COLUMBIA, Maryland -- Mount De Sales freshman Juliette Whittaker continues to raise the bar with each race this spring.
Following the nation's third fastest performance at 1600 meters two weekends ago at the Pikesville Track Classic--she went 4:48--the first-year phenom tackled the national rankings in the 800 meter run on Thursday at the Scorpion Classic at Oakland Mills High School.
In her only race of the day, Whittaker made it a swift one, rolling through the first 400 meters in 62 seconds before finishing off with a 65 second last lap to post the fifth fastest 800 meter time in the country in 2:07.95.
The time, recorded just a few days before fellow freshman phenom Roisin Willis is set to run at the Distance Night in Palantine, is similar to her 1600 season best and also ranks as the second fastest all-effort in Maryland history, only behind Nyjari McNeil's 2:07.34.
It was a great day for the entire Whittaker household, as her older sister Bella also won the 400 meter dash (56.04) and 200 meter dash (24.77) with meet record and personal best performances. Those efforts rank her No. 2 in both events in the state of Maryland currently.
The Mount De Sales distance medley relay is also ranked among the top five teams in the country after a 11:55 effort last week and could drop the time even further in the coming weeks and possibly end of season at New Balance Nationals. We visited Whittaker and her team this past Monday for a Workout Wednesday video shoot.