race, Sumpter reflected, “this (place) is the absolute Mecca of running.”
      Sumpter hopes to make one more journey to Mt. San Antonio College this year to compete in the Foot Locker West Regional Final. She will be aiming for a finish in the top eight that would advance her to the national championships in San Diego in
December. Based on Friday’s performance she looks to be right on target.

Photo by Rich Gonzalez
Corona del Mar girls

      In the Division III sweepstakes race, Corona del Mar (Newport Harbor), the No. 1 ranked team in the state, was impressive, scoring just 49 points and defeating No. 6 ranked Irvine by 49 points. Palos Verdes was a surprise third with 112 points followed by Del Oro (Loomis) with 120 points and Santa Margarita with 125 points, both are ranked in the State Top 10. The Sea Kings time of 97:24 was almost three minutes faster than any other team that ran Friday. Individually, there was an upset when Allison Damon of Corona del Mar ran 18:35 to defeat teammate Shelby Buckley for the first time this season. Buckley, had a rare off-day, finishing ninth in 19:26. 
      “It was very hot out there,” said Damon. “I knew that a lot of people would feel it so I started out in fourth and moved to second (behind Buckley) at the mile before taking the lead at the top of the hill. I felt good the last mile.”  Junior Katarina Ratkowiak of Yucca Valley was second in 18:53.

Photo by Rich Gonzalez
Jennifer Bergman of Valley Christian in San Jose

      Maranatha (Pasadena), ranked fifth in the State, was an upset winner in the Division IV Sweepstakes with 62 points and a team time of 100:45. The Minutemen place scoring runners between seventh and 20th and had a gap of 62 seconds. Rio Rico of  Arizona was second with 88 points followed by seventh ranked Laguna Beach with 119, fourth ranked Junipero Serra (San Juan Capistrano) with 127 and top ranked Bret Harte (Altaville) with 132.  Junior Jennifer Berman of Valley Christian (San Jose) was a runaway individual winner in 17:57 for the second fastest time of the day.
      Mt. Shasta (Redding), the No. 2 ranked team in the state, defeated top ranked Woodcrest Christian (Riverside), 50-65, in the Division V sweepstakes race. Mt. Shasta’s team time was 101:06 and Woodcrest Christian was 102:20. Woodcrest Christian was missing its No. 3 runner. If she had run and if she had placed just behind the Royals’ No. 3 runner the race would have been somewhat closer. St. Mary’s of Oregon was third with 92 points and Hopi (Az.) was fourth at 106. Chadwick (Rolling Hills Estates), ranked No. 6 in California was fifth and unranked Flintridge Prep was sixth. Both had 110 points but Chadwick had a higher placing sixth runner, 36 to 37.  Sophomore Amber Collier of Woodcrest Christian was the individual winner in 18:51 and her sister Breean, also a sophomore, was second in 18:56.
       Action continues today (Saturday) at 7 a.m. for Divisions I and II. The Sweepstakes races are set to run between 9:25 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Message board! Message board!