Neipp Finds the Right Course

PALMDALE —  Two negatives in 1996 led to a positive 1997 track and field season for Andrea Neipp of Highland High.

She missed the last five weeks of her junior track season because she was academically ineligible.

Then an asthma attack forced her to drop out of the West regional cross-country championships in December after she won the state Division II title the previous week.

Those two disappointments hardened the Brigham Young University-bound Neipp’s resolve in track.

“That affected me in a good way because I felt like I wanted to come back strong,” Neipp said. “I wanted to work really, really hard so I could prove myself against some of the best runners in the country.”

She did that by running career bests of 4:50.65 in the 1,600 meters, 9:28.25 in the 3,000 and 10:19.55 in the 3,200 as a senior. She is The Times’ Valley-Ventura County girls’ track and field athlete of the year.

Neipp’s bests in the 1,600, 3,000 and 3,200 moved her to eighth, third and sixth on the all-time region list in those events. The 3,000 clocking is the second-fastest high school time in the nation this year. In addition, she ranks third and fourth on this year’s national performer list in the 3,200 and 1,600.

Those performances, along with a third-place finish in the 3,200 in the state championships June 7 and a victory in the 3,200 in the Golden West Invitational on June 14, helped Neipp edge Quartz Hill senior Michelle Perry for the honor.

“I never could have imagined all this happening,” Neipp said. “To get a scholarship to BYU after what happened in cross-country was just incredible to me.

“And then to have all these people saying, ‘Who the heck is this girl from Highland?,’ was also kind of cool.”

Despite her accomplishments, Neipp was frustrated by her inability to run a 3,200 time that was comparable to her 3,000 best, which converts to a mark of 10:10.44 for 3,200 meters.

Neipp ran 9:28.25 to win the 3,000 in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on April 19 but was unable to duplicate a race of that quality the rest of the season.

“Everything just clicked,” she said of Mt. SAC. “I just felt so good that [race]. . . .I didn’t appreciate it at the time, though. I just thought, ‘Oh that converts to about a 10:10 3,200.’ But I wish I could have run that fast again.”

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* First and second teams: C11

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The Times’ All-Region Girls’ Track and Field

FIRST TEAM

MICHELLE PERRY

Quartz Hill, Senior

100 meters

100-meter high hurdles

300-meter low hurdles

Long jump

* The UCLA-bound Perry produced region-leading marks for the season of 11.98 in the 100, 13.87 in the 100 highs and 42.41 in the 300 lows, and had the second-best mark of 18-9 in the long jump behind teammate Kenya Corley, who leaped 18-10 3/4. The hurdle times moved Perry to second on the all-time region list in both events, and although she was disqualified from the 300 lows for a trail-leg violation in the Southern Section Division I championships, she placed second in the long jump and fifth in the 100 and 100 hurdles in the state championships.

EBONI GRAYSON

Taft, Junior

200 meters

* The City Section champion recorded the three fastest times in the region, including a school record of 24.29 that placed her fourth in the state championships and moved her to seventh on the all-time region list.

MALINDA MALONE

Cleveland, Freshman

400 meters

* Malone was overshadowed by Taft sophomore Tiffany Smith during the regular season but she won the Northwest Valley Conference final in 57.5 before unleashing a school record of 55.85 to win the City title.

BRIDIE HATCH

Nordhoff, Senior

800 meters

* Hatch, one of the region’s top 300 hurdlers from 1994-96, made a successful move to the 800 this season, winning the Southern Section Division III title in a school-record 2:13.21 and recording the four fastest times in the region.

ANDREA NEIPP

Highland, Senior

1,600 meters

3,200 meters

* The region’s athlete of the year moved to sixth and eighth on the all-time region list in the 3,200 and 1,600 with school-record times of 10:19.55 and 4:50.65. She also moved to third on the all-time region list in the 3,000 with a time of 9:28.25.

TAFT

400-meter relay

1,600-meter relay

* In the 400, the Toreador foursome of juniors Grayson and Frances Santin and freshmen Jayda Bailey and Deneeka Torrey won the City title and placed fifth in the state championships. Their 46.67 clocking in the City meet moved them to third on the all-time region list behind Kennedy teams that clocked 45.81 in 1980 and 46.37 in 1981. In the 1,600, Grayson, Santin, Bailey and Smith placed third in the state championships with a school record of 3:45.16 to move to third on the all-time region list behind Kennedy squads that clocked then-national high school record times of 3:37.71 in 1981 and 3:37.98 in 1980.

LIZ GILTNER

Chaminade, Senior

High jump

* The Arizona-bound Giltner placed seventh in the state championships after winning in 1996, but she still cleared a region leading 5-8 for second in the Southern Section Division III finals.

BRIDGET PEARSON

Hoover, Sophomore

Pole vault

* Pearson finished second to Heather Sickler of Camarillo in the Southern Section Division I championships and the Masters Meet but bounced back to win the state title with a career-best equaling height of 12 feet.

IKA ELIASHVILI

Birmingham, Junior

Triple jump

* Eliashvili, a native of the country of Georgia, didn’t have the top mark in the region, but no one jumped consistently farther than her in the final month of the season when she won the City title, improved the school record to 37-10 and placed ninth in the state championships.

JESSICA COSBY

Granada Hills, Freshman

Shotput

* The City champion was one of the most versatile performers in the region with season bests of 43-8 in the shotput and 12.3 in the 100. Her shotput mark moved her to 10th on the all-time region list.

MERIDTH MCKEAN

Simi Valley, Senior

Discus

* McKean ranked third on the region list behind Rio Mesa’s Natasha Pomele and Palmdale’s Rosaline Henderson but she threw a career-best of 123-5 to win the Ventura County championships by more than seven feet over Pomele and finished eighth in the Southern Section Division I championships.

SECOND TEAM

EBONI GRAYSON

Taft, Junior

100 meters

* The City champion placed eighth in the state championships and her school record of 12.00 moved her to 10th on the all-time region list.

TIFFANY THOMPSON

Notre Dame, Sophomore

200 meters

* The transfer from Alemany ran a school record of 24.49 to place fifth in the state championships and move to 10th on the all-time region list. She clocked a wind-aided 24.01.

TIFFANY SMITH

Taft, Sophomore

400 meters

* Training time lost to injuries limited Smith to a fourth-place finish in the City championships but she was the region’s best in the 400 during the first half of the season when she clocked a school record of 56.79.

SARAH ELLIS

La Canada, Senior

800 meters

* The 1996 state Division IV cross-country champion ran a best of 2:18.83 to place third in the Southern Section Division III final.

ELAINE CANCHOLA

Nordhoff, Junior

1,600 meters

* Canchola set three school records in the 1,600 this season, capped by a 4:55.07 clocking to win the Southern Section Division III title. She placed sixth in the state championships.

LAUREN FLESHMAN

Canyon, Sophomore

3,200 meters

* Fleshman set two school records in the 3,200 this season, paced by a 10:38.13 clocking that placed her second in the Southern Section Masters Meet. She finished second in the Southern Section Division I championships and ninth in the state meet.

LIZ GILTNER

Chaminade, Senior

100-meter high hurdles

* The 1996 state champion in the high jump ran a best of 15.08 to place second in the Southern Section Division III championships and clocked a wind-aided 14.89.

FRANCES SANTIN

Taft, Junior

300-meter low hurdles

* The 1996 City champion finished third this year, but she had a strong first half of the season, running 44.04 to win the Pasadena Games on March 29.

PALMDALE

400-meter relay

* Various injuries prevented seniors Monique Nolan, Tranisha Holmes and Edniesha Curry and sophomore Kaysie Burnett from running together very often, but they did finish third in the Pasadena Games in a season-best 47.77.

NOTRE DAME

1,600-meter relay

* The Knight foursome of sophomore Tiffany Thompson and juniors Stephanie Werth, Melissa Rubey and Courtney Arrigo won the Mission League final in a school record of 4:01.83 and placed fifth in the Southern Section Division III championships.

SARA FOSTER

Valencia, Freshman

High jump

* Foster gave Valencia its first Southern Section title in any sport when she cleared a career-best of 5-6 to win the Division I title.

HEATHER SICKLER

Camarillo, Junior

Pole vault

* Sickler cleared region records of 12-1 1/2 and 12-3 1/2 to defeat Pearson for the Southern Section Division I and Masters Meet titles but she was eliminated in the qualifying round of the state championships.

KENYA CORLEY

Quartz Hill, Senior

Long jump

* The 1996 Southern Section Division I champion for Antelope Valley placed fourth this year, but she was still the top long jumper in the region during the regular season, defeating Perry several times.

JAMEKA TAYLOR

Littlerock, Sophomore

Triple jump

* The top-ranked triple jumper in the region last year, Taylor bounded a school record of 39-3 in the Kern Relays in April and placed fifth in the Southern Section Division I championships.

SHANIKA ASKEW

Birmingham, Senior

Shotput

* Runner-up in the City championships set a school record of 38-8 earlier in the season while finishing second to Cosby in a dual meet.

NATASHA POMELE

Rio Mesa, Sophomore

Discus

* Runner-up in the Ventura County championships threw a region-leading 129-0 in the Southern Section Division II preliminaries and placed eighth in the finals.