Mortensen Coasts With a Record Run at Seaside Meet

Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks High isn’t sure when it happened or if it was a conscious decision, but sometime during the summer she began to take running more seriously and began to train more intensely.

The change in attitude and action paid huge dividends in Saturday’s Seaside Invitational at San Buenaventura State Beach where a leaner, meaner Mortensen obliterated the course record to win the senior girls’ race.

Mortensen, fourth in the 3,200 meters in the State track championships in June, clocked 16 minutes 35 seconds over the flat three-mile course that winds along bike paths. She crushed the previous course mark of 17:03 set by Fillmore’s Maribella Aparicio in 1992 and was only a second slower than the No. 5 runner on the Thousand Oaks boys’ team.

“I didn’t know I ran that fast,” Mortensen said when informed of her time. “Basically, I just wanted to break [18 minutes] and run in the low 17s.”

Competing in mild temperatures under an overcast sky, the 5-foot-2 Mortensen came through the one-mile mark in 5:25 and the two in 11:07 before running the last mile in 5:28.

Thousand Oaks Coach Jack Farrell had predicted big things for Mortensen this season, but he refrained from saying anything in print until she had “done something.”

After she had, Farrell was more forthcoming.

“I told you,” he said. “She’s in great shape. . . . I thought she could run under 17, but I didn’t expect her to run that fast.”

Thousand Oaks, paced by Mortensen and senior runner-up Tara Marsden (18:21), placed first with a team time--the cumulative time of a squad’s top five runners--of 91:55.

Canyon, led by junior winner Julie Harris (17:56), finished second at 93:32, followed by Foothill (94:07), Hart (95:51) and Saugus (95:56).

Sophomore winner Danielle Day (18:02) paced Quartz Hill to a sixth-place time of 97:06.

The boys’ meet didn’t produce any record-breaking performances, but John Duarte of Hart turned back a quality field to win the senior race in 14:49.

Duarte and Palmdale’s Mario Arce shared the lead through the first mile, but by two miles (9:53) Duarte had a 10-meter lead on St. Francis’ Kevin Koeper and Thousand Oaks’ Todd Disney.

Koeper, third in last year’s Southern Section Division III cross-country championships, finished second in 14:56, followed by Disney (14:58) and Dos Pueblos’ Sean Phillips (15:02).

McFarland, the three-time defending state Division IV champion, won the team title with a time of 78:07. Tustin placed second at 79:16, followed by Thousand Oaks (79:34), St. Francis (80:30) and Hart (81:00).