Marlee Starliper Running Relaxed, Looking Forward To San Diego

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

BRONX – Saturday afternoon as she gathered up her belongings and was set to embark on a cool down run throughout New York’s Van Cortlandt Park, Marlee Starliper was asked for her picture by a buddying runner and fan. The senior from Northern PA happily obliged. For Starliper, it’s been a learned process, but she’s come to enjoy every single moment the day brings. 

“I just try to do everything I can to enjoy the entire experience, whether it’s the traveling or seeing people at the meet,” Starliper said. “I run best when I’m relaxed.” 

It was a day to relish in for Starliper as she won the Foot Locker Northeast Regional title in a time of 17 minutes, 3.6 seconds. Her time was the second fastest recorded in meet history, as Cathy (Schiro) O'Brien holds the record of 16:46 set in 1984. This was Starliper’s second regional title was she won it in 2017 and finished runner-up in 2018.  

“I’m just really thankful,” Starliper said of her time. “It was a really fun race, and I really enjoyed it.” 

For most of the race, it was a similar scenario to last year when Starliper battled it out with Sydney Masciarelli of Marianapolis Prep (Thompson, CT). Saturday, the two stayed together for the first two miles of the course, but Starliper made her move on the downhill after the second mile and was able to pull away as Masciarelli couldn’t respond. 

“It’s a plus that I felt so good physically, but back their in the woods, I just felt really good,” Starliper said.

Masciarelli, the defending Foot Locker national champion, finished in second place (17:18.7). Third was freshman Karrie Baloga of New York in 17:36.8. Seven girls finished under 18 minutes.

“Today just really wasn’t that good of a race for me, but I felt pretty strong,” Masciarelli said. “I know with a little time off before nationals I could get some good training in and try to improve.”

Masicarelli said she tried not to let the pressure of defending her title get to her. 

“You’re supposed to feel pressure or else you’re not really doing anything right, so I tried not to let it get to my head,” she said. 

The junior, who has started her prep basketball season already, explained she’s looking forward to another national championship experience in San Diego on Dec. 14. As of Saturday afternoon, she said she has not decided if she will run Nike Cross Nationals, as she received an invitation.  

“I’m so excited,” Masicarelli said of qualifying again. “I just want to try and improve my time from last year and just have a good time. I think sometimes we forget that this is supposed to be a fun process and just enjoy it.”  

Starliper expressed similar sentiments heading into nationals. 

“I know it’s a big thing to say, but I’m definitely going to try and run it to win it,” Starliper said. “I just feel like I’m all there mentally, but also physically. I have felt really, really good. I’m just excited to see what I can do.”

Patrick Anderson of Mount Lebanon (Pittsburg) won the boys title in a time of 15:17. Anderson, who is undefeated on the season, said he had it on his mind to win the race. 

“This year was going to be faster, I knew it was going to be a good race,” Anderson said. “I’ve had an undefeated season so far, to keep that going is a big deal for me.”

In a large, fast, and talented field, Anderson and sophomore Gavin Sherry of Conard CT ran next to one another for most of the 3.1 miles. Anderson was able to pull away down the stretch with about 800 meters to go. With the win, Anderson, who is committed to UNC, became the first male runner from Pennsylvania to win since 2016, when Noah Affolder claimed the title. 

"That means a lot,” Anderson said of representing PA. “It’s an exciting day.”

For Sherry, who also entered the race without a loss to his name, this was his first experience at regionals. A year ago, he was getting ready for swim season. Saturday he was runner-up in 15:20.3. Liam Murphy of Allentown, N.J., the New Jersey Meet of Champions victory, finished third (15:23.6) to earn a return trip to nationals.

“So my expectation was the first mile was going to go out really fast,” Sherry said. “We went out blasting. It was tough to get into that (but) we pushed through. That final 1,000 meters it comes down to pure guts. He’s (Anderson) such a strong runner. He started to pull away. (But) I think it went really well today. It’s great to have experience on this course now.”