Wright and Whittington Lead the Way at First Colonial
In addition to being named Female Athlete of the Year for First Colonial High School, Kara Wright, a seventeen-year-old senior, also claims the same title for all of Virginia Beach Public Schools. Wright is certainly one of the most accomplished gymnasts in the area. During all four of her high school years, she received the Scholastic Gymnast Award from the Norfolk Sports Club because of her athletic and academic excellence.
One reason that the accolades keep piling up is Wright’s depth of experience. “I don’t really remember when I began gymnastics,” she explains, “but I’ve always loved it.” In fact, Wright played soccer as a youngster and remembers doing cartwheels on the field at inopportune times, a sure sign she was hooked on gymnastics.
Becoming renowned for her gymnastic ability, however, has been no easy task. Each day after school, Wright travels to Newport News to train at World Class Gymnastics for five hours. “This is something that takes a lot of hard work and dedication,” she says. “If you set your mind to it, though, you can achieve whatever you want to.”
While Wright competes in a host of gymnastic events, her strongest events are the vault and the floor. Whether working with the Patriots at school or in Newport News, Wright enjoys working on different skills and adding different elements to her routine. In fact, Wright believes that finding ways to improve her technique is a reason that she enjoys the sport. “Gymnastics combines a lot of different aspects of athleticism. It is challenging because there is always something more to do to improve.”
She attributes her love of competing to her family. “My whole family is involved in sports. We’re very competitive people.” Wright will be attending the University of North Carolina in the fall where she will compete with the gymnastics team.
First Colonial’s Male Athlete of the Year earned the title in part because he competed in three different varsity-level sports during his high school career. Eighteen-year-old senior Winfield Whittington lists on his high school resume volleyball, basketball and tennis.
Whittington’s love of athletic competition goes back many years. “I’ve been playing in different athletic programs since I was little. I played basketball and football in recreational leagues and my interest in sports sort of took off from there,” he says.
Regardless of the sport, Whittington has certain techniques he employs which allow him to gain an edge on the competition. “It’s important to keep a level head throughout the game, not to get overexcited and to play hard until the end.”
Whittington practices what he preaches. He was the basketball team’s MVP for the 2005-06 season. For volleyball, he was the team MVP in both his junior and senior year and was also named to each of the first All-Beach District, All-Tidewater and All-Eastern Region teams.
Whittington concedes that there are always areas for improvement, which is why he worked hard during each season to improve specific elements of his performance in each sport. In basketball, he worked on shooting; in volleyball, he worked on serving; and in tennis, he says “I worked on everything because this was only my second year playing.”
Athletic competition is something that Whittington does as much for other people as for himself. The thrill of athletics, he explains, is meeting – and competing against – new people. It is competitors and onlookers that drive him when he is suited up. “I try to please everyone, not just myself, when I’m playing sports. If I give it my all, I’m happy, regardless of the outcome.”
Whittington will be attending Virginia Tech in the fall where he will study forensic science.
