https://www.ocregister.com/2020/01/03/orange-county-girls-cross-country-runner-of-the-year-carly-corsinita-capistrano-valley/

Orange County Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year: Carly Corsinita, Capistrano Valley

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Capistrano Valley’s Carly Corsinita competes in the Girls Sweepstakes race, where she placed 2nd with a time of 17:11.0, during the annual Orange County Championships at Oak Canyon Park on Saturday, October 19, 2019. (Photo By Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

By STEVE FRYER | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: January 3, 2020 at 3:19 pm | UPDATED: January 3, 2020 at 3:19 pm

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ALL-COUNTY GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Runner of the Year: Carly Corsinita

School: Capistrano Valley

Year: Senior

Notable: She finished fifth in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 championships with a time of 17 minutes, 10.3 seconds, the fastest time of any Orange County girls runner in the CIF-SS Finals. … Corsinita was South Coast League champion. … She signed with Oregon.

Season recap: Corsinita was an outstanding runner all season, starting with her victory in the Division 2 race at the Laguna Hills Invitational in September.

But it wasn’t until December, at the Foot Locker West Regionals at Mt. SAC, that Corsinita felt like an outstanding runner.

Capistrano Valley’s Carly Corsinita (cross country) signed with Oregon on Wednesday, Nov. 13. (Photo courtesy of Capistrano Valley High)

“I went in there with a different mindset,” she said, “and I was able to keep up with girls I didn’t think I could keep up with.”

Competing in an elite field, Corsinita ran the 5K race in 17:10.2 and finished seventh.

That capped a great season for Corsinita, who is the Register’s Orange County girls cross country athlete of the year.

Her season was better than she expected. Corsinita rehabbed all summer from a painful foot injury.

“I bounced back by the Clovis Invitational with a strong performance (she finished 10th in the meet’s elite race at 17:49.9),” she said, “and I ran well at the Orange County Championships (finishing second to San Clemente standout Hana Catsimanes). I ran well on courses that I usually find difficult, the ones with hills and tough terrain, and I was happy with the way I handled those.”

Cross country is mostly an individual sport with some team aspects to it. For Corsinita, the team aspects were among the more enjoyable aspects of the 2019 season.

“Our team has never been closer,” she said. “We all spent so much time together and that helps us become more of a team and more unified.”