Former Penn track and field runner Isabella Whittaker has had a whirlwind of a year since she last competed at Franklin Field.
Like many Penn graduates, the 2024 graduate took a summer trip following her senior year. Unlike most, though, her trip to Paris was for the 2024 Summer Olympics as a part of Team USA’s 400m relay pool. While she ultimately did not compete in the City of Love, Whittaker was named a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year when she got back to the states. The former Ivy League champion was honored for founding Black Student Athletes at Penn and launching a campus chapter of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit LGBTQ+ athletic advocacy group.
Following her time at Penn, Whittaker transferred to the University of Arkansas for her last year of collegiate eligibility, where she dominated in the Southeastern Conference program. In March, she became an NCAA champion and American record holder in the women’s indoor 400m with a time of 49.24 seconds.
Whittaker is returning to Franklin Field this weekend to vie for a cash prize in Grand Slam Track, a new league pioneered by track legend Michael Johnson. She will compete in the long sprints 400m race on Saturday and the 200m on Sunday. The two-day event will be streamed on Peacock.
“Grand Slam is definitely doing something that’s never been done before,” Whittaker told the Daily Pennsylvanian. “I think that it's great, and it gives track and field a lot of traction that it doesn’t normally get … It’s very fan-centric, which I think is great because the experiences that the fans are having is really what builds the sport.”
Saturday will mark Whittaker’s second competition as a professional runner. Three weeks ago, she made her pro debut at Grand Slam’s “Miami Slam,” where she finished third overall in her race group for the 200m and 400m long sprint races and won $30,000.
“There was definitely a little bit of anxiety going into sort of my first pro [race],” Whittaker said. “I think it’s partly because I just want to show out, especially right now, it matters a lot. For my life track career, to show out early so that I can really get my name out there. So it’s definitely something that was on my mind.”
Philly to Fayetteville to Philly, again
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After arriving at Arkansas, Whittaker saw an immediate increase in training volume under coach Chris Johnson as compared to her time running for the Quakers.
“The training was kind of pretty rough in the beginning. Honestly, it’s just rough all around but obviously it’s been paying off,” Whittaker said.
Johnson increased the intensity of Whittaker’s practices after she showed considerable dexterity in her original exercises. To increase her stamina and prepare her for future races, Johnson began having Whittaker run the 800m in practice — something she “hated every second of.”
“Eventually, I feel like there was an ‘aha’ moment where I was like, ‘You know what? This is getting easier.’ I could feel myself really getting used to this, and my body sort of understanding what it needed to do to survive,” Whittaker said.
The practices propelled Whittaker to setting an American record in the indoor 400m. Whittaker was also a part of Arkansas’s NCAA championship winning indoor 4x400m relay team, becoming just the fourteenth athlete in history to sweep both the NCAA indoor 400m and 4x400 relay titles.
When Whittaker competes in the Grand Slam on Saturday, she will do so without the support of her former teammates as the Penn track and field team travels to Jacksonville for the NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field East Regional. On Sunday, however, Penn track assistant coach Chené Townsend plans to be cheering on Whittaker from the stands.
Along with her former coach, Whittaker is hoping her old stomping grounds brings her some luck and peace of mind.
“I’m super, super excited. I miss Franklin field, and the amount of hours I spent on that track, putting in the work, it's going to be really fun to come back and get to run on it again,” Whittaker said. “And then I think it’s going to just give me a sense of reassurance, and it's gonna really calm my nerves.”
