Three-sport athletes are a rare breed in this era of high school athletics, especially good ones. Reed senior Cory Whitaker showed this past school year that he is the exception to that rule.

Whitaker’s three-sport prowess at Reed High School earned him the honor of Sparks Tribune Male Athlete of the Year. The award is chosen by the Sparks Tribune sports staff and awards the top male prep athlete from the Rail City’s three high schools — Reed, Sparks and Spanish Springs.

Whitaker was a first-team punt returner selection on Reed’s 4A Northern Region football semifinalist squad last fall. He was an honorable mention shooting guard pick on the Raiders’ playoff basketball club during the winter and he just missed out on an individual regional berth in golf this spring.

“Playing sports, for me, just starts with being competitive,” Whitaker said. “And it’s not just in sports, it’s everything. I didn’t even start as early as I could have. I got into sports in fourth or fifth grade and fell in love with them. It felt like I was a natural at everything I tried. So I took it and ran with it.”

Whitaker didn’t always play three sports. The athletic 17-year-old chose not to play basketball his junior year. He said he needed a break after years beating up his body in football, running down loose balls on the hardwood and even running some track.

“I didn’t play basketball my junior year and that was a big mistake,” Whitaker said. “I wanted to get in the weight room more for football and focus on that. I had also been going my whole life and felt like I needed a break. As it turns out, that was not the right decision. Then came my senior year and I didn’t want to give it up again.”

Whitaker made an immediate impact on the Reed basketball team. He buried all four of his 3-point tries and scored 14 points in the first quarter of Reed’s season-opening win at Wooster. Whitaker went on to average nine points per game in his senior season for the RHS hoopsters.

On the gridiron, Whitaker took home first-team High Desert League honors as a punt returner, averaging 25 yards per return. He also returned a pair of kicks for touchdowns. In addition, Whitaker was an honorable mention pick at wide receiver where he had 28 receptions for 480 yards (17.14 ypc) and five touchdowns.

On the golf course, Whitaker had a scoring average in the low 80s. NIAA rules call for the top five individuals from non-qualifying postseason league teams to earn individual regional berths. Whitaker just missed out, turning in the seventh-best average.

“It was frustrating. You never want to stop playing, but you take what’s thrown at you,” Whitaker said. “Golf is so much more relaxing after football and basketball. After running all year, it takes a toll on you. I started playing golf in seventh and eighth grade and I just love it.”

Reed’s first-year golf coach, Dustin Hall, said Cory’s golf skills illustrate just how athletic he is.

“He’s a pleasure to have out there on the course. He’s just a really good athlete,” Hall said. “He’s not one of those kids that’s only played golf. He’s kind of relied on his athletic ability to get him by on the golf course and he did a good job of it. He was right in it (the hunt for a regional invitation) until the last week. That’s a testament to his ability because he doesn’t touch a golf club for about nine months.”

Whitaker graduates from Reed this week and his high school athletic career is over. It’s not something he’s happy about but he knows it’s time to move on.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. You get tired at practice and can dread that sometimes, but in the long run, it’s a guarantee I’ll miss it,” he said. “I’d do it all over again.”

Whitaker plans on attending Truckee Meadows Community College and later transferring and graduating from UNR. He had some options to play small college football, but passed on them. Still, the life-long Sparks resident expects that athletics will always be a big piece of his life.

“I can see myself getting into coaching and I know there’s no way I’ll ever drop the ball or get rid of athletics. That stuff just fits me. It’s a lifestyle now.”