From an all-time World U20 mark in the 4x800 relay at The Virginia Showcase to both making the podium for the U.S. in Colombia, the top two prep female 800 athletes in history have continued to elevate each other on and off the track

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The first instinct for Juliette Whittaker was to walk over and give Roisin Willis a hug.

It was mere seconds after Whittaker, 18, crossed the finish line in third place Aug. 3 at the World Athletics U20 Championships in the women’s 800-meter final in Cali, Colombia.

Whittaker, the top seed entering the championship race, walked straight to one of her best friends. Willis had just won the race in a meet-record 1 minute, 59.14 seconds, also celebrating her 18th birthday by eclipsing the 2-minute barrier for the first time in her career.

“That was so cool to see that,” Whittaker said of Willis’ performance. “Honestly, it helped me because I was so disappointed after my race and to focus on her joys and her achievements because she’s been so close, she’s been inching closer and closer (to a sub-2 performance) and to finally get that on her last high school race is so amazing.”

It seems fitting that Whittaker and Willis’ prolific high school careers came to an end on the track together at Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium, embracing one another as teammates.

That moment was just a snapshot of the friendship the pair have formed during the past 19 months, as they’ve ascended to the top two all-time prep 800 runners in American history, and now prepare for their next chapter together this fall at Stanford University.

“It’s pretty incredible to see how far we’ve both come to be the fastest high schoolers in American history and to be in the same class,” Willis said. “I think it’s very special to do it alongside someone who is so hard-working and humble, and it’s just amazing.”

Their friendship and development are even more remarkable considering Whittaker, representing Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Md., and Willis – from Stevens Point High in Wisconsin – only met one another for the first time in January 2021 at The Virginia Showcase.

That weekend, they raced each other in the 800 Invitational, where Whittaker ran a meet-record 2:02.07 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Willis took third in 2:04.31.

The following day, they teamed up with Bailey Goggans of Marble Falls, Texas, and Sophia Gorriaran of  Moses Brown High in Rhode Island, as “800 United” to achieve the all-time World U20 4x800 mark of 8:37.20.

As both WIllis and Whittaker put it, time never allowed for any sort of mid-distance rivalry to form between them.

“There wasn’t a lot of time to be competitors first,” Whittaker said. “We raced and the next day we were teammates, so ever since we’ve been really close friends.”

Willis and Whittaker have bridged the 900-plus miles in between them since then by staying in contact through social media and texting.

Both driven individuals wanting to better their craft, they found themselves attending many of the same elite showcases and national races across the country. They ran in the professional field in May 2021 at the NYC Trials of Miles at Icahn Stadium, where Willis qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials 800 in 2:00.78, securing a trip to Eugene with Whittaker.

Along with Gorriaran, they experienced their first U.S. Olympic Trials together, going through the prep, the excitement, the nerves as the only three high schoolers in the event.

Willis and Whittaker advanced to the 800 semifinals. Nearly a week later, they attended the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle, each finding success in different events.

Willis ran a personal-best 52.64 to place second in the 400 and Whittaker won the mile in a then-meet record 4:38.65.

“There were so many big moments we were there together for,” Willis said. “I think having someone that you kind of go through all of those different experiences on the track and off as well, I think that really brought us closer together.”

Away from the track, they share a similar sense of humor and bond over their love of food – both eating and cooking – and the reality TV show, “Dance Moms” is one of their favorites.

“And a lot of talking honestly,” Whittaker said with a laugh. “Like, we stay up for hours and hours just talking about anything and goofing around. But we also value our family and spending time with our family. In Cali, we both went out to dinner with our dads. Spending quality time with each other and other people that we love is important to us both.”

They’ve also been there for one another as they’ve experienced the joys, disappointments and setbacks only the sport of track and field can produce.

It took Willis many frustrating attempts last year to run the U.S. Olympic Trials 800 standard. She wound up ending the season with the fastest prep 800 time in the country, earning the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

This past season, Whittaker battled through some early injuries, but came back in February to set an indoor national record in the 1,000 by clocking 2:39.41 at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, N.Y.

Two weeks later, Whittaker and Willis reunited at The Armory in New York where they each won New Balance National Indoor titles.

Willis prevailed in the 800 in 2:06.81 and Whittaker triumphed in the mile in 4:37.23.

During the outdoor season, Whittaker became the fastest high school 800 athlete in U.S. prep history, as she won June 25 at the USATF U20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in a meet-record 1:59.04, breaking the 2013 national high school record of 1:59.51 established by Mary Cain of Bronxville, N.Y.

It was Whittaker’s second occasion producing a sub-2 performance, first eclipsing the barrier May 20 with a 1:59.80 at the Trials of Miles NYC event at Icahn Stadium.

Like Willis the season before, Whittaker claimed the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

They both committed to Stanford during the fall, Willis first, and then Whittaker making it official nearly two weeks later. 

Earlier this month, they were side by side as roommates and teammates in Colombia representing the United States in their first international competition at the World U20 Championships.

“It definitely helps a lot having a teammate out there for Team USA and Stanford in the fall,” Willis said. “I think we really calm each other down and sometimes I really struggle with nerves and I think having someone who is going through the same exact thing really helps.”

Whittaker and Willis entered the World U20 Championships as the two fastest entries, before each battling through preliminary and semifinal rounds of the 800, competing in different heats.

The Aug. 3 final, delayed a couple of hours due to inclement weather, was a fast pace from the start. Whittaker experienced some mental blocks, while Willis soared, relying on her 400 speed to come back down the stretch against Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and win in a personal-best 1:59.13.

Werro clocked a lifetime-best 1:59.53 to secure silver, and Whittaker admitted it wasn’t her best earning bronze in 2:00.18.

It marked the second time in meet history that a pair of American athletes both made the podium in the women’s 800 final, joining Sammy Watson and Aaliyah Miller capturing gold and silver in 2016 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

“It really wasn’t what I wanted in the final round, place or time,” Whittaker said. “But it was still an incredible experience and I have things I need to work on.” 

Whittaker said Willis was right there to help her look at the big picture of the entire season.

“I totally understand where she’s coming from because I’ve felt the same way,” said Willis, who returned to the track Aug. 6 in Colombia to achieve a 51.34-second anchor split to lead the U.S. to a gold medal in the 4x400 relay in 3:28.06.

“I think earlier in Eugene (at the USATF U20 Championships), I didn’t have the race I was hoping for at the Trials, but having a bad race, that’s how you learn, that’s how you get better. If I hadn’t messed up so many times this season, I would have never run what I did at the World Championships.

“I think what’s great is we both know how it feels to be successful and we both know how it feels to have a bad day. I’m still in awe of Juliette and what she was able to do with her 1:59s. I mean, I don’t think I understood how hard that is until I was able to do it myself because that race was probably the hardest and guttiest race I’ve ever run in my entire life. And the fact that she was able to do that twice is pretty incredible.”

With their prep careers concluded, Whittaker and Willis are on a short break before gearing up for cross country team camp with Stanford. Both athletes said they might do some smaller cross country meets this fall, but the focal point is indoor track beginning in the winter and the new memories they can create together, individually and potentially together again on relays.

“It was sad to leave (Cali) that last day in Colombia, but we were like, ‘Wait, we’re literally going to be together for the next four years of our lives, we’ll be OK,’” Whittaker said. “I think we just got a lot closer over this trip, and really that helped with the nerves, and being on the same team, and standing by each other for all of it. It was just amazing.”