Newport Harbor’s Heads Pulls Her Weight : Athletics: Her trademark in basketball, track and field or weightlifting is dedication.

NEWPORT HARBOR — A startled Gina Heads looked toward her coach with wide-eyed confusion on hearing the referee’s screeching whistle.

The Newport Harbor guard was called for a foul while setting a pick during summer-league play before her junior year, and she did not understand why.

When Heads sought an explanation, the referee pointed to an opposing player sitting on the gym floor several feet away. The player was still shaking her head after the collision with Heads.

“He said I pushed her, but she just ran into me and bounced off,” Heads said. “He probably thought that was the only way I could have made her bounce like that.”

Obviously, he did not know Heads.

“I told him he would fall down if he ran into Gina,” Sailor Coach Shannon Jakosky said. “Most people can’t tell how unbelievably strong she is--until they play against her.”

A record-setting weightlifter, the Sailor senior might be the strongest player in the county, despite her diminutive stature (5 feet 3). Heads has also parlayed her dedication to weightlifting into a standout career in the discus and shotput, events usually mastered by athletes several inches taller.

“I know a lot of people still think women lifting weights is odd,” Heads said, “but it’s what makes me the athlete I am in basketball and track.”

Heads, 17, has been a member of the Newport Harbor varsity basketball team since her freshman year. She is a three-year starter.

A co-captain, Heads was selected to the All-Sea View League first team as a junior while averaging eight points, eight rebounds and four steals. Jakosky said her play was a key in the Sailors capturing their first league title.

She has been a steadying force again this season. Heads averaged nine points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals as Newport Harbor finished second in league (19-6, 12-2 in league).

“Gina really is our defense,” Jakosky said. “Her weightlifting has made her so quick and strong that most gals hate to be guarded by Gina.

“I call basketball her ‘hobby’ sport because her main focus is weightlifting and track, but she’s got a lot out of basketball because of how strong she is and how hard she works.”

Heads’ love of track piqued her interest in weights.

She began lifting as a freshman at Newport Harbor to improve her distance in the the discus and shotput. It wasn’t long before she no longer needed coaches’ mandates to lift.

And the work paid off--quickly.

Heads has qualified for the State track championships every year. Last season, she finished fourth in the shotput with a distance of 43 feet 6 inches, and placed sixth in the discus at 139-6.

“Because I’m so short, I really needed to get stronger to make good throws,” Heads said. “As soon as I got into (weightlifting) I saw how much it could help me.

“I also felt I was getting good quickly.”

So did Tony Ciarelli.

An assistant coach in football and track at Newport Harbor, Ciarelli was impressed with Heads’ strength and how quickly she learned proper weightlifting technique. He began working with her individually and encouraged her to lift competitively.

Although she has competed in only five sanctioned meets, Heads was ranked seventh in the nation in her weight class (76 kilograms; 154-167 1/2 pounds) by the U.S. Weightlifting Federation in 1993.

She was second among juniors (ages 17-20) and set a national junior record in the clean-and-jerk with a lift of 92.5 kilos (203 3/4 pounds) during December at the American Open in San Anselmo, north of San Francisco. What’s more, her younger sister, Cara, is also a promising weightlifter.

“Gina has great natural strength and she has a perfect body for weightlifting because of her low center of gravity,” Ciarelli said. “And like lots of great athletes in any sport, Gina learns what you tell her to do quickly.”

She learns at the same rate in the classroom.

Heads has a 3.6 grade-point average and plans to become a veterinarian, specializing in care of large animals. She is being recruited by Stanford in track and also is considering Brown and Yale.

She will continue to compete in weightlifting, hoping to compete in the Olympics. A spokesman for the U.S. Weightlifting Federation said the organization is working to make the sport an Olympic event for women, possibly by 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

That would please Heads.

“I’m not good enough to make it (to the Olympics) in basketball or track, but I think maybe I could in weightlifting,” Heads said. “That would be great.”