Victoria Starcher Biography

Ripley High / (Class of 2020) Ripley, West Virginia

Classification: AAA Girls

Specialty: Mid-Distance / Distance – 800m to 5K

Stanford University, California

 

Victoria Starcher (born May 23, 2002) is a West Virginia high school standout distance runner at the local and national levels. She is a 2020 graduate of Ripley High School in Jackson County, West Virginia.

As a sophomore, she won the West Virginia high school class AAA girl’s individual state cross country championship and was runner-up at the Foot Locker South Regional at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, while becoming only the third West Virginia high school female to qualify for the Foot Locker National Championship held in San Diego, California. In addition, she was named the 2017-2018 Gatorade West Virginia Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Starcher competed in the West Virginia High School Girl’s State Track Meet in 12 events over her three years. The result was twelve gold medals. She never lost a race at the State Track Meet, winning the 800-, 1600-, and 3200-meter run three times, and anchoring the winning 4x400 Meter Relay three times. Along the way, she set State Meet Records in the 800 and 1600 and was part of the record setting 4x400. She also owns State All-Time Bests in the 800 and 1600 (and mile). Her 4:38.19 mile run at the Penn Relays set a meet record for that prestigious meet and is the 9th Best High School Girls Mile in history. In addition, she is a three-time winner of the Gatorade West Virginia Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year and a two-time McCoy winner.

Starcher overcame a few setbacks during her high school career to become one of the state's top female distance runners of all-time.

She signed a national letter of intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at Stanford University, where she will compete in the highly regarded Pacific Athletic Conference (PAC-12).

Starcher maintained a weighted 4.35 GPA in the classroom.

She is the daughter of Joe and Keri (Wiseman) Starcher. Tori has one sibling, a younger brother named Trey.

 

High School:

Victoria Starcher attended Ripley High School in Ripley, WV from the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2020. Her high school coaches for cross country were Jimmy and Hillary Groves, while her track coach was Krystle Cunningham.

In the off-season, Starcher ran for the West Virginia Flyers, a club out of Morgantown, where she was coached by Jonathan Wright.

It is noteworthy to mention that Wright coached the only three girls from West Virginia to ever qualify for nationals in high school cross country in Maggie Drazba of St. Marys in 2012, Millie Paladino of University in 2012 and 2013 and Ripley’s Tori Starcher in 2017. As of May 2019, under his guidance the WV Flyers have produced 44 Individual or Relay State Championships.

 

[Freshman Year]

Ripley High’s Tori Starcher did not compete her freshman cross-country season due to a growth plate injury in her left foot. She was out for 8 1/2 months. Her foot was in a cast for a month, then she had 6 months of rehab.

On March 12th, 2017, Starcher placed 5th in the Freshman Girl’s 1 Mile Run (5:05.28) at the New Balance Nationals Indoor which was held at the New Balance Armory in New York, NY.

On May 19th-20th, 2017, at the West Virginia high school girl’s state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, Starcher won the 800 meters (2:12.94), 1600 meters (4:53.91) and 3200 meters (10:39.04) in the Class AAA girls division. In addition, she anchored the Vikings winning 4x400 meter relay squad to a new class AAA state meet record (4:01.82). She was second in high point honors with 32½ points, while leading her team to a runner-up team finish against Morgantown HS, 82 to 80.

On June 17th-18th, 2017, Starcher placed 17th in the Girls 2 Mile Run Championship (10:59.06) and 6th in Girls 1 Mile Run Championship (4:55.89) at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

 

Starcher’s 2017 Best Performances:

400m (59.34); 800m (2:12.77); 1600m (4:53.91); 3200m (10:39.04)

 

[Sophomore Year]

On September 16, 2017, Starcher won the Adidas XC Challenge 5,000 Meters Championship at Cary, NC with a time of 17:41.1.

On September 30, 2017, Starcher won the Greater Louisville Classic at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville KY with a time of 17:58.30. She won the title by a hefty margin of 39.65 seconds. There were 356 competitors in the 5000 Meters Girl’s High School Varsity Race.

On October 28th, 2017, at the West Virginia high school girl’s state cross country championship at Cabell Midland HS in Ona, Starcher won the Group AAA state meet title with a meet-record time of 17:34.98, breaking the tape 20 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor and leading the Vikings to a seventh-place finish as a team.

On November 25th, 2017, Starcher was runner-up in the Seeded Girl’s Championship (17:28) at the Foot Locker South Regional at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, NC to qualify for the national championships.

On December 2nd, 2017, Starcher finished 29th (18:46.6) at the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship in San Diego, CA. She was only the third West Virginia female in history to participate in the national final.

Starcher won 9 of 11 cross-country races and was unbeaten against in-state opponents in 2017.

On February 11, 2018, Starcher won the 1600-meter run at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase in Geneva, OH with a time of 4:50.85, while taking down Freshman phenom and World Age Group 5K Record Holder Grace Ping in the process. She was also runner-up in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:43.72.

On March 11th, 2018, Starcher placed 2nd in the Girls 1 Mile Run Championship at the New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York with a time of 4:46.32.

On April 28th, 2018, Starcher placed 2nd in the High School Girls 1 Mile Run Championship at the 124th Running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia with a time of 4:51.15.

On May 18th-19th, 2018, at the West Virginia high school girl’s state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, Starcher swept the 800-meter run (2:08.90), the 1,600-meter run (4:49.14 – State Meet Record) and the 3,200-meter run (10:29.87) at the Class AAA state meet. In addition, she anchored the Vikings winning 4x400 meter relay squad (4:08.63). She won high point honors with 32½ points, while leading her team to a 1st place team finish against Morgantown HS, 74 to 60.

On June 16th-17th, 2018, Starcher placed 7th in the Girl’s 2 Mile Run Championship (10:24.46) and 6th in Girl’s 800 Meter Run Championship (2:07.42) at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her 2:07.42 clocking in the 800m set a new West Virginia state record and ranked No. 8 in the nation among prep competitors.

During the 2018 track season, Starcher also earned national rankings in the 2-mile run (10:24.46, No. 13), the mile (4:51.15, No. 26), the 1,600 (4:49.14, No. 33) and the 3,200 (10:29.87 No. 52).

In addition, Starcher won the Gatorade West Virginia Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year and the McCoy Award for female track person of the year.

 

Starcher’s 2018 Best Performances:

400m (1:01.22); 800m (2:08.90); 1600m (4:49.14); 3200m (10:29.87)

 

[Junior Year]

She started off the season a little slow, coming off an injury, but she quickly rounded into form and resumed her dominant nature for most of the season.

On October 27th, 2018, at the West Virginia high school girl’s state cross country championship at Cabell Midland HS in Ona, Starcher was predicted to repeat as the class AAA girl’s individual champion. Starcher led most of the race and at one point she held an 8 second lead over Parkerburg’s Madison Trippett. Individually, Madison Trippett made the pass on a struggling Tori Starcher with about a half mile to go (Starcher would subsequently collapse) to take the resounding victory by 24 seconds. Subsequently, Starcher would not finish the race due to an illness.

On November 24, 2018, Starcher placed 121st in the Seeded Girl’s Championship (19:42) at the Foot Locker South Regional at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, NC.

On March 10th, 2019, Starcher placed 3rd in the Girl’s 1 Mile Run Championship at the New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York with a time of 4:40.63, which set a new all-time state mark with a converted 1600m of 4:39.00.

On April 25th, 2019, Starcher set a meet record in the High School Girl’s 1 Mile Run Championship at the 125th Running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Starcher’s time of 4:38.19 set a new state record and ranked No. 1 in the nation among prep competitors at that time, and No. 9 in girl’s prep history. Starcher’s showing broke the previous meet record from 2012 held by former teen phenom Mary Cain (4:39.28).

On April 30th, 2019, Starcher won DyeStat's Performance of the Week poll for winning and breaking the Penn Relays high school girl’s mile record. With 54.04 percent of the vote, Victoria Starcher won their Readers’ Choice vote, beating Eliud Kipchoge with his second-place tally of 21.14 percent.

On May 8th, 2019, Milesplit.com featured Starcher on Workout Wednesday. Starcher cranked out 5 x 500-meter repeats all under 1:30 aiming for her 1500-meter goal pace with 2 minutes rest. Following a 4-minute rest, Starcher spiked it up for 6 x 200-meter repeats with alternating rest of 30 seconds for one repeat then 90 seconds for the next repeat. With that rest, Starcher went 32, 30, 32, 29, 32, and 29 seconds for her 6 repeats in order.

On May 17th-18th, 2019, at the West Virginia high school class AAA girl’s state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, Starcher set meet records in the 800-meter run (2:08.40), the 1,600-meter run (4:46.61), and anchored Ripley’s winning 4x400 relay team (4:01.64). She also won the 3,200-meter run (10:32.75), while leading the Vikings to the state title as a team against Wheeling Park, 82 to 80. She was runner-up in high point honors with 32½ points

On June 15th, 2019, Starcher placed 7th in the Girl’s 1 Mile (4:45.02) at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle, WA.

In addition, Starcher won the Gatorade West Virginia Girl’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year and the McCoy Award for female track person of the year.

 

Starcher’s 2019 Best Performances:

400m (58.65); 800m (2:08.40); 1600m (4:36.58); 3200m (10:20.54)

 

[Senior Year]

Ripley High’s Tori Starcher only ran two races (Autumn Classic & St. Marys XC Festival) her Senior cross-country season due to a season ending stress fracture injury.

On April 21st, 2010, there was a declaration by Governor Jim Justice that students would not be returning to the classroom for the spring, then there was the subsequent inevitable declaration by the WVSSAC that there would be no 2020 Track Season due to the coronavirus (covid-19).

Many people felt this would have been the best field ever assembled for the class AAA girl’s 1600-meter run for the West Virginia State Track Meet.

According to RunWV, “this event had the potential for all 6 placers to be under 5:00 (though it's possible that one or two of them might not have competed in the event due to its depth). Tori Starcher, Lea Hatcher, Athena Young, Madison Trippett, and Zoe Shetty already had sub-5:00 clocking’s to their credit. Caroline Kirby had gone at least 5:05 (and had been under 11:00 in the 3200 over the winter) and Allie Martin had gone 5:07 last year.”

On June 25th, 2020, in its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced Tori Starcher of Ripley High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade West Virginia Girl’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

The state’s two-time returning Gatorade Girl’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year, the 5-foot-7 senior entered 12 events at the Class AAA state meet during her prep track career and took the gold medal in all 12. Also, the 2017-18 Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Starcher holds the state record in the 800-meter run, the 1,500, the 1,600, the mile, the 2-mile and shares in the 4x400-meter relay record. Her clocking of 4:38.19 in the outdoor mile at the 2019 Penn Relays ranked as the No. 9 time in prep history in the event.

 

High School Personal Records:

 

[Cross Country]

·         2400 Meter Run - 8:44.00

·         5000 Meter Run - 17:22.40

 

[Indoor Track]

·         800 Meter Run - 2:08.32

·         1500 Meter Run - 4:21.91

·         1600 Meter Run - 4:50.85

·         One Mile Run - 4:40.63

·         3200 Meter Run - 10:20.33

 

[Outdoor Track]

·         400 Meter Dash - 59.34

·         800 Meter Run - 2:07.42 [State Record]

·         1500 Meter Run - 4:24.27

·         1600 Meter Run - 4:46.61

·         One Mile Run - 4:38.19 (4:36.58 converted 1600m) [State Record]

·         3200 Meter Run - 10:20.54

·         Two Mile Run - 10:24.46

 

Victoria Starcher said that her greatest running accomplishment in high school was her clocking of 4:38.19 in the outdoor mile at the 2019 Penn Relays, which ranked as the No. 9 time in prep history in the event.

Her favorite workout is anything speed related - such as 200’s and 400’s.

 

Submitted by Mike McMillion (06/28/2020)

Results courtesy of RunWV