Mount de Sales’ Whittaker will keenly watch peers run in Tokyo Olympics

This story was updated July 20, 2021, 8:10 a.m., to reflect Becca Myers’ status for the Paralympic.

The last time the Summer Olympics were contested, Juliette Whittaker was a rising seventh-grader at School of the Incarnation in Gambrills and considered herself a swimmer first, runner second.

“I remember watching Matt (Centrowitz), my family let me know he was from Anne Arundel County, like us,” Whittaker said, of his historic victory in the 1,500 meters in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the first by an American in the metric mile since 1908. “Other than that … I didn’t even know how many laps there were to a mile.”

Now a rising senior at Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Whittaker will be a much more astute observer of the Tokyo Olympics, where the women’s 800 will include peers and some new friends.

Whittaker, who won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland cross country title at age 14 and soon thereafter catapulted herself into the national prep middle-distance scene, was 10th-fastest in the 800 semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. Nine women competed in the final.

Athing Mu, Raevyn Rogers and Ajeé Wilson took the top three spots in the final, qualified for Tokyo and paused on their victory lap when they saw Juliette and her sister, Bella, who competed in the 400 meters, on the spectators’ rail.

After a photo op, Wilson turned to Whittaker and said, “see you in three,” a reference to 2024 and the Paris Olympics.

“I was all so taken aback,” said Whittaker, whose passport figures to get a workout in the coming years beyond stamps for family trips to Central America and the Caribbean.

The U.S. Trials became a realistic goal for Whittaker during the indoor season of her sophomore year, when she nearly broke 2 minutes, 3 seconds. For perspective, no girl has ever run under 2:10 in the state public school championships, which date to 1972. 

Last January, Whittaker qualified for the Trials with a time of 2:02.07, No. 3 on the all-time national indoor prep list. She lowered her personal best to 2:01.15 at a June 4 Trials tuneup in West Chester, Pa., and three weeks later tested her 17-year-old self against professionals and collegians in the Trials preliminaries and semifinals on successive days. 

“Forty-two women qualified in the event,” said Steve Weber, co-coach of Mount de Sales. “In terms of time, going in Juliette ranked 30th. Over the span of two days, she moved up to 10th. She missed the final by 0.11 seconds. We knew getting to the semifinals would be tough, but we also knew there was a chance.”

After soaking up the atmosphere at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Whittaker moved on to the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle. Its web home page features her beaming on the medal stand after winning the mile in 4:38.65, less than five seconds off the fastest time ever by a high-schooler. Her range includes a 54.91 400 in a rare dual meet last spring at Archbishop Spalding High.

COVID-19 delayed the Tokyo Olympics a year, a plus for Whittaker’s focus and maturation. Conversely, it limited competitions for Mount de Sales, a powerhouse in the sport despite not having a track on campus.

“There were pros and cons,” Whittaker said, of her development. “It was easier to organize my own workouts, but hard, not having a team.”

Track workouts during the school year are held at Mount St. Joseph High, where alums include her brothers, Nicholas and Alex, who hold undergraduate degrees from Harvard and Yale, respectively. Bella, her big sister, is a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, and the primary reason Juliette is at de Sales. 

“It’s the only high school I looked at,” Whittaker said. “Bella was already there. I always pictured myself at Mount de Sales.”

Her vision is not limited to running.

Whittaker was chosen senior class president. Like her siblings, there are professions on the horizon, as Whittaker is interested in architecture and engineering. She followed closely as the school’s new Center for Performing Arts went up over the last two years, and raves about the art history course taught by Patricia Ziff.

Whittaker is a parishioner of St. Joseph in Odenton, and her pre-race rituals include prayer.

“We always do a team prayer before a meet, and I do my own before a race,” she said. “It’s a reminder that there is something much greater than me and this race.”

The following men and women with ties to the Archdiocese of Baltimore will compete in the Tokyo Olympics July 23-August 8, and Paralympics August 24-September 5.

Olympics

• Matt Centrowitz, track and field, defending champion in the 1,500 meters, received his sacraments at St. Andrew by the Bay in Annapolis
• Kyle Snyder, wrestling, 2016 gold medalist, former parishioner of St. Joseph in Sykesville
• Katie Zaferes, triathlon, grew up in St. Bartholomew Parish in Manchester

Paralympics

• McKenzie Coan, swimming, Loyola University Maryland grad won three gold medals in Rio
• McClain Hermes, swimming, rising junior at Loyola University Maryland 
• Becca Meyers, swimming, a Notre Dame Prep grad who won three gold medals in Rio de Janeiro withdrew July 18 from the 2020 Paralympics.

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

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