CROSS-COUNTRY : Mortensen Wins National Title as Flu Catches Up With Stamps

As expected, a Californian won the girls’ title in the national prep cross-country championships at Balboa Park’s Morley Field on Saturday morning, but it wasn’t defending champion Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa High.

It was Thousand Oaks High senior Kim Mortensen, who had finished second to Stamps in four races this season, including the West regional on Dec. 2.

Mortensen ran the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes 12 seconds to handily defeat runner-up Amy Yoder of Noblesville East Noble, Ind., who was timed in 17:28.

Stamps, a junior, had battled flu all week and dropped out because of exhaustion at the 2 1/4-mile mark after Mortensen passed her.

Stamps had a five-second lead midway through the race, but Mortensen caught her at the two-mile mark (11:06) and pulled away to become the first Southern Section runner to win the girls’ title.

The boys’ race was decided in the final straightaway when senior Abdul Alzindani of Dearborn Fordson, Mich., surged past Sharif Karie of Springfield West, Va., with 50 meters left. Alzindani, a native of Yemen, was timed in 15:12. Karie, from Somalia, finished in 15:24.