An American Girl
Distance Ace Plans to do Her Part for Country

By Joe Reardon
December 2003

No one who has ever seen her race or followed her high school career, both on the trails and track, would come to the conclusion that Duxbury High’s Justine Whipple is anything short of an outstanding distance runner. The 17-year- old senior, who has been an impact runner in the state since her freshman year, put together the best cross country season of her wildly successful high school career this past fall.

She capped off her cross country career at Duxbury with a sterling 13th-place finish in the Div. 1 All-State championships on a soggy day at Franklin Park. Two weeks later, racing at Van Cortlandt Park in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships, Whipple surged to a solid fifth place in the senior division. Add those performances to a fourth-place showing in the EMass. Class C meet and a Div. 2 win at the South Shore Principals Invitational and Whipple further established herself as one of the top female harriers in the state and the best on the South Shore.

Her post-season honors included selections to the All-Scholastic teams in the Patriot Ledger, Boston Herald and Boston Globe. no doubt, though, that Whipple’s biggest challenges lay in wait in front of her -- and they have little to do with cross country or track. Whipple’s acceptance to the Annapolis Naval Academy is a huge commitment, particularly in the aftermath of 9/11 and the ever-increasing threat of war against Saddam Hussein. After four years at Annapolis, Whipple will graduated as a second lieutenant and owe the navy five years of service. Whipple’s major could wind up putting her right in the midst of the fighting, depending on what the international landscape looks like when she graduates.

She hopes to secure a degree in medicine and get her wings as well to become a flight surgeon. The work involved in reaching both goals will be very tough, but Whipple is looking forward to the challenge, though she is understandably apprehensive of the possibility of seeing war close up. "It’s certainly something you think about," she said. "It’s not something I’m approaching really gung-ho but it’s something I understand is necessary. For me, it would be an honor to serve my country." Whipple fell in love with Annapolis during her visit, particularly with the way in which the cadets conducted themselves and their overall idealism. She knew then that’s where she wanted to continue her education. "There’s a certain kind of person you find at the academy," Whipple said. "It’s not necessarily sheer intelligence, it has more to do with their character."

Whipple plans to continue her running - she was recruited by Annapolis - and is not bothered by the inevitable challenge of balancing her academics with athletics. "I’ve always had a busy workload," she said. "That’s not something that I’m worried about." Annapolis and her first season of collegiate cross country has yet to show up on the radar screen though. Whipple is concentrating on this indoor campaign and improving on her 13th-place finish in the mile last winter. So far, she has the fastest times in the Patriot League in both the mile (5:36) and 2 mile (11:57), neither of which were all-out efforts.

Whipple is hoping to race in Friday’s meet after missing 10 days with pain in both her ankles. She first noticed the pain last Monday when she finished a workout. What was alarming at the time was that it felt much like the Achilles tendonitis that forced her to miss much of the winter season her freshman year. "It thought to myself, ‘Oh boy, I know what this is,’" Whipple said. Rather than try to run through the injury, Whipple shut things down for 10 days, concentrating instead on icing the area and keeping her strength up with her daily regiment of pushups and situps. "I didn’t want to push it and now and be out the whole season," she said. "I didn’t take any time off after the cross country season so I’m not concerned about missing some days now." The freshman indoor season was a bizarre one for Whipple. She missed most of it with the injury but kept herself in good enough shape through other activities that took stress off her ankles. She came back to win the 2 mile in the league meet with a sterling 11:47.

Whipple was still pretty much feeling her way through cross country and track, despite her success. That all changed when she started her junior year and she felt i. "My junior year, I thought, was my transition year," Whipple said. "I was expected to do well, unlike my freshman and sophomore years where not as much was expected from me. As a junior, I knew what to do but wasn’t able to do it all the time and it mad me frustrated." What has kept Whipple going is her true love for running and racing. Mentally, she is the epitome of a positive thinker and there are few runners tougher. She is always looking to get that little edge - the intangible - to make the difference between first and second. "Every race I go out and say, ‘I’m going to have a fun race,’" Whipple said. "I get nervous before races but I’m able to calm myself down. There’s being nervous and there’s being scared. And you never want to be scared."