Isabella Whittaker was named the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Track Athlete of the Year. Whittaker, who hails from Laurel, Maryland, set an American and collegiate record of 49.48 in winning the 400 meters at the 2025 NCAA DI Indoor Championships. She also ripped two laps in 49.70 as part of Arkansas’s 4×400 relay, which got the baton around in 3:25.20 for the fifth fastest mark in world history. Earlier in the season, Whittaker went sub-50 for the first time in 49.90 in a runner-up effort at the 2025 SEC Indoor Championships.