For Love of the Game

Sam Morris, Las Vegas Sun

Friday, Nov. 2, 2007 | 7:37 a.m.

"We're going to state! We can be bus buddies!" Ashley Wimmer , at right in photo, cries to Tiffany Hutton, falling to the ground after finishing the Class 4A Sunset Region Cross Country Championship.

That would be a normal reaction for teammates, but Wimmer, a senior harrier for Palo Verde High, has been running against Cimarron-Memorial senior Hutton for the past four years.

"We don't hang out outside of cross country, but when we see each other at meets, we say hi and talk," Hutton said. "It helps to have her there because it's motivational. We both push each other, we help each other out and we tell each other what to do."

Watch a few meets or ball games and compare the competition between men to that between women. It would be easy to believe that the word "sportsman" should be changed to "sportswoman" to illustrate the ideal.

Wimmer, who placed fourth, said about runner-up Hutton: "Normally I beat her, but she's gotten better over the years, and now we are running head to head. It's good to have her to race against and have someone I know to compete with. Since we are on different teams, we can team up to beat everybody else."

Any problems being bus buddies on the way up to the state meet in Reno this weekend?

"No, we won't get in trouble," Wimmer said with an impish smile. "As long as we keep away from the crazy freshmen."