“When I was running the race, I really didn’t have a time in mind. I knew when I crossed that line that it was going to be a decent time…When I looked at the time, that was not what I was expecting to see there. That was pretty surreal. I’m super, super grateful.”

Texas A&M junior Sam Whitmarsh popped onto our radar with a 1:44.46 at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou meet on March 30th, which moved him to No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list. 

When we put the call out on the CITIUS MAG team for bold predictions for the 2024 season, Kyle Merber predicted that Whitmarsh would make the U.S. Olympic 800m team. Only U.S. champion and World Indoor champion Bryce Hoppel and 2023 NCAA champion Will Sumner ran faster than 1:44.46.

The reason that people may not be as familiar with Whitmarsh is that his 2022 season was cut short as a freshman because he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome –  a heart condition that leads to periods of rapid heart rate. In 2023, he was the SEC Championship runner-up and then only reached the NCAA West Regional in the 800m. This past indoor season, he missed qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships by 0.01 sec.

It feels like at every U.S. Olympic Trials or U.S. Championships there’s a rising star out of the NCAA who can shake things up. Whitmarsh is looking like he could be that guy in 2024.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host: Sam Whitmarsh | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@samwhitmarsh on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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