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Winfield the Next Arliss
by Frank Burlison, Long Beach Press-Telegram
May 31, 2007
LONG BEACH - Jasmine Winfield doesn't shy away from the obvious.
"In high school (Oceanside High), I was pretty much involved in everything,"
the Long Beach State track and field standout said Wednesday morning,
a day before she picked up the diploma for the Bachelor of Arts in Political
Science that she actually completed work on during the fall semester.
"I was a member of just about every club ... I was class vice president
... the co-editor of the yearbook ... captain of the track team ... played
volleyball, soccer and field hockey ..."
She laughed for the first of about a dozen times during a 30-minute conversation.
"Yeah," she said. "I tend to get bored easily."
She doesn't leave herself much opportunity for that state of mind, though.
Winfield, who graduated from high school having passed enough Advanced
Placement tests to enter Long Beach as a sophomore, academically, is working
on coursework for the Master's in Sports Management she hopes to earn
a year from now.
Then law school seems to be the next stop.
"I grew up on `Law and Order'," she said. "I've known for
a long time that I (eventually) want to be an attorney. But I don't have
the heart to represent people who might be guilty and I couldn't do deals
(with prosecutors) if someone might not be guilty, so that pretty much
takes criminal law out of the picture."
So, where does that leave someone who has covered 400 meters in 55.03
(the fourth best mark ever by a female 49er), is a member of the 4x100
relay team that will compete in the NCAA Championship Meet in Sacramento
next week, has more than a passing knowledge in just about every sport
("I grew up a San Diego Chargers fan!") and has a marketing
internship with the Nike Summer Pro Basketball League that will run in
the Pyramid?
Bingo!
"The longer I was here (at LBSU), the more I realized working for
a sports agency is something I wanted to do some day," she said.
Someone better alert the likes of Scott Boras, Arne Tellem, Bill Duffy
and Jeff Schwartz: There's going to be a new kid on the block soon.
And you'd better ask Ms. Winfield to join you because you're not going
to run into - or against - anyone who will out-work you any more diligently.
"She's such a busy girl," 49ers sprint coach Yvonne Scott-Williams
said. "She is so smart and so talented. She is what every coach wants
in a student-athlete because she gets so involved in everything she does.
I wish I had 10 just like her."
As busy as Winfield keeps herself on campus (she's been an Associated
Students, Inc., commissioner), socially, academically and athletically,
she still squeezes in visits to her family - she's got four younger siblings
- in Oceanside "every weekend, when I can."
"My mother (Felicia Whiteside) is a nurse and runs a home-care business,"
she said. "She is also the director of our church's women's home,
so I help her with that."
Her stepfather is retired from the military and the military and medical
professions are big influences on her life.
"I think most of my family members are either in the Marine Corps
or are nurses," she said. "We even lived on Camp Pendleton for
awhile."
She still gets calls from teachers and coaches, not only from her high
school alma mater but also from those at Oceanside's rival, El Camino
High.
"I'll hear about a girl who might be thinking about giving up running,
or who might not be doing well as she should, academically," Winfield
said. "So I'll talk to her about what she needs to do to find her
way to college."
The "mentor/future attorney-agent/marketer" persona will be
shoved aside next week in Sacramento, though, when Winfield (who runs
the third leg), Magnolia Howell (opening leg), Jessica Branker (second)
and Patrice White (anchor) try to exceed the school-record 44.86 they
ran during the West Regional Meet in Eugene, Ore., last week, to become
the first LBSU relay team to advance to an NCAA Championship Meet.
"Our goal is to get to the final (a week from today; the 49ers will
run a semifinal heat on Wednesday) and `live to fight another day,' "
Winfield said.
"We hadn't run faster than 45.5 (before the regional competition).
But we went for broke and had great handoffs all the way through.
We were in synch and our chemistry was perfect."
Winfield realizes the competition might be good enough to overwhelm even
the most cohesive race the 49ers can run in Sacramento.
Don't assume that Winfield and her buddies are going to be anything resembling
timid, though.
"A school's uniforms don't intimidate," she said, smiling. "We
know we're going to have to be nearly flawless but we will do what we
have to do."
Of course, as with anything Winfield gets involved with, she could have
easily added "and then some!" to that declaration.
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