CROSS COUNTRY: RUSSELL HAS NEW HILL TO CLIMB : NO. 1 HART RUNNER IS TRACK PHENOM.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News The talk about Whitney Russell Whitney Russell Harris-Crane was a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Passions. Her birth year is 1982. She was played by Brook Kerr since the series' debut in July 1999 and last aired in September 2007 when Whitney moved to New Orleans. began even before her first cross country race for Hart High this fall. The past two summers, Russell gained national acclaim as an age-group track runner as a seventh- and eighth-grader at Placerita Junior High. In the USA Track & Field Youth Athletics national championships in Edwardsville, Ill., in July, Russell placed third in both the 1,500 meters and the 800 meters in the youth girls' division (ages 13 and 14). She was also a finalist in the 1,500 in the Junior Olympics national championships in Omaha, Neb. ``We had obviously heard of her,'' Hart coach Larry David said. ``Unless we heard otherwise, we were anticipating her coming to Hart.'' It has been worth the wait. The lanky lank·y adj. lank·i·er, lank·i·est Tall, thin, and ungainly. See Synonyms at lean2. lank  i·ly adv. 5-7 Russell has made an impact in her first season of cross country at Hart as the Indians' No. 1 runner. Russell will be among the favorites for the Foothill League title Wednesday at Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. . She has finished among the top two in both league meets, including a victory in the second meet at Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² . ``All this is really new to me,'' Russell said. ``It is a lot more work. You have to run a lot more and there aren't hills in track. I did not really have any expectations. I just wanted to do my best and see what happens. Every race, I am learning how to run three miles and race pace.'' Hart is on pace for its first league girls' title since 1994, boosted by Russell and freshman Phaedra Miller, a teammate of Russell on the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Warriors. Hart, Saugus and Canyon, winner of seven of the last eight titles, are tied for first heading into the league championships. Hart's prospects for next year also bode well. The team is comprised entirely of underclassmen with Russell, Miller, juniors Jamie Orlich and Ana Mendoza, sophomore Jade Klawer and Katie Gallette. In addition, junior Whitney Phillips, the Indians' No. 1 runner for the previous two seasons who has been sidelined by a hip injury, also returns. Russell's main priority, however, is track. She has run 2:24 for 800 meters and 4:54 for 1,500 meters, and also has the range to drop down to 400 meters. In the Youth Athletics Championships, Russell ran a leg on the West Valley Eagles 1,600-meter relay team that finished second. That speed was evident in the second Foothill League meet when she pulled away from Canyon sophomore Jazmin Treadway, the league's top returner, in the final half mile after the pace lagged for the first two miles. Her potential in cross country, however, had been untested. Russell had never run further than a mile before this fall. She has proved her talents on a variety of courses, including a third-place finish Noun 1. third-place finish - a finish in third place (as in a race) finish - designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the in the large schools race of the Ojai Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. on the challenging Lake Casitas Lake Casitas is a lake in Ventura County, California. It was formed by Casitas Dam on Coyote Creek, two miles (3 km) before it joins the Ventura River. Santa Ana Creek and North Fork Coyote Creek also flow into the lake. course, the site of the Ventura County championships. ``When Whitney is feeling good, it doesn't matter whether the course is hilly or flat,'' David said. Canyon coach Dave DeLong also said Russell's inexperience in cross country has not been a factor. ``Sometimes when you run great 800s, it is difficult to make that transition to cross country,'' DeLong said. ``She might not have a mileage background yet, but I have been telling everybody that she is going to be the real deal and she has been.'' Whitney's younger sister Brooke also figures to make an impact. Brooke, 12, recently won the bantam Bantam Former city and sultanate, Java. It was located at the western end of Java between the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. In the early 16th century it became a powerful Muslim sultanate, which extended its control over parts of Sumatra and Borneo. girls' division in the Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill. Mt. Invitational. Russell's talents are not limited to running. She has dabbled dab·ble v. dab·bled, dab·bling, dab·bles v.tr. To splash or spatter with or as if with a liquid: "The moon hung over the harbor dabbling the waves with gold" with soccer, and plans to try out for the Hart basketball team. All her endeavors, however, are aimed toward track. ``I like all the bonding with the cross country team and we're all really close friends, but I lean more toward track and the mile,'' Russell said. ``All the workouts make me stronger for track. I have never run this many miles. I feel in a lot better shape and I am hoping to do better than last year's times.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Whitney Russell of Hart High will be among the favorites for the Foothill League cross country title Wednesday at Griffith Park. |
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