Mortensen Might Not Go the Extra Mile

One of the greatest distance-running seasons by a U.S. high school girl will end today when Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks High runs in the mile in the International Prep Invitational in Elmhurst, Ill.

Mortensen, who set a national high school record of 9 minutes 48.59 seconds in the 3,200 meters in the Southern Section Masters Meet two weeks ago, appears to have an excellent chance to qualify for the U.S. team that will compete in August in the World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia. But the UCLA-bound Lancer would rather conclude her season today, take a couple of weeks off, and then begin training for her first college cross-country season.

“I don’t think I really want to race till the end of the summer and then have to jump right into cross-country,” Mortensen said. “Running at the collegiate level is going to be a new experience and I want to be prepared for it.”

Mortensen will face some of the top high school milers in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean Islands in the IPI, which has been revived after a lack of sponsorship caused a two-year hiatus.

Senior Courtney Adams of Brebeuf Prep in Indianapolis is expected to present the biggest challenge for Mortensen.

Adams defeated Mortensen in the mile in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in March, but since then Mortensen has been on a tear.

She has posted nation-leading marks in six races outdoors and won her first state title last Saturday when she timed 9:52.80 in the 3,200, the third-fastest mark by a girl in U.S. history. In April, she ran a nation-leading time of 4:44.9 to win the 1,600 in the Arcadia Invitational.

With the fast times came heightened expectations, but Mortensen never let the pressure adversely affect her performances.

“She just stood up to every challenge,” Thousand Oaks distance Coach Jack Farrell said. “No matter how many butterflies she might have had before a race, she always ran well.”

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Will Bernaldo of Nordhoff, Michelle Perry of Quartz Hill and Miguel Fletcher of Alemany will compete in the Golden West Invitational at American River College in Sacramento today.

Bernaldo and Perry will try to build upon career-best performances in the State championships while Fletcher will try to rebound from a disappointing outing.

The Cal State Northridge-bound Bernaldo lowered his previous best by 10 seconds when he ran 9:04.18 to place second in the 3,200 in the State meet and he figures he can break nine minutes today if the heat is not too intense.

“My goal all year has been to break nine minutes,” Bernaldo said. “And if I do that, I think I’ll have a good chance at winning.”

Perry, a junior who finished third in the 300 low hurdles and fifth in the 100 highs last week, will compete only in the lows today. Her time of 42.68 seconds in the State meet moved her to second on the all-time region list behind Audrey Williams of Saugus, who ran 42.25 in 1981.

Fletcher ran 10.47 in the 100 and 21.06 in the 200 earlier this season, but the sophomore appeared worn out in the State championships and placed seventh in the 200 in 21.75 and eighth in the 100 in 10.86.

He didn’t work out Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and Alemany Coach Dimitri Lagos expects the rest will help his performance.

“I don’t think you’ll see him run 10.8 again,” Lagos said. “He wants to redeem himself.”

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Liz Giltner of Chaminade and Bridget Pearson of Hoover are high-flying jumpers who chose not to compete at Golden West.

Giltner, a junior, cleared a career-best 5-10 to win the State high-jump championship but will focus on the heptathlon for the rest of the season. She will compete in the USA Track & Field Junior Championships June 28-29 in Delaware, Ohio, where she can qualify for the World Junior Championships by placing first or second.

Pearson, runner-up in the pole vault in the State meet, will try to raise her best from 11-8 to 12-2 today in a meet at Cal State Long Beach.

If successful, Pearson probably will move into the top 10 on the yearly national list and earn a berth in the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta, where the women’s pole vault will be an exhibition event.

If unsuccessful, she will have another chance Sunday, the last day to post a qualifying mark for the trials, which start Friday.

“It basically came down to the fact that if I went to [Golden West], I’d only have one chance at it,” Pearson said. “But if I stay down here, I’ll have two if I need them.”