Derry Township, Dauphin County - Marlee Starliper has done it all. Heading into Saturday, she'd already won a pair of cross country state championships and she is committed to run at N.C. State. Saturday was a chance to add to her already impressive resume.
The Northern senior was looking to become only the fifth runner to win three straight cross country state titles and if she was nervous, she didn't show it.
From the very start, Starliper wasted no time getting to the front of the pack. A mile into the race, she had a one-second lead.
That would grow, by a lot, the Polar Bear came down the final stretch with no other runner in sight. She had a shot at the course record in the final kick and with a time of 17:10.9, she takes the record and the state crown.
"It went perfectly and I felt really, really, good today. Like, honestly, even better than I expected. I rested up really well this week coming up back from by district race that I was really tired in and I didn't perform how I wanted. I just crossed the line and I was like overwhelmed with some emotion because I couldn't ask for a better end to senior year for repping the Northern jersey," she said afterward.
As a team, Northern finished state runner-up.