Whiteside, Nelson ready to compete at state meet

One Newport Harbor High athlete will try throw his way into the final. His teammate will just run in the final.

Cecil Whiteside competes in the discus throw today at 5:30 p.m. during a qualifying round at the 90th annual CIF State meet at Cerritos College, while Rex Nelson is already in the 3,200-meter finals set for Saturday at 6:56 p.m.

Both return to the same location where last week they surprised many, including themselves by finishing first in their respective events at the CIF Southern Section Masters meet.

Whiteside pulled off a remarkable effort as a sophomore. He won the discus with a heave of 176 feet, 4 inches.

Nelson, a senior, set a Newport Harbor record in the 3,200, running a blazing 9 minutes, 2.42 seconds. He broke the school’s old mark of 9:13.88 held by Curt Herberts since 1999.

The two will most likely have to greatly improve their marks if they plan to win, or place in their first trip to state. Both are long shots to win.

The favorites in their respective events are off the charts when it comes to distance and time.

In the discus, Whiteside’s personal-best throw of 176-9, set at the Arcadia Invitational, ranks 11th in the Dyestatcal.com state rankings. Dayshan Ragans of Bakersfield Foothill leads everyone at 203-7, no other thrower has hit the 185 mark.

“The guy is unbelievable,” Whiteside said of Ragans, who’s from the Central Section. “It’s going to be tough with [Ragans], so everyone will be throwing for second.”

Second won’t be easy either.

There’s a lot of talent and experience with Orange Lutheran senior Blake Ayles, Monte Vista senior David Spates and Nipomo senior Korben Boaz. Whiteside beat Ayles and Boaz at Masters on a wet and cloudy night, but this was just the qualifier for state, where the top five advanced from the Southern Section.

In the 3,200, Nelson has the state’s fourth fastest time according to dyestat.com. He enters a race boasting so many fast runners that some are considering this one of the deepest fields of all time.

The UC Irvine-bound Nelson ran in ideal distance running weather last week, when it was in the 50s.

The hands-down favorite is German Fernandez of Riverbank.

The senior owns the nation’s top mark at 8:45.08, which he accomplished at the Sac-Joaquin Section finals last week. Fernandez also owns the country’s top 1,600 mark of 4:05.57.

The temperatures are expected to be in the 60s by the time the 3,200 starts.

“German is the guy to beat,” Nelson said. “I’m just going to go out there and try to set a new school record.”

— David Carrillo Peñaloza