Nothing, It Seems, Can Cramp Neipp’s Style or Slow Her Down

Opponents of Highland High cross-country runner Andrea Neipp probably would never wish her ill.

Yet some of them might have been relieved to see her battling a side cramp after she won the Santa Clarita Valley Invitational at College of the Canyons on Saturday.

At least, they had visible proof that the Bulldog senior had paid a physical price for her runaway victory over a quality field in the large-schools division.

During the race, it was hard to tell if Neipp was really exerting herself as she broke away from the field after the first mile and won by 34 seconds with a time of 17 minutes 51 seconds over the three-mile course.

“It’s been bothering me all week,” Neipp said of the cramp as she rubbed her side. “I drank too much water in practice before we cooled down on Monday and that started it.”

Neipp, who finished third in the State Division I championships last year, said she didn’t feel the cramp until the final mile of the race. By that time, she had a 150-meter lead over second-place Lauren Fleshman of Canyon.

Fleshman, third-place Danielle Day of Quartz Hill and fourth-place Julie Harris of Canyon each broke 11 minutes for 3,200 meters during track season, but they were well behind Neipp on Saturday, clocking 18:25, 18:36 and 18:43.

“I went into the race to win,” Neipp said. “I wanted to hang with the pack for the first mile and then pick it up after that and that’s pretty much what I did.”

Neipp’s splits support that claim as she came through the hilly first mile in 6:20, clocked 6:16 in the second mile and then ran the mostly downhill last mile in 5:15.

Fleshman and Harris gave Canyon a superb 1-2 punch but the defending State Division I champion Cowboys were edged by Clovis, 50-57, for the team title. Highland was third at 121.

Canyon had five runners among the top 20 finishers, but Clovis swept the eighth through 12th spots, led by Chrissie Gregory, who was eighth in 19:25.

In the boys’ large-schools race, Steve Barrus of Clovis outkicked Jacob Geyer of Palmdale over the final 100 meters of the course that finished on the track at Canyons.

Geyer and Barrus broke away from the field after 1 1/4 miles, but Barrus ran behind Geyer until the two entered the stadium.

Then it became a mad dash to the finish as Barrus passed Geyer with 20 meters left to win by a second in 15:46.

Monroe’s Ali Benmohamed finished third in 16:02, followed by Littlerock’s Bryan Green (16:02) and Newbury Park’s Ross Wood (16:23).

Wood led the Panthers to a second-place total of 116 points behind Clovis’ 97.

In the small-schools races, Geoff Thurber of Desert Christian won the boys’ individual title and St. Bonaventure took the girls’ team championship.

Thurber clocked 16:18 to defeat runner-up Brad Hegemeier of L.A. Baptist by 12 seconds.

St. Bonaventure placed five runners among the top 21 finishers to edge Flintridge Sacred Heart, 71-81.

Susan Torres was the Seraphs’ top finisher in fourth with a time of 20:41.