Marlee Starliper will race at the USATF Indoor Championships on Sunday, choosing the national meet over the PTFCA Indoor State Championships.
The Northern junior will compete in the 2-mile at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Facility in Staten Island, New York on Sunday, February 24, the same day as the indoor state meet. Starliper will be the lone high schooler in the women's 2-mile field.
USATF changed the original schedule to add a second heat of the women's 2-mile to account for the 31 declared entries. Starliper will race in the first of two sections ("B"), which will go off at 3:46 P.M. The second section goes off at 5:07 P.M. Among the other entries in the field are pros Emma Coburn, Shelby Houlihan, and Amanda Eccelston.
Last year, Starliper won both the mile and 3,000 meters at the indoor state meet (she also set state records in those events this season). She decided to try something different this season. Her state record-setting 9:20.91 in the 3K met the "A" standard for the USATF meet (9:27), qualifying her for the meet.
After winning the Junior Girls Mile at the Millrose Games in a meet record, Starliper said she was deciding between states and USATF. On Tuesday, we got our answer. Starliper will chase the indoor Pennsylvania state record, which stands at 10:08.50, set by Tessa Barrett in 2014.
