For the second time in two weeks, Shelby Whetstone has run an 800 PR, and this time she did it in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
Whetstone, a Rutgers senior from Lenape, ran 2:05.14 at the East Region First Round in Lexington, Ky. Although she didn’t advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals, her time is 8th-fastest in South Jersey history and fastest by a South Jersey runner in seven years.
Whetstone came up just shy of advancing to the next round, but her time is 2nd-fastest in Rutgers history, behind Kassidy Johnson’s 2:02.35 at the 2023 Tom Jones in April 2023 in Gainesville.
Whetstone missed qualifying for the quarterfinals by 11-100ths of a second. Two runners who ran slower advanced because they finished among the top three in their heat to record auto qualifiers with slower times. Whetstone was 5th in a much faster heat.
She had just PR’d with a 2:05.58 to place 5th at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Her time is fastest by a South Jersey half-miler since Rancocas Valley graduate Kimarra McDonald ran 2:02.76 on July 12, 2017, at the Lignano Sabbiadoro Meeting International Sport Solidarieta at Guido Teghil Stadium in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.
The 24-fastest runners in Thursday’s first round advanced to the quarterfinals at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. Then the 12-fastest from each of two regional meets advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 5-8.
All-=
1:59.85 … Michelle DiMuro [Shawnee], June 17, 1996, Atlanta
1:59.99 … Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], July 13, 2010, Liège, Belgium
2:02.20 … Kimarra McDonald [Rancocas Valley], June 2, 2012, Nashville
2:02.49 … Krista Ferrara [Vineland], June 25, 2006, Indianapolis
2:03.34 … Greta Feldman [Haddonfield], June 15, 2013, Indianapolis
2:03.88 … Nijgia Snapp [Oakcrest], May 13, 2012, Baton Rouge, La.
2:05.06 … Renee Tomlin [Ocean City], May 31, 2013, West Chester, Pa.
2:05.14 … Shelby Whetstone [Lenape], May 23, 2024, Lexington, Ky.
2:06.15 … Sydney Coppolino [Sterling], May 13, 2022, Durham, N.C.
2:07.18 … Kristen Neidrach [Shawnee], Kortrijk, Belgium, July 10, 2021
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 