EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Isabella Whittaker will run for a national championship in the 400 on Saturday after advancing through the semifinal round on Thursday night. She highlighted the Quakers' well-represented squad on the first day of women's competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
 
Whittaker clocked 51.05 seconds, just off her Ivy-record best, and finished second in the first of three 400 heats behind Arkansas' Amber Anning (50.67). That automatically qualified both of them for Saturday's final, which will take place at 3:32 p.m. (6:32 Eastern Time). Whittaker's time ultimately was eighth among the 24 runners.
 
The 4x100 finished fourth in its heat at 43.88 seconds, which ultimately left the Quakers 17th out of 23 teams and out of Saturday's final.
 
Senior Olivia Morganti clocked 10:19.94 in her steeplechase heat and did not advance to Saturday's final.
 
Penn's 4x400 relay ended the night by taking fourth place in the third and final heat of the event, but the Quakers were disqualified for a lane violation after the fact.
 
The Penn men are done for the weekend, so there'll be a day of rest for Quakers fans before Whittaker runs during Saturday's final day of competition.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS
4x100 Relay
  17. Penn, 43.88 (Moforehan Abinusawa, Isabella Whittaker, Caia Gelli, Christiana Nwachuku)
Steeplechase
  22. Olivia Morganti, 10:19.94
400
  8. Isabella Whittaker, 51.05
10K
  Lily Murphy, DNF
4x400 Relay
  Penn DNQ (Jocelyn Niemiec, Isabella Whittaker, Christiana Nwachuku, Aliya Garozzo)
 
Saturday schedule (women) | all times Eastern | ESPN+/ESPN | Live Results
  6:32 p.m. – 400 final (Whittaker)