The junior qualified for the Masters meet, finishing third overall in the discus throw with a mark of 170 feet, 7 inches at Cerritos College.
Whiteside will return to Cerritos College next week. He and Corona del Mar triple jumper Blaine Bolus are the only two local individual boys advancing to Masters, the qualifying meet for the state finals at Buchanan High in Clovis on June 5-6.
Bolus placed eighth with a jump of 46-4 1/4 .
One local individual girl made it to Masters as well. Marisa Cummings of CdM advanced in the 1,600 meters, finishing tied for 11th with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 58:34 seconds.
“We had nobody last year go [to Masters],” said CdM Coach Bill Sumner, whose girls’ team finished tied for second with Orange Lutheran in CIF Southern Section Division III. “It was the first time in like 15 years.”
Out of the area’s athletes, Whiteside recorded the best finish. No. 3 is short of No. 1, but there’s always next week, when Whiteside has another crack at the top spot.
Whiteside will have to get past two seniors.
Daniel Swarbrick of Saugus took first with a 178-8 throw, more than eight feet better than Whiteside. Northwood’s Caleb McCurry placed second at 172-3.
Only a dozen competitors advanced to Masters from the field and distance events. Regardless of division, the athlete’s mark and time had to be in the top 12 to qualify.
Whiteside was a little less than two feet away from making Masters in the shot put as well. His 52-9 3/4 throw was a couple of spots out.
Bolus recorded his qualifying mark on his second jump in Division III. The Harvard-bound senior passed on his next two attempts, knowing he was in after missing Masters last year due to a nagging hamstring injury.
