HIGH SCHOOL STATE CROSS-COUNTRY FINALS : Mortensen, Stamps Lead Girls’ Field

Kim Mortensen, a senior at Thousand Oaks High, is considered the second-best girls’ cross-country runner in the nation.

She has lost only twice all season, both times to Santa Rosa junior Julia Stamps, and gets a chance at revenge today at Woodward Park in the State championship meet.

Races begin at 9 a.m.

Stamps is the defending national and state Division I champion.

Stamps and Mortensen could be 1-2, but depth is the key at Canyon Country Canyon, which is favored in girls’ Division I.

Yucaipa, ranked third in the country in The Harrier magazine’s national poll, is favored in the Division II girls’ race.

Carmichael Jesuit and Ojai Nordhoff are two-time defending champions in boys’ Division II and III, respectively, and Grass Valley Nevada Union is favored in Division I.