Whitfield’s work ethic critical to her success

Rick Devereux

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss, which is one explanation

for the lack of greenery clinging to the ever-moving Jillianne

Whitfield.

Whitfield, named the Newport Harbor High Girls Athlete of the

Year, excelled in three sports while with the Sailors: basketball,

track and field and field hockey.

“She’s a very gifted athlete,” former field hockey Coach Sharon

Wolfe said. “Just about anything she goes out for, she excels.”

The reason for her athletic success is quite simple: she works

hard.

“She has the best work ethic I’ve ever seen,” basketball Coach Jen

Thompson said. “”She works hard at everything.”

Whitfield started as the varsity basketball point guard as a

5-foot-7 freshman. She contributed right away, throwing in a

team-high 12 points in the season opener, and finished with 134

points in 24 games, second on the team in scoring with a 5.6 per-game

average.

Whitfield garnered first-team All-Sea View League status her

sophomore year in basketball, averaging 10.8 points in eight league

games. She led the team with a 9.4 scoring average throughout the

season on 225 total points. Her 21 points against Aliso Niguel helped

end the Sailors’ 20-game Sea View League losing streak.

“She’s very competitive,” said Thompson, who became Newport’s

varsity coach Whitfield’s sophomore year. “She has a presence on the

court and everyone follows her.”

Her junior year was her strongest on the basketball court.

Whitfield again led the team in scoring (10.9 ppg). She started the

season strong, scoring in double figures in nine of the first 11

games while averaging 13.3 points per game. Whitfield amassed a

career-high 25 points in a win against Fountain Valley Dec. 26.

Along with her second consecutive all-league selection for

averaging 10.9 points over 10 league games, Whitfield garnered

all-tournament honors at the South Coast Holiday Classic in Irvine.

Whitfield’s leadership gave the Sailors their first playoff berth

since 1999 after finishing 13-14, 3-7 in league

For the third year in a row, Whitfield was selected first-team

all-league after averaging 9.9 points in 10 Sea View contests. She

was an All-Newport-Mesa Dream Team honoree her senior year, when she

averaged 9.1 points per game.

Whitfield scored 891 points playing in 101 career games for

Newport, including three playoff games, and averaged 8.8 points. Two

of her more dramatic points came her senior season when she drove the

length of the court and sank the winning bucket as time expired in a

48-46 CIF Southern Section Division II-AA first-round victory over

University that gave Newport Harbor its first playoff win since 1997.

“She was a leader on the court,” Thompson said. “She made things

happen.”

Whitfield also made things happen as a member of the track and

field team.

She finished second in league in the discus and third in the shot

put as a freshman, advancing to the CIF preliminaries in both events.

Whitfield improved to win the league title in the discus (126

feet) and finish second in the shot put (35-6 1/4) as a sophomore.

She qualified for the CIF finals in the discus, and finished fifth

with a throw of 124-8.

There was great excitement heading into her junior year and

Whitfield declared she wanted to break the school discus record of

149-5, set by Cara Heads in 1999.

“Whitfield [is] the best in the league, maybe in the county,”

Coach Eric Tweit said before the season started.

She went out and proved her coach correct by winning the league

title in the discus (124-9) and finishing second in the shot put

(34-3 3/4) for the second straight year. Whitfield qualified for the

CIF preliminaries in both events.

Whitfield did not compete in track and field her senior year.

Even though Whitfield excelled and received accolades in

basketball and track and field, she will be attending the University

of Michigan to play field hockey in the fall.

She played on the junior varsity squad as a freshman, but was

moved up to varsity before the Tars entered the postseason Tournament

of Champions, the equivalent to the CIF championships for the

non-CIF-sanctioned sport. Whitfield proceeded to score the

game-winning goal in the quarterfinals and the team advanced to the

final for the first time in school history, losing, 1-0, in overtime to Marina.

“I can remember when I told her she was moving up to varsity,”

Wolfe said, “she told me that she wasn’t ready for varsity because

she was only a freshman and was still learning the game.”

The taste of success in field hockey stuck with Whitfield, as she

earned first-team All-Sunset League laurels as a sophomore and led

the team to a league title. Whitfield, who played in the midfield,

earned Tournament of Champions Co-MVP honors by playing every minute

of another 1-0 overtime final loss to Marina.

Over the summer before her junior year, Whitfield represented the

United States national team in the Futures tournament, a field hockey

Olympic development league.

That experience led to an improvement in Whitfield’s play,

according to Wolfe.

“When she got involved in the Futures program, she really started

to pick up her skills,” Wolfe said. “Being around top-level players

from around the nation gave her more confidence in her own game.”

Newport Harbor was a repeat finalist in the Tournament of

Champions in Whitfield’s junior season, but once again lost, 1-0,

this time to Harvard-Westlake in a shootout in the rain. Whitfield

was honored as an All-Sunset League midfielder again, and the team

won the Orange County Invitational and finished second in the league.

Whitfield again attended the Futures program the summer before her

senior year and benefited once again.

“She was allowed to showcase her talents,” Wolfe said. “She was

more patient her senior year and allowed the game to unfold in front

of her so she could read the opposing defenses more.”

Her quiet leadership and strong work ethic helped the Sailors tear

through the competition her senior year. She was the MVP of the

Orange County Invitational, which the Tars won.

Newport won the Sunset League for the third time in four years and

reached the final of the Tournament of Champions for the fourth

straight year. This time, Whitfield and the rest of the Sailors were

able to break through and beat Harvard-Westlake, 2-0, as Whitfield

was named tournament MVP.

“I think she’ll be a impact player from the start [at Michigan]

because of her determination and work ethic,” Wolfe said. “She’ll fit

in nicely wherever the coaches put her.”