Mettle for medal

NORWALK — In a rush to stand tall in front of thousands of fans at Cerritos College, someone reminded Cecil Whiteside to pick up his belongings.

That someone was his throwing coach at Newport Harbor High.

Tony Ciarelli played an instrumental role in getting the discus thrower to the CIF State track and field championships Saturday. He wasn’t about to carry his bags.

“You’re forgetting your stuff,” Ciarelli told Whiteside. “Who’s carrying this stuff?”

Whiteside had just finished sixth with a personal-best heave of 179 feet, 7 inches, but he’s a sophomore.

Reluctantly, the youngster came back. Someone else decided to give Whiteside a hand when a competitor called out for Whiteside.

“Hurry up Cecil!” yelled Blake Ayles of Orange Lutheran. “You’re going to be late.”

Whiteside made it in plenty of time. He went straight toward the infield and waited anxiously to step on the podium, where he and the top six placers stood proud.

A big roar erupted in the Sailors’ section when Whiteside’s name was announced, giving them something to cheer before senior Rex Nelson finished 18th in 9 minutes, 19.93 seconds in the 3,200-meter event.

Ciarelli looked on, his smile growing larger once he saw that medal dangling in front of Whiteside’s chest.

Ciarelli was darn proud of Whiteside, just as if Whiteside was his child. Whiteside is the first Newport Harbor athlete to place in the discus since Bo Taylor did in 2006.

“It was a good weekend. That’s for sure,” said Ciarelli, who’s daughter Katelyn advanced to the NCAA track and field championships after the Long Beach State thrower placed fifth in the discus at the West Regional at Cal State Northridge Friday.

“We were shooting for a medal and [Whiteside] did a great job. We were kind of hoping to get that sophomore state record [of 182-5]. He had two really good attempts, one [Friday] and one [Saturday], but [he] fouled on the one [Friday] and the one [Saturday] went out of bounds.”

When the event ended, Ciarelli went out toward the area where Whiteside missed breaking the state record set in 1990 by Bakersfield’s Jeff Buckey. If Whiteside had hit it, it still wouldn’t have been close to catching the leader, Dayshan Ragans, a senior from Foothill of Bakersfield.

Ragans easily won the event with a throw of 202-6, nine feet better than Ayles at second place. Like everyone else, Whiteside looked on in amazement every time Ragans threw.

“No one at all hit 200,” Whiteside said. “He had a pretty much clean shot to win it.”

This is the same situation Whiteside envisions himself in the next two years. Ciarelli believes it is possible for Whiteside to be the favorite next year. He was the lone sophomore placing, the only other non-senior was Saugus junior Daniel Swarbrick, who took fifth (181-8).

“[These are] big words to say, but I think he can throw a little father than that,” Ciarelli said of Whiteside surpassing Ragans’ top mark of 203-7 by the time he graduates. “I coached Scott Moser [at Huntington Beach High] and Bo Taylor, so those are the guys we’re going after. Moser’s got the overall state record at 213-11.

“The thing is right now [Whiteside’s] contemplating not playing basketball next year. That’s going to be a big, big change. It’s just going to be three months of lifting because during basketball they don’t lift. More body weight. We start track as soon as football is over. Those three months of doing drills is going to be a drastic change. I can see him improving as much next year as he improved this year [by 24 feet].”

Whiteside’s high school career is promising.

On the other hand, his teammate Nelson, his high school career is over.

After winning the CIF Southern Section Masters meet last week at Cerritos College with a school-record time of 9:02.42, the UC Irvine-bound Nelson switched from third and sixth in the first four laps.

Once Riverbank senior German Fernandez created a gap as large as a one side of the stadium’s seats en route to a National Federation of High School Assn. record time of 8:34.23, Nelson drifted back.

“My body just shut down,” Nelson said. “I was just probably just going on adrenaline and I wanted to just go for German. I think I just mentally defeated myself.

“I’m just excited for a new start. But I so wish I could have a couple of more high school races.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].