Her passion for sports started as a child growing up in a family with boys and in a neighborhood full of kids that would play basketball together. She was a gymnast and dancer until age 8, when she had to make the decision to focus on one or the other. She chose gymnastics, and it led her to a full scholarship to attend North Carolina State University, but she had to retire after a year due to a back injury.

Why does she love covering sports? “There’s always a narrative that is much like any other story we’re intrigued by — the underdog, the hero, and the character no one likes,” Whitney says. “What’s not to love about college athletics?”

What would she tell her younger self?

“It’s all going to be OK,” Whitney says. “I struggled with my weight when I was younger because I was a gymnast and there were expectations of how I should look. I wasn’t the smartest in the class because I was training 30 to 40 hours a week. I just wish I could tell the young me that you’re going to get to where you need go and it will be OK. You will find a way.”