South SFV Today

Stanford sophomores Juliette Whittaker and Roisin Willis finished first and second in the women’s 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Saturday.

Whittaker moved into the lead with 80 meters remaining, extending her advantage down the homestretch. Willis advanced five places on the final straightaway to secure second place at the wire.

Whittaker’s time of 1:59.61 set a Stanford outdoor record, while Willis finished in 2:00.17, marking her collegiate outdoor best and the third-fastest time in Stanford outdoor history. Both athletes train under J.J. Clark, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field and Cross Country.

With contributions from Whittaker and Willis, along with six points from sophomore long jumper Alyssa Jones, Stanford concluded the event with 24 points, securing a 13th-place team finish.

In the 5,000-meter final, freshman Sophia Kennedy placed 11th with a Stanford outdoor freshman record of 15:33.29. Another freshman, Amy Bunnage, finished 17th in 16:00.04. Bunnage's year included winning the Pac-12 Cross Country championship and breaking Stanford's indoor 5,000-meter record.

Whittaker became Stanford’s first NCAA outdoor 800 champion and the first to win both NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in this event since Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers in 2017. This marked the first instance since Wisconsin's Kim Sherman and Amy Wickus in 1993 that teammates finished first and second in this event.

Her time broke Olivia Baker's previous Stanford record of 2:00.08 set in 2018. "It’s one thing to work hard and succeed by yourself," Whittaker said, "but it’s another thing to turn around and see your teammate also succeed."

During the race, defending NCAA outdoor champion Michaela Rose held back initially while Harvard freshman Sophia Gorriaran took an early lead. Both Whittaker and Willis settled into third and fourth positions after clearing the stagger.

At the bell lap, Rose pushed forward but began to falter as they approached the final turn. Whittaker then moved past Rose while Willis maneuvered from seventh place to overtake Oklahoma State’s Gabija Galvydyte for second place as Rose faded to fourth.

“It was definitely different than what I was expecting,” Whittaker said regarding Rose's strategy change compared to their indoor race encounter.

Whittaker's performance made her eighth on the all-time collegiate outdoor list with the eleventh-best performance overall. It also ranked as the third-fastest time in Pac-12 Conference history. Meanwhile, Willis became thirteenth on the all-time collegiate list.

Reflecting on her partnership with Willis over two years, Whittaker stated it had been "an incredible past two years" filled with mutual support and inspiration.

The meet concluded for Stanford with Kennedy setting a personal best by nearly nine seconds in her race.

Bunnage capped off an academic year where she not only won cross country titles but also set records indoors for Stanford before finishing seventeenth in this final race of more than a century-long affiliation with what is now known as Pac-12 Conference; next year they join Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

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