Newport Harbor girl runs a blue streak

athleteofweekSailors’ senior broke her own school record by 28 seconds to win Sea View League individual title.Breaking Amber Steen’s school record apparently wasn’t good enough. Newport Harbor’s Whitney Blue had to take things one step further.

Last week -- a year after edging Steen’s previous school record of 17 minutes, seven seconds -- Blue blew both times away with a first-place mark of 16:33 in the Sea View League finals at Irvine Regional Park in Orange.

Blue’s performance helped the Sailors finish first and advance to today’s CIF Southern Section Division II Preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College.

“It’s awesome, I’m so excited. Last year I beat the school record by six seconds (17:01), but to be a half-minute faster this year is unbelievable.” Blue said. “I just stayed focused. I wanted to break 17 minutes really bad. I just went in there and went for it.”

“She was in control the whole way,” Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit said. “She’s in the best shape of her life.”

Four years ago, that kind of performance seemed unlikely.

“As a freshman, nobody thought she’d be a varsity runner,” Tweit said. “Each year has been a growing process. Each year, she has improved.”

Blue ran on the junior-varsity squad her freshman year before making varsity as a sophomore. During her sophomore season, she said she found a love for running.

“My sophomore year, when both of the leaders on the team were out, I was leading the team,” Blue said. “Then they came back -- I really liked being the leader.”

Blue became the team’s No. 1 runner as a junior and hasn’t looked back.

“It’s been a four-year process, that’s what is neat to see -- the change, the improvement,” Tweit said. “She didn’t run as well this year at the OC championships as last year, but every other race she’s been in she’s been faster than last year. She has a lot of confidence and she’s done a great job as a leader.”

Tweit said Blue’s excitement level and confidence is sky high.

“She’s more of a complete runner,” he said. “There’s a certain integrity that comes with running. She’s come to the point where she does things the right way. She doesn’t look for short cuts.”

“I just try to have a good attitude and keep things fun, but at the same time -- stay focused,” Blue said.

How does Blue normally approach a race?

“I just go out and run my race and not worry about the rest of the runners,” she said. “If someone is stuck on me, I try to pull away at about the 1 1/2 -mile mark.”

Blue, who was the CIF State Division II runner-up last year, leads the way for Newport Harbor as it heads to the CIF prelims today and, hopefully, the CIF finals next Saturday at Mt. SAC.

Whitney Blue

Born: Dec. 6, 1987

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Height: 5-foot-4

Weight: 95

Sport: Cross country

Position: No. 1 runner

Coach: Eric Tweit

Favorite food: Chicken and pasta with marinara

Favorite movie: “The Notebook”

Favorite athletic moment: “Running 16:33 at the league finals and our team winning league that same day.”

Week in review: The Sailors won the Sea View League finals behind Blue’s first-place time of 16:33 -- the fastest time ever posted by a Newport Harbor girl on any course.

Daily Pilot

Collector sports card series200511127A1KSKEBNo Caption20051112iptir1knDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)