Incredible race for Lenape graduate Shelby Whetstone Saturday, placing 4th in the Big Ten Conference Championships at 600 meters and just missing a 44-year-old Rutgers record.
Whetstone, a Rutgers senior, went into the weekend with a 600 PR of 1:32.17 from earlier this month, but she ran 1:29.79 in the qualifying rounds Friday at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, and 1:29.93 in the final on Saturday.
That 1:29.79 is fastest ever by a South Jersey woman over 600 meters.
That’s the fastest time by a Rutgers woman since Denise Peynado from Thomas Jefferson High in Brooklyn ran 1:29.53 at the 1980 AIAW Championships in Columbia, Md., a school record that has stood for 44 years.
Obviously, the 600 isn’t contested as often as the 400 or 800, but it is run fairly often in college and open indoors meets in the U.S., and Whetstone’s time will land her in the top 100 all-time U.S. once this weekend’s meets are updated in the World Athletics database.
It’s fastest ever by a South Jersey woman, breaking a record set by Nijgia Snapp of Oakcrest, who ran 1:30.48 in a meet at Penn State while running for Tennessee in 2010.
And it’s 7th-fastest ever by a New Jersey woman, and some of the women ahead of her on that list are fairly well known. Including a World record holder, an indoor World Champion, a three-time Olympian and a U.S. nationals silver medalist. Victoria Vanriele, a Penn State junior, is ahead of Whetstone on that all-time list but finished just behind her on Saturday.
All-Time New Jersey 600-Meter List
1:23.57 … Athing Mu [Trenton], New York, 2019 [#1 US]
1:23.84 … Ajee’ Wilson [Neptune], Albuqurque, 2017 [#3 US]
1:26.75 … Olivia Baker [Columbia], New York, 2019 [#18 US]
1:28.87 … Hazel Clark [Columbia], Blacksburg, Va., 2010
1:29.17 … Janine Davis [Queen of Peace], New York, 2005
1:28.80 … Victoria Vanriele [Governor Livingston], State College, Pa., 2024
1:29.79 … Shelby Whetstone [Lenape], Geneva, Ohio, 2024
1:30.40 … Kari Shoolbraid [Voorhees], West Lafayette, Ind., 2014
1:30.48 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], University Park, 2010
1:30.58 … Stephanie Herrick [Hackensack], New York, 2015
1:30.97 .., Jillian Smith [Southern Regional], University Park, 2010
1:30.98 … Evan Thompson [Lenape], University Park, 2014
1:31.46 … Julie Sinkovitz [Immaculate Heart], University Park, 2013
1:31.63 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], University Park, 2010
All-Time New Jersey 600-Meter List
1:29.79 … Shelby Whetstone [Lenape], Geneva, Ohio, 2024
1:30.48 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], University Park, 2010
1:30.98 … Evan Thompson [Lenape], University Park, 2014
1:31.63 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], University Park, 2010
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 