Neipp Goes the Distance

The evolution of Andrea Neipp into one of the nation’s top female high school distance runners continued in impressive fashion Saturday in the Pasadena Games at Occidental College.

The Highland High senior was expected to finish among the leaders in the national cross-country championships last December, but an asthma attack forced her to drop out of the West regional a week before the race.

She looked stronger than ever Saturday, however, winning the 3,200 meters in 10 minutes 19.55 seconds, the fastest time in the nation this season, and the 1,600 in 4:56.78 to earn co-female athlete of the meet honors.

Although the Brigham Young-bound Neipp led both races from start to finish, her victories contrasted sharply with one another.

In the 3,200, Neipp had an eight-second lead on the rest of the field after the first 800 and led by 17 seconds when she came through the 1,600-meter mark in 5:07.2.

She extended her lead to 33 seconds over second-place Lori Gracinti of San Diego University City at the finish with a time that obliterated her previous best of 10:45.9, moved her to sixth on the all-time region list and broke the meet record of 10:36.05 set by Darcy Arreola of La Mesa Grossmont in 1986.

“I didn’t expect to run that fast,” Neipp said. “I was joking with my coach before the race and said, ‘Here comes a 10:20, but I wasn’t sure if I could run that fast.’ ”

Neipp hoped to run close to 4:50 in the 1,600 but when no one else in the field was willing to push the pace, she led the field through splits of 72.4 for 400 meters, 2:27.9 for 800 and 3:43.4 for 1,200.

Sarah Ellis of La Canada, a future teammate of Neipp’s at BYU, followed her closely until the final 200 meters when Neipp pulled away to win.

Ellis finished to third in career-best 4:58.95.

“I was expecting Sarah to push it some, but when she didn’t, I didn’t press it,” Neipp said. “I wasn’t even really breathing that hard until the last lap.”

Neipp was one of five individual winners from the region.

Hoover sophomore Bridget Pearson cleared 11 feet 4 inches to win in the girls’ pole vault, Taft junior Frances Santin clocked 44.04 in the girls’ 300 low hurdles, Notre Dame senior Chris Forde ran 48.85 in the boys’ 400 and Flintridge Prep senior Doug Hall timed 4:22.85 in the boys’ 1,600.

Pearson, runner-up in last year’s state championships, sat out Thursday’s dual meet against Crescenta Valley with a sore arch, but it did not seem to affect her. She cleared 9-6, 10 feet, 10-6 and 11 feet on her first or second attempts before making 11-4 on her third.

She missed three times at what would have been a career-best of 11-9.

Santin, defending City Section champion in the 300 hurdles, led from start to finish in that race and also ran the third leg on the Toreador 400 relay team that placed second.

The Taft foursome of Jayda Bailey, Eboni Grayson, Santin and Tiffany Smith moved to 10th on the all-time region list when they clocked a school-record 47.66 to finish second behind Long Beach Wilson, which ran 46.76.

Forde, third in the 400 in last year’s Southern Section Division III championships, trailed Taft junior Larry Jones by two-to-three meters entering the homestretch, but pulled away.

Jones finished second in 49.18.

Forde ran the second leg on Notre Dame’s 400-meter relay team that set a school record of 41.70 and finished fourth in a race won by Pasadena Muir in 40.68.

The time by Justin Fargas, Forde, Rod Arzu and David Escobar lowered the school mark of 41.95 set last year and moved them to ninth on the all-time region list.

Hall ran in third or fourth place for much of the boys’ 1,600 before storming past La Canada senior Philip Young, who finished in 4:23.77, in the homestretch.