CdM’s Westrup shines, from pitch to court
Corona del Mar High senior Brianna Westrup played several sports growing up, three of them the most.
She’s been playing soccer since she was 4 years old, and soon she was playing basketball through NJB with other CdM soccer girls like Brynn Motal, Shelby Brown and Elise Roche. Then, she even tried water polo for two years.
The problem coming into high school was that the three sports all occur during the winter sports season. But to Westrup, it wasn’t a problem at all.
She ended up playing all three of them during her remarkable high school athletic career. After playing water polo as a freshman, she was a starting center back on the CdM varsity girls’ soccer team.
This winter, Westrup decided not to play high school soccer. She didn’t want to risk injury since she’s signed to play for the University of Virginia. When CdM girls’ basketball Coach Mark Decker heard that, he met with Westrup to inquire about her playing basketball.
“He just kind of proposed it,” Westrup remembered. “He was like, ‘I don’t want to pressure you, but I think you’d have a really fun time your senior year. I think you want to play a sport, you just don’t know it.’ And I was like, ‘OK.’”
After about a week, Westrup eventually decided to lace up the high-tops again on the basketball court. It had been four years since she hit the hardwood, yet she has been a key contributor for the Sea Kings, who won a share of their second Pacific Coast League title in program history and made a return trip to the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA semifinals.
Surprising? Not to Decker, who coached Westrup as an eighth-grader along with current CdM teammates Maria King and Alexa Pridemore. He also taught Westrup in his psychology class last year.
In terms of Westrup’s psychology, Decker likes what he sees.
“The one thing about her is that she’s such a fast learner and she’s eager to learn,” Decker said. “She want wants to make herself better, for the team to get better. [Point guard] is a hard position, and she’s picked it up so quickly. She’s amazing. I think she could honestly pick up any sport she wanted to play, and be good at it.”
Westrup, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, has been an integral piece for CdM (22-8), which hopes to return to the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III playoffs when the brackets are released Sunday. On the season, she’s averaging eight points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals per game.
In league, she upped the scoring average to 11 points per game, second on the team to junior forward Natalia Bruening.
Westrup was an all-tournament team selection as CdM won its host CdM Tip-Off Tournament in December for the first time since 2008. She certainly doesn’t regret for a second playing basketball this season, though she missed time over the winter break due to a family vacation, and again two weeks ago during CdM’s “ski week” to attend her sister’s wedding in Cabo San Lucas.
Westrup missed CdM’s first two CIF playoff games, but returned to record 10 points and six steals in a home quarterfinal win over Sonora.
She said that Decker was flexible with the scheduling. Clearly, both coach and player wanted to make it work.
“I feel like I’d feel empty without playing a sport,” Westrup said. “It’s been a huge part of my life. It’s a way to get your anger out in a healthy way, being competitive. And then I really enjoy getting to know all of my teammates. When I was younger, I was more of a shy kid and very reserved, and I think team sports really helped me build those relationships and learn how to be a part of something with a bunch of other people.
“It’s not just about you. You have to learn how to get other people to be involved and bring out their strengths and stuff like that, if you want to try to lead your team. I think those are the things that sports helps me with.”
Westrup certainly is a leader for her club soccer team, Slammers FC. In the summer of 2013, she helped the team advance to the Elite Clubs National League national championship match in Virginia. Then, last year during the high school soccer season, she was a steady defender as CdM won its fourth straight outright league title and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals. Westrup earned Newport-Mesa Dream Team laurels.
She’s headed that way in basketball, too. She and another top CdM soccer player, junior forward Kat Hess, have helped the basketball team. Hess, a goalie, has committed to Stanford for soccer, but provides energy and rebounding off the bench for the hoops team.
Westrup excels on defense here, too, seemingly always in the opponent’s passing lanes and wreaking havoc.
“She’s elevated our team defensively,” Decker said. “I think her and the rest of the team, second half of league, you saw that kick on. She had a great stretch there, defensively.”
Calling Westrup multi-talented might be a bit of understatement. Music is also a big part of her life. She’s been a member of CdM’s drumline since seventh grade, along with fellow seniors Trey Fortmuller, Chance Sneary and Ryan Friedman.
She has cut down on her course load a bit as a senior, though she’s still taking two Advanced Placement classes in Calculus and Art History.
“That gives me a little bit more time to, um, sleep,” said Westrup, who trains after school at the Rock Institute in Costa Mesa.
She has a nickname, too, though you won’t hear her basketball teammates shout it out during games. It’s “Croc,” but it’s come into play more on the pitch. Westrup said her first club soccer coach, on the Irvine Lasers (now Blades FC), was English and had an accent.
“He’d always say ‘Brianna’ strangely,” Westrup said. “The 7-year-old I was at the time, I was like, ‘You’re not saying it right!’ So my mom [Anita] is from Scotland, a town called Dundee. At that time, ‘Crocodile Dundee’ was really, really popular, and it just shortened to ‘Croc.’ It only really stuck because I’ve been on teams with other Briannas, so they have to differentiate between us on the field.”
Westrup usually sets herself apart with her play.
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Brianna Westrup
Born: Feb. 22, 1997
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5-foot-9
Sport: Basketball
Year: Senior
Coach: Mark Decker
Favorite food: Pasta with chicken
Favorite movie: “Miracle”
Favorite athletic moment: Helping her Slammers FC U16 club soccer team make the Elite Clubs National League national finals championship match in 2013.
Week in review: Westrup had 10 points and six steals as No. 5-seeded CdM beat No. 4 Sonora, 57-47, in a CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoff quarterfinal game Feb. 25.
