ORANGE COUNTY TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS:

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MISSION VIEJO — In a single-file line, Melanie Powers stayed up front with the runners, eager to make her next move.

Next thing the Corona del Mar High junior saw near the final turn was the track’s surface. The finish line looked nicer.

Powers crashed forehead first, knees scraped second, surprising everyone following the final 300 meters in the girls’ seeded 1,600 race at the Orange Country Track and Field Championships Saturday.

“I don’t know,” Powers said of who tripped her up, or how it happened. “One thing I know is I’m on the floor and I’m like, ‘How does this happen? This happens in the beginning of the race, not the end.’

“I was trying to figure out how to push myself up really fast. It’s like I bounced. I went foomp!”

Powers was off the ground that quick, like a basketball. Seeing one of the race favorites get up faster gave Powers a sense of urgency.

Not having teammate Marisa Cummings spike her head while on the ground helped Powers get up quickly, too.

Cummings leaped over Powers and finished with a personal-best time of 5 minutes, 4.83 seconds for fourth place, one spot ahead of Powers. The resiliency Powers’ showed gave Coach Bill Sumner a reason to smile big at Mission Viejo High.

Powers survived without suffering a season-ending injury, just beat-up knees and the right side of her forehead was as bright as the running outfit of the winner.

Staci Foster of Orange Lutheran ended up the worst out of the four runners falling. She got stitches, but getting worked on under a tent felt a lot better after she won the event in 5:00.01.

Sumner felt good, too. He couldn’t celebrate too much. His right foot is injured and was in a boot. So the longtime coach gave a high-five to Cummings and Powers, who clocked in at 5:06.36. Sage Hill School senior Cait Williamson placed 11th in 5:15.72.

“What happened?” Sumner asked Cummings.

The junior broke down the end of the race because she survived to tell it after running behind Powers and the top runners.

The spill created an opportunity. Cummings took advantage of what she called a domino effect. It positively affected her performance.

Cummings and Sumner talked about knowing when to make the most of an opportunity before the race, her first on the varsity level at the competitive one-day meet after running in the frosh/soph division last season.

“She’s more of a strength runner, so it makes sense for her to wait and let somebody else make mistakes,” said Sumner, who later in the day saw Kim Condino and Sarah Keddington place fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800.

“[Cummings] stuck to the plan and the plan worked.”

Sumner said Cummings erased around 14 seconds off last year’s mark at the Orange County Championships. An extra five seconds, to go under 5 minutes, would’ve been better in Sumner’s eyes.

Sumner might want to consider having Cummings compete in some jumping events.

“I just did a flying leap and kept on going,” Cummings described how she avoided Powers. “I just saw her head hit the ground. I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’ I knew I couldn’t step on [her head].”

The boys’ 1,600-meter seeded race looked rougher.

From the start, shoving and pushing. Everyone wanted to get out to a fast start. The physicality hindered Estancia’s Fernando Orozco, who got spiked on the second lap.

“He probably would’ve run 4:24,” said Estancia Coach Charlie Appell, adding his senior finished in 4:28 and in 13th place. “Thirty guys in a championship-type of a race, is a little bit [crowded]. Twenty would be fine. Again, then they would eliminate the number of people and more people should be allowed [to compete].

“[Orozco is] not ready yet. He’s got to start getting ready because our [Orange Coast League championship] is in two weeks.”

The same can be said for a couple of local boys, who are working on a couple of areas before the postseason begins.

Blaine Bolus of CdM continues to excel despite a nagging right hamstring. The Harvard-bound senior went 1-2-3 in three jumping events.

Bolus defended his triple jump crown at the Orange County Championships, but he fell short of beating the CdM school record, which he set last season in Mission Viejo with a mark of 46 feet, 7 1/4 inches.

“I didn’t [get personal bests] in anything,” said Bolus, who placed second in the high jump and third in the long jump. “But I’m happy.”

Newport Harbor senior Cecil Whiteside and his throwing coach, Tony Ciarelli, are getting closer to happiness.

Whiteside finished runner-up in the discus throw with a heave of 171-10. Beckman’s Brendon Birdsell won the event after recording a 180-8, a Whiteside-like throw.

“A lot better than the last two weeks,” Whiteside said he felt after struggling to come close to the 187-5 mark he hit at the Surf City Invitational in March. “Our target is for CIF finals. I’ll be throwing my best around that time.”

At the end of the event, Ciarelli showed Whiteside ways he can improve his form. The throwing guru also tried to motivate the UC Berkeley-bound junior, telling him his teammate Brandon Kula was right behind him.

“Brandon did a great job,” Ciarelli said of Kula. “Cecil’s been in a little bit of a slump, but seems to be coming out of it a little bit.

“We have to correct some of the things he’s doing. He’s very capable of throwing in the 190 [plus range] by the time we get to the state meet.”

For Sage Hill’s boys, Andy Multari, Lion Wintemute, Colton Gyulay and Kevin Schaefer set a school record in the 4x100 relay, Coach Nate Miller said, in 44.18 for 12th.

Jackie Dion set a school record in the girls’ 400 in 58.91 for eighth place, Miller said.

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