Whittaker Shatters School-Record In The 400-Meters

May 20, 2001

Atlanta, GA – University of Miami sophomore Saraque Whittaker (Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas) shattered the school-record in the 400-meters this weekend at the Georgia Tech Invitational and locked-up a berth to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 30-June 2, in Eugene, OR.

Whittaker, who entered the race ranked 21st in the NCAA, was the top collegiate finisher with a time of 52.77. The time breaks her own school-record of 53.45 set at the BIG EAST Championships on May 6 and places her ninth on the NCAA list. Whittaker has now established a new UM record in the event four times this season and has lowered the record from the start of the year by nearly two seconds.

Others recording NCAA provisional marks included sophomore Jamillah Wade (Philadelphia, PA) who finished ninth in the 400-hurdles with a time of 58.90 and junior All-American Kareen Clarke (Lithonic, GA) took third in the triple jump with leap of 12.87 meters (42-02.75).

The Hurricanes’ 18th-ranked 4×400-meter relay featuring freshman Kitoya Carter (Miami Northwestern), junior Jenise Winston (League City, TX), Whittaker and Wade also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships finishing fifth with a time of 3:38.91.

In other action freshman Jennifer Penrose (Mesa, AZ) finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.46 meters (47-05.25) while junior Gina Harris (Philadelphia, PA) took seventh in the long jump with a jump of 6.07 meters (19-11.00).