Cross-Country : Jorgensen, Tadese Turn On Heat : Section’s Top Runners Breeze in Stifling Conditions

Competitors in the boys’ and girls’ San Diego Section cross-country championships knew they were in for a long day, except perhaps Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista High School and Goshu Tadese of Crawford.

For the other runners, racing against Jorgensen and Tadese was bad enough, but it was a warm day at Morley Field, and that would only make it longer.

The heat affected everyone, including Jorgensen and Tadese, but the two still won by wide margins.

Jorgensen, a junior, was especially dominant. She covered the 2.4-mile course in 14 minutes 7.6 seconds, which was seven seconds slower than her time last Friday on the same course in the section preliminaries. Second-place Alison Maxwell of University City finished 50 seconds behind.

Tadese’s time of 15:29.1 was 29 seconds slower than what he ran the previous week, but he still beat Jason Salber of University City by seven seconds.

Jorgensen said the increase in her time was caused by the hot, dry weather.

“I couldn’t swallow out there,” she said. “It felt like I was getting my braces tightened.”

But she used the heat to her advantage. Kristi Bache of University of San Diego High, who was second in the preliminaries, went out with Jorgensen and stayed with her for a little more than half a mile.

But Jorgensen took the lead when the runners went up a steep hill, and Bache was never again in contention, finishing seventh.

Maxwell said she never considered winning, so she went out slowly. When the other runners tired near the end, she ran past them.

“I have a feeling everyone said, ‘Kira, you’re in your own race,’ ” said Maxwell, who is a top swimmer and has run for only two years. “So after that, it was just a race for second.”

Tadese used a similar strategy. He ran with a pack of about 10 for a mile, but as the other runners tired, he took off by himself. Tadese was never threatened after that.

The heat forced Tadese to run more slowly, and it also made him feel nauseated after the race.

“I was planning on running under 15 (minutes) if my stomach didn’t hurt,” said Tadese, a senior.

Crawford Coach Darryl Nelson said, “He is capable of running under 15 minutes. This was not the right kind of day for it. Maybe he’ll have the right kind of day in Fresno.”

Both Tadese and Jorgensen qualified for the state championships next weekend in Fresno. Jorgensen will run in Division II and Tadese in Division I. Jorgensen is favored heavily to win her race, and Tadese is also considered to be among the favorites.

BOYS

1. Goshu Tadese (Crawford) 15:29.1; 2. Jason Salber (University City) 15:36.7; 3. Francis O’Neill (San Pasqual) 15:39.8; 4. Bryon Devore (Poway) 15:50.4; 5. Steve Schiedle (Granite Hills) 15:58.6; 6. David Riggin (Serra) 15:59.8; 7. Clay Biddle (Mt. Carmel) 16:06.1; 8. Jeff Cekander (Serra) 16:07.4; 9. Jeff Hughey (Santana) 16:11.5; 10. Jason Heideman (Escondido) 16:13.9.

GIRLS

1. Kira Jorgensen (Rancho Buena Vista) 14:07.6; 2. Alison Maxwell (University City) 14:57.4; 3. Shamen Dugger (Coronado) 15:03.4; 4. Karen Karcher (Ramona) 15:09.3; 5. Jamie Butler (San Dieguito) 15:14.9; 6. Sherish Harris (Serra) 15:19.4; 7. Kristi Bache (USDHS) 15:21.0; 8. Kristina Hand (Fallbrook) 15:22.9; 9. Isabelle Lamplin (La Jolla) 15:26.4; 10. Jenny Berry (Helix) 15:30.2.