Marissa Whitehead (Freshman, Martin County West/Martin Luther)
Whitehead is another member of the extremely deep girls class of 2021. As an 8th grader, she earned runner-up honors at the State XC meet in a 19:08.7 effort. A year earlier, Whitehead earned All-State honors as a 7th grader after she placed 20th. While that effort was surely impressive, she took her running to another level a season ago with an 18 place jump. The amount that she'll improve this year should be a major storyline to pay attention to in 2017. In track, Whitehead also put together an impressive season, including qualifying for the Hamline Elite Meet and running 11:27.90 in the 3200 en route to a 6th place performance. With another leap (perhaps like the one Tierney Wolfgram took last year), Whitehead has a chance to be the freshman phenom that takes the crown this fall.
| 5k Time | Meet | Date | Place |
| 19:08.7 | MSHSL State Cross Country Championships | 5-Nov-16 | 2nd |
| 19:04.6 | MSHSL Section 2A Championships | 27-Oct-16 | 1st |
| 19:02.8 | Gopher/Valley Conference Championships | 18-Oct-16 | 1st |
| 19:49.1 | Milaca Mega Meet | 24-Sep-16 | 5th |