Leedy runs away with LVI title

Leah Leedy isn’t one to talk about herself.

Instead, the Foothill senior lets her running speak volumes. And the volume was turned way up Saturday.

Leedy ran away from the Las Vegas Invitational field at Veterans Memorial Park, winning the large school race in 19:56. Defending champion and Rancho Buena Vista (Calif.) senior Heather Zytkewicz was second in 20:23.

Asked how it felt to win and beat some of southern California’s best, including two girls who had beaten her at last year’s LVI, Leedy simply said, “It felt nice.”

Maybe more remarkable than the win, though, was how Leedy pulled it off.

The race was marred at the start when the leading half the field went off course about 400 meters into the race.

The runners quickly got back on course by cutting the corner and following the principle of “no harm, no foul.” No protests were filed and no one was disqualified, but it did make for confusion and some surprising leaders for a brief time.

However, the “natural order” was soon restored and at the one-mile mark, Leedy was second, 30 meters back of Zytkewicz, with Buena Vista’s Shanna St. Laurent, last year’s runner-up, in third.

Leedy took over the lead before the two-mile mark and was never threatened.

Rancho Buena Vista won the team title with 27 points. Fountain Valley (Calif.) was second with 60. Shadow Ridge finished third at 120, followed by Centennial (125) and Arbor View (154).

Shadow Ridge junior Michelle Schenck finished 5th in 21:02. Arbor View’s Katie Carrell was 10th in 21:19.

In the small school race, Faith Lutheran senior Keely Bakken pulled away from the field to win in 21:44. Laughlin senior Jessica Gnadt was second in 22:47.

Laughlin won the team competition with a score of 24. Hurricane (Utah) had the only other complete team and had a score of 32.