Richard Dunn
COSTA MESA - Before they lined up for the final race, Estancia
High's Eagles already had it in the bag.
Thanks to distance standouts Liz Huipe and Janet Cahuantzi, sprinters
Jasmine Geider and Hanni Geider and weight specialist Diana Alderete, the
Eagles' girls track and field team secured its second victory in five
dual meets before the 1,600-meter relay.
Visiting Ocean View won the last event, but Estancia held on for a 62-61
nonleague win Thursday.
Huipe, the school-record holder in the 3,200 (11:13.6), passed on the
long-distance competition against Ocean View to prepare for Saturday's
Orange County Championships at Trabuco Hills High.
So all Huipe, a junior, did was finish first in the 1,600 (5:58.96) and
800 (2:42.8) to lead the Eagles' onslaught in the running events.
"She's just a top-notch distance runner," Estancia Coach Joan Carlisle
said of Huipe, who set the school record in the 3,200 last year at the
CIF Southern Section Division III preliminaries.
Estancia swept the 3,200 with junior Cahuantzi, the winner in 13:07.6,
runner-up Maria Arroyo (13:34.8) and Stephanie Melendez (13:10), while
the Eagles also swept the 1,600 with Huipe, Cahuantzi (6:10.32) and
Arroyo (6:13.96).
"This year, I hope to break the (school) record in the 1,600, as well as
try to break my own record in the 3,200," said Huipe, who believes the
3,200 is her best event.
In addition to dominating the distance races against Ocean View, Estancia
placed two runners in the top three in the 100, 200, 400 and 800.
In the sprints, sophomore Jasmine Geider captured the 100 (12.47) and 200
(27.12), while taking third in the long jump at 13 feet 9 3/4 inches.
Hanni Geider, who was second in the 100 (12.98) and 200 (27.15), won the
high jump at 4-4.
Sarah Marx and Ludi Valdez placed second and third, respectively, in the
400 for Estancia.
The Eagles flexed their muscles in the weight events, as Alderete won the
discus (88-3 1/2) and finished third in the shot put (26-4 1/2). Teammate
Violeta Vega was second in the shot put (26-7) and third in the discus
(72-2 1/4).
Estancia enjoyed a comfortable lead, 62-56, before the meet-concluding
1,600 relay, won by the Seahawks.
Estancia assistant coach Charlie Appell said Huipe is the school's top
distance runner in a decade, surpassing times of former Eagle greats Liz
Palayo, Arcelli Martinez (now at Cal State Dominguez Hills) and Carrie
Appell.
"She's the best of them all," the coach said of Huipe. "She's one of the
very few who have got the body type and mind-set for distance running."
In the triple jump against Ocean View, Estancia's Rabia Khan and Georgina
Ortua placed second and third, respectively.
