Never a Dull Moment for Blankinship : Preps: Athletic demands leave little free time for three-time Torrance female athlete of the year.

Kim Blankinship, Torrance High’s female athlete of the year for the past three years, decided last spring to test her athletic ability in a different sport. She tried out for the football team as a kicker.

Already a standout in volleyball, soccer and track, Blankinship was urged to give football a try by her father. She called Torrance football Coach Bill Bynum, who encouraged her to attend spring practice.

“I really wanted to play,” Blankinship said.

Bynum liked Blankinship’s work ethic on the field.

“She had the leg and did all the drills; did everything that the guys did,” Bynum said. “We treated her like a regular Joe. With the proper drilling, her (kicking) range could have been 25 to 30 yards.”

Blankinship, though, decided to give up football and stick to her three main sports.

“(Coaches in other sports) talked me out of it because they thought I would get hurt,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been hurt.”

It’s easy to understand why Blankinship’s coaches in volleyball, soccer and track were concerned with her health. The 5-foot-8 senior has helped Torrance win two Southern Section titles in soccer and one in volleyball, and she holds the school high-jump record.

“She’s obviously very gifted,” said South Torrance girls’ volleyball Coach Guy Takashima, whose team was 0-3 against Torrance last season.

Blankinship, who has made an unwritten commitment to attend Loyola Marymount and play volleyball, was selected the Division III player of the year after leading Torrance’s volleyball team to its first Southern Section title last season. The Tartars defeated Pioneer League rival South in the final.

“I was impressed with her leadership ability,” Takashima said. “A lot of players have the talent, but most high school players are timid. Blankinship is not afraid to (challenge) her teammates and hold them to a high standard of excellence. I saw her being the team catalyst.”

After the Southern Section Division III playoffs, Torrance chose to enter the state tournament in the much tougher Division I. Torrance lost in four games to eventual state champion Corona del Mar in the second round, but Blankinship played an outstanding match, finishing with 39 kills.

Blankinship’s skills caught the attention of Corona Del Mar Coach Lance Stewart, whose team finished 34-0.

“She’s a very physical, very creative player,” Stewart said. “She hits a very hefty ball.”

Blankinship didn’t have much time to savor her volleyball accomplishments. As soon as the season ended, she was off to the soccer field and took her place as sweeper on the two-time defending 3-A Division champion soccer team.

A four-year varsity player in soccer, Blankinship was selected 3-A defensive player of the year last season. She helped lead Torrance to 49 consecutive victories over the past three seasons, a streak that ended in the eighth game this season against Pasadena Poly.

Coach John Jackson, in his fifth year at Torrance, is relying heavily on Blankinship. The Tartars (12-2-1, 1-0 in the Pioneer League) haven’t been as dominating a team this season because of graduation and key injuries.

“We’re not as strong a team as last year. . . . yet,” Jackson said.

Because of the injuries, Jackson moved Blankinship forward on the field from the defensive position of sweeper to stopper.

“We needed Kim to touch the ball more often,” Jackson said. “We couldn’t afford the luxury of having her in the back. We needed to get her more involved in the middle of the game. We weren’t planning on rebuilding this year, but with the injuries, we’re still putting people in new spots.”

Blankinship doesn’t mind where she plays as long as she is on the field. Although she won’t play soccer at Loyola, Blankinship said she’ll miss the sport.

“Soccer is my favorite sport,” she said. “I like it because it is totally different from volleyball. I feel a lot of pressure when I play volleyball because of what’s riding on it. You can go a lot further in volleyball because there are more scholarships available. But I have a lot more fun playing soccer.”

Peninsula High girls’ soccer Coach Jim Alotis, whose team lost, 5-1, to Torrance earlier this season, considers Blankinship one of the area’s elite players.

“She’s one of the two best players in the South Bay,” said Alotis, who ranks Peninsula’s Traci Arkenberg in the same class. “She’s big for a soccer player, but she has the speed, the quickness and the power. She loves to carry the ball and take a shot. She loves to play.”

When the soccer season concludes, Blankinship will grab her spikes and head to the track. She holds the Torrance record in the high jump at five feet eight inches.

Don Kalmar, a Torrance track coach who has worked with Blankinship, believes she could emerge as a top-flight high jumper.

“She has a lot of energy and a lot of speed,” Kalmar said. “She’s a natural talent who could be one of the top 10 high jumpers in the state. She can do anything.”

While Blankinship excels in team sports, she also enjoys the solitude of participating on the track team.

“I love just being by myself in the high jump,” she said, “although I do put a lot of pressure on myself because I’m a perfectionist.”

With her hectic athletic schedule, Blankinship has little time for outside activities during the school year. During volleyball season, she plays club soccer in the evening. When the high school soccer season begins, she often attends club volleyball workouts at night.

Blankinship, who carries a B grade-point average, said at one time she was interested in becoming a psychiatrist.

She has since discovered a new career idea--news anchorwoman.

“I want to be the next Bree Walker or Connie Chung,” she said. “I know it sounds kind of far-fetched, but I really want to be on television.”

After soccer season ends, Blankinship said she might go out for softball and try to become a pinch-running specialist.

Is there a sport that she can’t master?

“I can play every sport except basketball,” she laughed. “I’m really uncoordinated on the court. I can dribble, but I can’t shoot one bit. I don’t even know which hand to shoot with.”