As Records Fall, Glusac’s Star Rises : Running: Fallbrook junior buries a Jorgensen record to win the Mt. Carmel Cross-Country Invitational.

Despite winning nearly every cross-country and track race she entered last year, Fallbrook’s Milena Glusac has yet to attain a position of prominence.

It seems she’s still chasing down a runner from the past, Kira Jorgensen, who graduated from Rancho Buena Vista in 1989.

“People keep asking me, ‘Are you going to try to break Kira’s records?’ ” Glusac said after she had knocked off one at Saturday’s Mt. Carmel Cross-Country Invitational at Morley Field.

Glusac won the Division I junior girls’ race by covering the 2.7 miles in a course record of 15 minutes 53.5 seconds.

Look who’s casting the shadow now. Her time is almost 15 seconds better than Jorgensen’s mark of 16:08 established in 1988.

What’s more, Glusac is a junior. Jorgensen was a senior when ran that time.

One might think plenty of time remains for Glusac to shoot for other records, but Glusac, all 84 pounds of her, stomps out such talk.

“I’ll try for a certain time,” she said. “But to shoot for a person when that person is no longer around makes things really difficult.”

Things were difficult enough on Saturday because none of Glusac’s competitors were around, either.

The second-place finisher, teammate Melanie Hand (17:43.7), crossed 1:50 after Glusac had broken the tape. Glusac already was talking to reporters when the third-place finisher, Alisa Scudamore of Peninsula, came in a half-minute behind Hand at 18:15.8.

It was a typical finish for Glusac, who rarely is afforded the opportunity to find out if there is truth in the axiom that competition makes you stronger.

“Running by myself is hard,” she said, “because I have to concentrate more to keep myself focused and force my mind to control my legs.”

Despite her breezy victory, Glusac appeared unhappy. She knows she can run faster, but a near-two-minute gap isn’t going to strike fear into any runner.

“I was a little slow going through the second loop,” she said. “I felt like I was running really easy. I knew I could have pushed myself more if someone was running with me. That always makes you go a little faster.”

Glusac’s victory was the only one for a San Diego athlete in the eight Division I races.