Starliper rips through Carlisle course in record 16:50

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

CARLISLE, Pa. -- From the outset, sophomore Marlee Starliper of Pennsylvania's Northern York High, the 2017 cross country season has been different. RESULTS

She's setting big goals, like taking a shot at NXN (she ran at NXR Northeast as an afterthought last year). She's trained intensely with Northern York assistant coach Abram Albert, who often accompanies her on training runs, and she's learning about herself as an athlete.

Saturday at the Carlisle Invitational, Starliper shed the training wheels and attacked the Girls Challenge race. From the gun, she outflanked a stellar field, including Padua Academy DE's Lydia Olivere, and never looked back.

"From the start I just wanted to push the pace," Starliper said. "I didn't know what I was capable of, but I found out today."

Starliper ran 16:50, one of the fastest recorded 5,000-meter times in the nation so far this fall. She broke the Carlisle High course record of 17:17 that was set in 1981. Olivere, who won the race last year in 17:22, also broke the course record, running 17:02.

"It was early in the season, but I knew this was an important race," Starliper said. "This year is different because I'm going to NXN regionals and hopefully qualify for nationals."

Starliper set the pace immediately, with Olivere right with her. She came through the two-mile mark on the fast, rolling course at 11:00, with Olivere eight seconds back.

"We knew when (Starliper) made a move that Lydia would have to match it," Padua Academy assistant coach Bud Opperman said. "She kept pressing the pace. I think (Olivere) knew she was at her red line and as a veteran and a senior knew what it would take for second place." 

University WV won the team title with 78 points, led by Tashala Turner's fourth place (17:39).

Padua Academy was second with 157 points. Hershey PA was third with 174 points.

In the Boys Challenge Race, the fast course yielded more fast results. A four-man pack consisting of Council Rock North PA's Ryan Campbell, Evan Addison of La Salle PA, Morgan Cupp of Mechanicsburg Area PA and Council Rock North's Ethan Koza came through two miles together.

"We kind of stuck together," Campbell said. "It's a fast course. I think we were hoping for a fast pace. That's what happened."

Addison and Campbell broke off in the last mile.

"Campbell is a really strong guy and definitely more of a cross-country guy," Addison said. "I knew if I could hang with him, I thought I had the finish (to win)."

Addison was right. He came across in first in 15:21. Cupp was second in 15:24, Campbell third in 15:28 and Koza fourth in 15:33.

La Salle won the team title with 83 points. Council Rock North, the defending Pennsylvania AAA champions, finished second with 109 points. Carlisle, led by Jack Wisner's 12th-place finish, was third with 186 points.

"Team-wise, we have a lot of guys who are running well," Addison said of La Salle, which finished fifth last year at the state AAA Championship. "There are a lot of good teams in Pennsylvania right now. It's going to come down to who's running the best in early November."

The boys Champion division race featured one of the day's top finishes. Nathan Neeley, a junior at North Hagerstown MD, trailed leader Thomas Garrison of Washingtonville NY through two miles, but clearly had something left. Garrison refused to relent, and they were shoulder to shoulder down the final stretch.

"He pulled ahead with 1,200 to go," Garrison said. "I just started cranking and he came (after me)."

Neeley narrowly won in 15:51 to Garrison's 15:53.

Oxford Area PA won the team title with 198 points. Washingtonville, which last week broke New York rival Warwick's 20-year dual meet winning streak, was fourth with 268.

Kate Rathman of Cherokee NJ won the Girls Champion race in 19:05.