High School

Top Iowa High School Distance Runner Headed To Arkansas

Marissa Ferebee of Pella commits to the Razorbacks

Dana Becker

Pella’s Marissa Ferebee celebrates as finishing her race In the 3A girls state cross country meet at Lakeside Golf Course on Oct. 31, 2025, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Ferebee won the 3A girls state cross country state title.
Pella’s Marissa Ferebee celebrates as finishing her race In the 3A girls state cross country meet at Lakeside Golf Course on Oct. 31, 2025, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Ferebee won the 3A girls state cross country state title. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arkansas is getting another of the top Iowa high school distance runners that the state has ever produced.

Pella High School senior Marissa Ferebee committed to the Razorbacks and the SEC on Thursday.

Ferebee was the 2024-25 Iowa Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year, an honor she is likely to win again this coming season for her efforts on the trail.

Marissa Ferebee Won Three Straight Cross Country Championships

Ferebee is the three-time reigning Class 3A Iowa high school state cross country champion and has won each of the last two 3A Iowa high school state track and field 3,000-meter races in Des Moines from Drake Stadium.

She won the 1,500-meter in 2024 and was the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland champion in 2024 and placed seventh at the Nike Cross Nationals.

Ferebee holds career-best times of 4:31,48 in the 1,500; 4:57.67 in the mile; 9:48.05 in the 3,000; and 16:25.5 in the 5K for cross country.

Marissa Ferebee Joins Fellow Iowan At Arkansas

Paityn Noe, a graduate of Ballard High School in Iowa, is a junior on the Arkansas cross country and track and field team roster. Noe is a five-time first team All-America for the Razorbacks, winning multiple state championships while competing for the Bombers.

Her cross country time is the quickest in state history, as she broke the mark set by Noe in 2024 originally by going 16:38.

Now, the two will be teammates for Arkansas.

The Razorbacks have won a combined 13 NCAA cross country team championships, including the 2019 women’s cross country title. In track and field, the men have won 21 indoor national titles and 10 outdoor while the women have captured five indoor and three outdoor championships all-time.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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