Isabella Whittaker won NCAA 400m gold with new college and North American record

Isabella Whittaker set the second fastest time in the history of the 400m indoor race. She clocked 49.24 sec at a NCAA Indoor Championships race in Virginia, USA. This is both a new college record and a North American record.

“The team did a fantastic job of sticking together. We got punched in the mouth yesterday, and we just wanted to see how these young ladies would respond. We had a really good team meeting this morning and kind of laid it out to them”, noted Arkansas women’s head coach Chris Johnson. “Character is developed when things don’t go your way. They showed a lot of character today. That’s what we started working on in the fall and it came to a culmination today. We can’t be more excited”, added he.

The all-time 400m indoor record is held by Femke Bol with a time of 49.17 sec from last year’s World Championships in Glasgow.

“Isabella is a great athlete and has worked really, really hard. Me and the staff has done a fantastic job with this young lady. We’re very happy for her, and very proud of her”, said Chris Johnson for the new North American record.