Blue streaks to second

Chris Yemma

After the CIF Southern Section cross country finals Nov. 20 at Mt.

San Antonio College, Newport Harbor High junior Whitney Blue and her

coach, Eric Tweit, both said they had higher ambitions for the state

meet. It was possible for Blue to perform better, they both said.

It turns out they were right. Blue finished second in the state of

California in Division II at the CIF State championships Saturday at

Woodward Park in Fresno.

Blue was only 10 seconds behind Serrano’s Kauren Tarver, a

freshman who also finished first at the section final ahead of Blue.

In that race, Blue was nearly a minute behind Tarver.

This time around, on the highest platform of high school cross

country, Blue put in a performance that was better than 188 of the

best Division II runners in California, running the five-kilometer

course in 17 minutes, 58 seconds.

“This was huge, the best race of the year,” Blue said after

crossing the finish line. “I didn’t think I could do that -- it was

awesome.”

On a couple of occasions, Blue has gotten so anxious and nervous

in the minutes before a race that she has thrown up. “Psyching

herself out,” as she calls it, often causes her to come out too fast

and not have any juice left for the end.

At the state meet Saturday, she came out relatively easy and

pushed it hard at the end, a plan both her and Tweit had approved.

Blue benefited from the plan, running in third place for two-thirds

of the race and then streaking into second during the last mile.

“She wasn’t satisfied with last week’s [CIF final] performance,”

Tweit said. “This race she knew she had to set a pace and she did. It

was a perfect script.”

Tweit said Blue raced at state last year and finished with a time

in the mid-19:00s. Her time this year was around 1:30 faster, and with her being a junior, she still has one more chance next year to

go for the gold. But next year, she will likely again be facing

Tarver, who ran the course in 17:48. The next freshman finisher in

the same race was Eugenie Foote in 20th place.

Tarver wasn’t the only freshman to win the state title Saturday,

though. Rosary’s Shelby Buckley won the Division III race.

But Blue’s second-place Division II time was faster than Buckley’s

first-place time.

“I didn’t think she could beat [Tarver],” Tweit said. “But the gap

sure closed from last week. She deserves the kudos; her whole

attitude has been so good.

And next season?

“You’re always looking to the future, but right now we’re going to

savor this one.”