CIF STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS:

FRESNO — As the Newport Harbor High girls’ cross country team lined up under a tent to take its team photo, a flier on a nearby table showcased a familiar team.

A Sailors’ fan grabbed it and read it before noticing the team, Newport Harbor’s Back Bay rival. Last year’s Corona del Mar championship team smiled big.

The fan looked up, put the paper away, and saw that this year it was Newport Harbor’s time to beam.

After back-to-back runner-up finishes, the Sailors claimed the CIF State Division II championship at the 5K Woodward Park course in Fresno Saturday. Even before the official word let out, Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit couldn’t believe it.

An official alerted the longtime coach that indeed his Sailors finished first with 137 points, ahead of the 154 turned in by Foothill of Santa Ana. Still, Tweit ordered a correction.

“You need to check,” Tweit told the official of the scores. “There was no way.”

After the post-race festivities, it finally hit Tweit, who’s never short for words. But winning the school its fourth girls’ state title left him speechless. Well, for a moment as he held the plaque proudly.

CdM Coach Bill Sumner, from afar, said the Sailors’ victory guaranteed at least one thing before his Sea Kings tried to go into the record books.

“At least somebody is bringing home a state title,” he said, sporting as big a smile as he did in the flier. “There will be a party tonight.”

About two hours later, Sumner realized his Sea Kings wouldn’t be joining the Sailors in a neighborhood celebration when both teams returned home.

Corona del Mar fell short of winning its third straight Division III title as it placed fifth in the race won by Orange Lutheran. The crown would’ve given CdM six overall, tying University of San Francisco for the girls’ state record.

In a rebuilding year, a fourth-straight top five finish for the Sea Kings isn’t too shabby.

Another Newport-Mesa-area athlete excelling at state was Sage Hill School’s Cait Williamson. The junior finished sixth at 19 minutes, 7 seconds in the Division V race, ending up with the best finish in school history. Sage Hill placed 12th.

But unlike Newport Harbor, which saw its top five runners, senior Sophia Ditty (20th place, 18:48), junior Erica Pearson (36th, 19:04), senior Jennifer Cain (39th, 19:07), junior Desiree Alexander (45th, 19:12) and freshman Tori Sarris (46th, 19:13) charge forward without having to stop and deal with excruciating pain, CdM lost its No. 2 runner to an injury and its chance to three-peat.

Sumner said senior Allison Damon might have torn an abdominal muscle in her pursuit to give CdM another sensational one-two punch at state. Damon eventually crossed the finish line in 44th place at 19:31, far from her usual standout performances at state. Damon last year finished in 18:40, the second straight year she cracked the top 10.

Sumner said Damon was taken to a nearby hospital. The 25th year coach said he was startled by the injury because it’s rare in cross country.

“When you tear an [abdominal] muscle that means that you’re kind of going beyond what the body is capable of doing,” he said. “We got fifth, but we don’t really care about any of that right now. We just care if she’s OK.”

Senior Shelby Buckley, Corona del Mar’s top runner and the state favorite, took third overall at 18:25.

After Buckley was junior Laura Bilder (15th, 18:53), followed by Damon, junior Kim Condino (78th, 20:03) and sophomore Melanie Powers (90th, 20:15).

But when Buckley lost sight of Damon before the two-mile mark she knew the hip injury Damon hid from Sumner finally caught up to her.

“I think it was hurting more than she was saying,” said Buckley, who was disappointed with her showing after taking second as a junior, fifth as a sophomore, and first as a freshman, when she ran for Rosary of Fullerton. “[Damon’s] a fighter.”

The same can be said for the Sailors. Tweit, in his 18th year with the girls, came up short the last two years. One was close, losing by 11 points to Aptos. Last year’s not so much with Carondelet of Concord winning by a 36-point margin.

This time state favorite Carondelet didn’t make the podium as it came in fifth with 166 points, making this year’s Division II competition close with second-place Foothill (154), third-place Ponderosa (155) and fourth-place Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach (160).

The seven returnees watched to the side of the awards tent, listening to the names of the runners making it happen for Newport Harbor rattled off, “Sophia Ditty, Erica Pearson, Jennifer Cain, Desiree Alexander, Tori Sarris, Ava Nelson and Stephanie Case.”

For good measure, Tweit called out the name of the team’s alternate, Kelly De Young. The senior wasn’t up on the stage, but Tweit credited her because De Young was part of the team giving Newport Harbor its first girls’ state title since 1991.

“Without a doubt, [this is] the most unexpected one and has to be the most satisfying one,” said Tweit, who was the head coach of the 1991 Division III championship team and an assistant on the 1987 and 1988 back-to-back Division II championship teams. “I don’t know if it’s our best team, but it’s our fastest team. We didn’t have a frontrunner. But our first five were so close together. It was awesome.”

One thing the Sailors have been the last three years is united. Ditty’s been a part of the last three teams, and this time it was her time to lead. The senior did just that, guiding Newport Harbor to a surprising CIF Southern Section Division II title before Saturday’s shocker.

Even Ditty had a hard time believing the Sailors had finally finished at the top in state.

“We were like, ‘Wait! What? I thought we got third?’ ” Ditty said. “I’m so happy. I have no idea [what’s next]. We get two weeks off before we get ready for track season.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].