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Roisin Willis, the American track and field athlete, won the USATF (USA Track and Field) Youth Athlete of the year award for 2022. She clinched gold medals in the 800-meter and 4x400-meter relay events during the 2022 World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Roisin Willis is an American Track and Field Athlete. She was born on August 6, 2004. Willis became a famous high school athlete due to being a US high school indoor 800-meter record holder. She attended Stevens Point High School in Wisconsin.
Roisin Willis will continue her career at Stanford University
After her graduation from high school, the athletics prodigy has chosen to join Stanford University. She will join Juliette Whittaker and Caroline Wells at Stanford. Roisin Willis will be representing the Stanford Cardinal.
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Speaking to WSAW-TV in November last year, Roisin spoke about joining Stanford University.
"My future track coach is extremely knowledgeable and he knows a lot about the 800. That would be really good for me because I have a lot of big goals at college and he's definitely on the same page like that."
The promising athlete will be coached by Stanford head coach JJ Clark. She believes that it would really benefit her because she has lots of big goals in college. Further, during her interaction with WSAW-TV, Roisin said:
"I know where I'm going to go. And now I can figure out what my goals are when I'm there. I'm just really excited and certain about that and now I can just relax about the season ahead."
Roisin Willis' mother is an Olympian
Roisin's mother Breeda Dennehy-Willis is also an Olympian. Breeda represented Ireland at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She competed in the women's 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events at the Olympics.
Roisin's mother finished at the 35th position in the heats of the women's 5000 meters and did not qualify for the semifinals.
In the heats of the women's 10,000 meters, she finished in 22nd place and missed out on the semi-final spot by a small margin. According to Runner's World, Breeda's personal best in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters is 15:12.83 and 32:11.30. This is the fifth fastest time for Ireland in the 5k and 10k.
Roisin Willis broke the USA indoor 800-meter record
Roisin Willis broke the USA indoor 800-meter record in the month of February this year. She became the fastest US indoor 800-meter high school runner in history. Willis achieved this feat at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston.
According to Runner's World, Roisin's time was 2:00.06 which broke Sammy Watson's record of 2:01.78, set in 2017.
Roisin Willis qualified for semifinals of women's 800-meter at the Tokyo Olympics trials as a junior in high school
In 2021, she qualified to attend the 2020 US Olympics trials after running the 800-meters with a time of 2:00.78 in Miles New York City trials. In the trials, Roisin reached the semi-finals when she ran the 800-meters event with a time of 2:01.27.
She finished 13th in the semi-finals and failed to qualify for the Olympics. After the trials, speaking to the Highlight Zone Podcast, she said:
"I've been in competitive races before but nothing like that. I've never had that many people pushing me like that."
Roisin Willis won the Gatorade 2020-21 National Athlete of the Year
Roisin was awarded the Gatorade National Athlete of the Year for her excellent performances during her junior season. Two of her most notable performances during the season were when she set a Wisconsin state record in the 1600-meters with a time of 4:41.46, and during the trials of Miles New York City Qualifier race. In the latter, she completed the race with a time of 2:00.78. Roisin also maintained a 4.0 GPA in her academic career.
Roisin Willis was named the 2022 USATF Youth Athlete of the Year
She won two gold medals at the 2022 World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia. Roisin won the 800-meter event with a time of 1:59.13. She also contributed to Team USA's gold medal-clinching performance in the women's 4x400-meter relay event.
Roisin also set a national high school record in the 800-meter with a time of 2:00.06 in Boston, in February 2022. It was also the fastest indoor time in the world by a U20 athlete in 2022, according to the USATF. She clinched another victory in the 800 meters at the NBIN (New Balance HS Indoor Nationals) in New York City.
Willis earned another victory in the 1000 meters event at Virginia Beach in January when she completed the race with a time of 2:43.34. It was the world's fastest by an under-20 runner. Roisin also topped the global under-20 list at 500-meters with a time of 1:10.90 in the same event.
Roisin's other remarkable performance came in the 400-meter race at the Nike Outdoor Nationals when she completed the 400-meter with a time of 52.64. All these outstanding performances in 2022 earned her the 2022 USATF Youth Athlete of the Year Award.
