Whittaker & Willis Kill It at Mt SAC Women's 1500

There is no "back on topic" when it comes to Tuohy stalkers. Any thread that discusses any other female runner is hijacked and turned into discussion of Tuohy/NC State. Fact is, Stanford has proven over the last month or so that they could win the DMR, 4x800, and/or 4x1500 over NC State. Can you imagine the team next year when they add Amy Bunnage and Irene Riggs?

Whittaker 1:59.04/4:12.49 (NCAA Indoor runner-up)

Willis 1:59.13/4:13.31 (NCAA Indoor champion)

Tanaka 2:05.91/4:13.91

Jenks 4:14.81/9:04.29

Bunnage 4:14.62/8:51.90/15:31.96

Riggs 9:49.37 indoor 2-mile, 12th at World Cross U-20

I wonder how much W&W train with the others or what their training looks like since they also run the 400m and others like Jenks run the 5k.

Don't sleep on Jenks, following up her 15:33 Stanford invite 5k with a 4:14 1500. With this type of speed I think she could contend for All American maybe even top 5 at nationals in the 5k.

In addition to all the aforementioned runners and PRs you just listed, Dudek just ran 15:32 at Bryan Clay and looked strong doing so. Would love to see them mix it up more at NCAA XC after finishing 13th last season.

The issue is their 5 runner, and how much of an impact the incoming freshman might have. But with Dudek, Jenks, Bunnage, Riggs, Dadamio, Stewart, and Connolly (?) they should have a good shot at jumping up in the ranks.

Agree - Dudek and Jenks could be in top 15-25 in XC, and the 2 FR maybe not too far back of that. But the 5th? AL redux?

Those last lap splits say to me that they both can run 4:10 or faster right now with better pacing...

Stewart was excellent as a freshman, that's #5. Then Dadamio, freshman Kennedy and any upperclassmen still floating around for depth. The question as always is can they all show up healthy and fit to Virginia in November.

Podium? Could be. Beat NC St or NM if everyone healthy? Not likely. Just like AL.

At this stage of the game last year 'bama had promising options for #5, freshman McDonnell and Reed. By the time November came around neither panned out.

McDonnell makes debut today for UCLA along w unattached Frias (and Barnett) at 1500.

Off top of my head, new UCLA now has xc team of Barnett, Frias, McDonnell, CSF grad xfer, 2 sisters from nbpark, and a bunch of returning 21min runners looking to improve. A lot has to go right, but I'd take the bet they at least make nats.

Yes, they're both 800 specialists, but this is more than 20 seconds off the world record. Decent time but their 1:59s are far better

Taking down the indoor mile champ decisively is worth a lot. Whittaker is incredible at not losing, race after race.

NCAA Record - Arkansas 2022 - 16:53.87

Above times = 16:54.52

Record might go down at Penn in two weeks.

This just shows they both have range 52 1:59 4:13 and both hs xc, w/ Whitaker a 2x foot locker runner. When Mu ran her 4:16 1500 at a&m, the board went nuts about range.

UCLA also has one very good incoming freshman girl who came close to making Footlocker/Champs xc nationals last fall.

Plus there's a decent chance Brosnan can pick up one more transfer.

Brosnan's goal when he took the job was to be top 10 at nationals in fall 2023. I don't think his women's team is top 10 yet but they are certainly heading in the right direction.

This thread nearly suffered the same fate as all the other threads on LR:
Relentless, ad nauseam, mind numbing

Can offer some insight here.

Ky Robinson was interviewed on an Australian podcast (Inside Running) back in February.

He was asked about his training.

Within his response, he mentioned that the women use lactate testing . . . finger tip blood draws . . . to gauge their training efforts.

They do this because JJ has decades of data he has collected coaching his female athletes . . . apparently dating way back to the days of Joetta and Hazel in the 1980s.

In theory, this prevents them from going too hard in practice, eventually resulting in injury. Virtually no injuries so far on this school year's xc and track teams, so looks like it's working and the accumulated weeks and months of training are now paying off.

Ky did mention that the men do not use lactate testing . . . he suggested the reason may be that Ricardo Santos/coach has not done lactate testing before so has no long-term database to rely upon.

Willis and Whittaker didn't run xc last year, so I would doubt that they'd do it in the fall this year. It would make them much stronger in the mile, though possibly at the cost of their 400m speed.

That is a lot to ask of them. It would be astonishing if they could match the college leader after running 1500m pr's, and then trying to break the team record. Let them run qualifying times if necessary but don't overrun them. I do see running q times but not pr's as valuable for their strength running rounds but it could also get them injured.

this race was painful to watch due to the God-awful pacing by the 2nd Mt. Sac athlete slowing down the group. FFS, step off the track, I hate to put that runner on the spot but WHAT WAS THE LOGIC of putting a runner with a PR of 5:31 in the 1600m (last year, 2022) to pace some of the fastest NCAA female middle distance runners like Howell, Willis, and Wilson?

the 1st pacer (Mt. Sac) was fine, but the 2nd pacer held up the whole group. Howell had no choice but to take it out faster; she knew she couldn't outkick the two 800m runners, champ and runner-up at NCAA indoors this year. Edit: though she did outkick one of them, but just barely, lol.

W&W did train with the xc team last fall along with fellow 800-ers Deligianni and Tovkach.

And, they did compete once at the Santa Clara Invite mid-October on a flat, fast 6k course:

Juliette was entered but DNSd so was the only 800 gal who did not run a xc race.

Have no idea how they can train for 6k races yet come out on the track a few months later and split 52s on the relay team . . . guess that's why they're prodigies . . .