Just a month ago, Whitman was one second shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000-meter run. On Saturday, the Columbia, Illinois, native won the USATF Junior Championship in the 3,000-meter run by eight-tenths of a second.
She defeated Emerging Elite’s Erin Dietz with a time of 9:36.62, as Dietz ended up with 9:37.41.
The victory qualifies Whitman for the Pan-American Junior Championships from July 31 to Aug. 2 in ?Edmonton, Canada.
In past competitions, Whitman has performed particularly well in the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships. In the indoor championships, she placed fifth and sixth in the 3K and 5K, respectively. The 5K run put her at fifth all-time in IU history in that event, and the 3K put her at 10th.
In terms of outdoor performances, she ran a 16:14.98 time in the 5K during the NCAA Division 1 East Preliminary Round, which ranks third all-time at IU, despite not qualifying Whitman for the national ?championships.
Whitman also ran a 9:36.23 at the 2015 Penn Relay, which ranks seventh in IU history.
All of this comes as only a ?freshman.
She had a streak in December and January in which she finished first in three straight meets, two of those in the 3K, one in the mile run.
But Whitman was not the only Hoosier to fare well this weekend.
Fellow freshman Brenna Calder finished in fifth place in the 1,500 meter run. She finished second in the 2015 Billy Hayes Invitational in May.
IU alumna Sarah Pease placed 10th for her performance in the 3,000 meter steeplechase final, and alumnus Jeff Coover finished in 12th place in the pole vault. Then, former Hoosier and current volunteer assistant Scott Houston also competed in the pole vault but did not clear any height.
Brody Miller
