Irish: Lizzy Whitbeck a quiet excellence...
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
It’s possible if you don’t follow swimming, that you’ve never heard of Bishop McGuinness star Lizzy Whitbeck. But ya missed out if you didn’t.
Whitbeck excelled in a couple of sports that go under the radar. She’s been a strong cross country runner for the Irish but that gets lost in the fall shuffle and football.
And swimming gets trumped by basketball. However, Whitbeck was phenomenal and rightfully earned The Oklahoman‘s Scholar Athlete award. She was first on my ballot though it was extremely tight (a lot of good candidates as usual).
The first time I saw Whitbeck was at the state swimming meet when she was a sophomore. Training with her older sister, Katie, and former Edmond Memorial star, Samantha Woodward, Lizzy was a star in the making.
Dividing swimming into two classes probably hurt Lizzy as an individual competitor, but she didn’t care as much because of the opportunity it gave to the team.
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