Carondelet’s Gordon Becomes Third Californian in a Row to Win Girls’ Title

In one of the most dramatic finishes in the 18-year history of the meet, Kristen Gordon of Concord Carondelet High stormed past Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa in the final 15 meters to win the girls’ title in the national cross-country championships at Morley Field on Saturday.

Gordon clocked 17 minutes 34.7 seconds over the 5,000-meter course to become the third Californian in a row to win the girls’ title. Stamps, the 1994 champion, failed to finish for the second consecutive year.

The Stanford-bound Stamps had a commanding 18-second lead over Gordon and Abby Miller of Green Valley High (Henderson, Nev.), after coming through the two-mile mark in 10:59, but she faded in the last half-mile. Stamps was so tired, she fell down with eight meters left after being passed by Gordon and was unable to get up.

“I can’t tell you exactly what happened,” said Stamps, who collapsed after 2 1/4 miles in last year’s race after fighting a cold all week. “It just did.”

Gordon’s time gave her a three-second margin of victory over runner-up Katy Radkewich of the Beaumont School for Girls (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and capped an undefeated season.

“I started to see that [Stamps] was hurting after two miles,” Gordon said. “But I wasn’t sure if I had enough left to catch her.”

In the boys’ race, Abdirizak Mohamud of English High (Boston) surged into the lead with about 500 meters left and then held off fellow Somalian native Sharif Karie of West Springfield High (Va.) to win in 15:21.0.

Karie, who ran 15:23.6, finished second for the second year in a row.