Park’s Porter Will Run Track at Marshall
Senior Holds School Record In Three Events
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WHEELING --Wheeling Park senior Marlee Porter concluded her successful prep track campaign a week ago when she collected two gold and two silver medals at the West Virginia Class AAA state track meet.
On Friday, she wrote the final chapter of her storybook prep career when she signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and athletic careers at Marshall University.
"My family is a Marshall family as a WVU family too," Porter said. "They have a really great program.
"If you look at all the past sprinters and hurdlers in the state, you'll notice some of the big names and record holders, they all went to Marshall. I've talked to their coach, and it seems like a good fit for me."
Porter also had offers from West Liberty, Wheeling and West Virginia Wesleyan.
She was an immediate impact for the Patriots. Her senior season, she was regarded as one of the best sprinters and hurdlers in the state.
Porter won the 200 timing in at 25.54 at the state meet after placing second in the 100 and 300 hurdles.
In both of those races, she lost by less than a second. Porter did set the school record in the 100 when she clocked in at 12.20.
She ended her prep career as she ran anchor on the winning 4×400 relay team.
"The past four years, this just exemplifies who Marlee Porter is," Wheeling Park girls coach Bryan Arbes said. "She is a hard worker. With last season being canceled, she had to do a lot of stuff on her own because we weren't allowed to work with our athletes. So, she spent a lot of time on her own and getting herself ready and make sure she was in the right shape for the season.
"At the state track meet, we asked a lot from her, and she shattered every expectation we had for her.
"This is icing on the top for her career. She's definitely earned it."
At Marshall, Porter said that they are looking at her to run the 400 hurdles. She also stated she may jump in on relay teams at times, but right now the focus is on the long hurdles.
"I think my goal in the 400 hurdles is to go under a minute," Porter said. "It's a crazy goal for me, but I think I can do it. That's my main goal. Also, I just want to get faster and try to fix my mechanics a little bit because I can be sloppy when I run, so I'm hoping I can fix that in my hurdling form."
Porter also holds the Wheeling Park school record in the 200 (25.54) and 300 hurdles (44.02).
She is also a five-time state champion for the Patriots. Along with her two state championships this year, she was on the winning 4×200 relay team in 2018 and 2019. She also won a gold medal in the shuttle hurdle relay in 2019.
She was also very involved at Wheeling Park as she was part of National Honor Society, REAP Counselor, freshman mentor and was part of Young Life.
She was also the 2021 Beneke Scholarship Winner and had a 4.3 GPA.
On top of all that, she made sure she was as good of a leader as her mentors were.
"It meant a lot," Porter said about her time at Wheeling Park. "I met some of my best friends here and I got to continue running with everyone that I ran with in middle school, primarily. My sophomore year was a big year for me at state. That team meant so much to me and I knew I kind of wanted to be a leader for this year's team because that's what I got when I was a sophomore and freshman. We had a lot of freshmen this year and it meant a lot to me to take them in and show them to enjoy track as much as I do."