Stanford signee and national prep record holder in 800 meters becomes first female athlete from Maryland in any sport in 25 years to be honored by Gatorade during surprise ceremony with family, friends and faculty at Mount de Sales

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

A year ago, Juliette Whittaker experienced a dream summer.

In a field of professional and collegiate runners, the 17-year-old Whittaker ran beyond her years, advancing to the semifinals of the women’s 800 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She finished her junior year producing the No. 2 prep times in the country in both the mile and 800.

Entering her final high school year, Whittaker still had more to achieve.

As a final encore, the senior from Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Md., set two national records, claimed the Penn Relays and Brooks PR Invitational mile titles, and most recently this June, became the fastest 800 runner in U.S. prep history, shattering Mary Cain's national high school record by clocking 1 minute, 59.04 seconds to win the USATF U20 title and qualify for the World Athletics U20 Championships, scheduled for Aug. 1-6 in Cali, Colombia.

JULIETTE WHITTAKER INTERVIEW WITH MARY ALBL | GATORADE ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO

All those achievements, along with her academic excellence and impactful community service, resulted Wednesday in Whittaker being named the 2021-22 Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Player of the Year.

Whittaker, who boasts a 4.46 grade-point average and served as senior class president, is only the fourth athlete from Maryland in the 37-year history of the Gatorade awards program to receive national recognition in her sport, including the first in track and field.

Nikki Teasley, who attended Saint John’s Catholic Prep before playing basketball at the University of North Carolina, is the only other Gatorade national female honoree from Maryland in 1997.

“I definitely saw it as a possibility, (but) I never like to stress about these types of awards,” Whittaker said. “I think knowing that it was a possibility definitely excited me a lot. This award probably tops a lot of them, I love the fact that it kind of recognizes me as a whole person and not just my athletics achievements. This one recognizes me in the classroom, me in the community, and giving back, and that just means a lot to me because I’ve never been one to tie my whole identity in running.”

Whittaker, who is described as humble and kind by her peers, was told her high school would be throwing her a pep rally to celebrate her achievement of making the U20 world team after eclipsing Cain’s 2013 standard of 1:59.51 on June 25 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Instead when she arrived, she was bombarded by relatives, friends, teammates and presented with the iconic Gatorade trophy.

“I came to school and was walking in the building and then all of the sudden I see a ton of family members, like my family who lives in Richmond, my brother who lives in New York, they were all here. I was like, ‘What? This is insane.’”

Whittaker said she looked to the right and saw her dad, Paul coming over with the award.

“Oh my gosh, it was like one surprise after the next, I was in shock and so happy,” she said.

Whittaker explained after an historic junior season, she set out to top last year.

“I really just wanted to make bigger goals,” she said. “I’ve always been someone who is scared to write big goals out, but this year I really just tried to write out my goals and however big they may be I just tried to believe wholeheartedly.”

After a cross country season where she qualified for the Eastbay National Championships, Whittaker’s indoor track season was highlighted by achieving the national prep all-time mark in the 1,000 at the Ocean Breeze Invitational, running 2:39.41.

In March, she won her ​​first national title at The Armory, claiming the New Balance Nationals Indoor mile in 4:37.23, beating out Ventura High freshman sensation Sadie Engelhardt, who was honored as the Gatorade state award recipient for California.

This spring, those goals continued to grow. She became just the second female prep runner in U.S. history to break 2 minutes in the 800 as she won the Trials of Miles NYC race May 20 in 1:59.80 at Icahn Stadium.

“It was just such an incredible atmosphere at the meet, and before then I had gone through a lot and faced a lot of adversity, so to be able to overcome all of those things and come away with that sub-2 meant so much to me,” Whittaker said. “Not even just the fact of going sub-2, but being able to prove to myself that I wasn't crazy thinking of these big goals and I belong there.”

After that sub-2 performance, Whittaker’s goals shifted again. She won the Brooks PR mile for the second year in a row June 15 in Washington, breaking her own meet record by clocking 4:36.23, and leading six other girls under 4:40, making it the deepest girls mile race in U.S. prep history.

“At the beginning of the year, it wasn’t as much the record but going sub-2, but then once I had gone sub-2 I reframed those goals and (thought) it would be so amazing to break Mary Cain’s record,” Whittaker said. “Mary Cain has obviously paved the way for middle distance running in high school for females and I’ve always looked up to her a ton.”

Whittaker, who is set to attend Stanford this coming fall, has been able to share a lot of these memories with fellow Stanford signee and 2020-21 Gatorade national track and field honoree, senior Roisin Willis of Stevens Point in Wisconsin.

At the U20 Championships, Willis was a close second behind Whittaker’s record performance, clocking 2:00.32. Willis, who boasts the U.S. prep indoor 800 record at 2:00.06, will join Whittaker in competing at the World U20 Championships next month.

“We’ve always been so supportive of each other,” Whittaker said. “This relationship we have is such a special thing. Being able to share in that hard work and dedication to the sport means a lot.”

With one final event before her collegiate career starts, Whittaker is hoping to achieve one last goal as a prep runner at the World U20 Championships. She will also have the opportunity July 19 to earn Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year honors for all sports, which would be the first for any Maryland athlete.

“I would love to at least medal, winning it would be incredible,” she said. “Being up on that podium with Roisin would be amazing. I’m hoping to run the rounds really well, and to make it to the finals and be in contention for the win would be a dream come true.”