First team Academic All-America honors for Noe and Whittaker

FAYETTEVILLE – Razorbacks Paityn Noe and Isabella Whittaker received first team Academic All-America accolades among women’s track and field/cross country as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).

This is the second Academic All-America honor for grad student Whittaker, who was a second team selection in 2023-24 while at Penn. This marks the first honor for Noe, who completed her sophomore season with the Razorbacks.

Overall, the Arkansas women’s program has collected 48 CSC Academic All-America honors by 35 student-athletes.

Noe and Whittaker were among three SEC selections on the first team, joined by Alabama’s Doris Lemngole. Overall, there were 15 student-athletes named to the first team.

Razorbacks joining Noe and Whittaker in receiving Academic All-District honors were Simone Ballard, Ainsley Erzen, and Tianna LoStracco.

Noe, who had a 4.0 GPA in Exercise Science, earned All-America honors in all three seasons in 2024-25 and totaled five for the year.

Noe finished seventh in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, covering the 6,000m course in 19:42.3, after placing third in the SEC Championships and winning the South Central Region title. Noe was named the South Central Region Athlete of the Year.

At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Noe placed seventh in the 3,000m (9:03.78) and eighth in the 5,000m (15:11.89). She was the high-point scorer at the SEC Indoor Championships, scoring 16 points by winning the 5,000m title and placing third in the 3,000m. Competing as a redshirt freshman indoors, Noe earned SEC Freshman Runner of the Year.

Noe collected two more All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a fourth-place finish in the 10,000m (31:36.91) and sixth place in the 5,000m (15:35.81). Noe claimed the SEC Outdoor 10,000m title and finished as the silver medalist in the 5,000m.

Multiple school records were attained by Noe, who broke the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m records along with the outdoor 10,000m record by 20 seconds. Noe ranks No. 7 on the collegiate all-time list in the 5,000m indoors (15:11.27) and the 10,000m (31:36.91).

Whittaker, who produced a 4.0 GPA in Marketing as a grad student at Arkansas, broke the indoor American and collegiate record in the 400m, winning the NCAA Indoor title in 49.24 seconds. She also supplied an anchor leg split of 49.70 as the Razorbacks won the 4 x 400m relay in 3:25.20.

Those accomplishments earned Whittaker the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year. In addition to breaking the American and collegiate record of 49.48 set by Razorback Britton Wilson, Whittaker ranks No. 2 on the world all-time indoor list and was the world leader for the 2025 indoor season.

Coming into the season with a previous indoor best of 51.69, Whittaker produced a 49.90 as SEC Indoor silver medalist in the 400m and earned SEC Indoor Newcomer of the Year.