The 5-foot-7 senior won the NCHSAA Class 4A state meet this past season with a time of 17:27.62, breaking the tape 16.64 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor and leading the Pride to a fifth-place finish as a team. Mareno won the Foot Locker South Regional championships in 17:21.70, then took silver at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships with a season-best time of 17:08.32. She captured bronze at the FLCCC as a junior. A two-time Foot Locker All-American, Mareno won every race she entered this past fall until the national championships and clocked the state's fastest 5K time by a prep girl, which ranked No. 19 nationally.
Mareno has maintained a 5.04 weighted GPA in the classroom on a 4.0 scale. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to run cross country on scholarship at Stanford University this fall.
Mareno has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics and the Leesville Road Track and Field Camp. "Few runners nationally race better in big meets than Nevada Mareno and, in 2016, she reminded the entire country of her impressive tenacity, determination and will to excel, especially when the stakes were the highest," said Erik Boal, editor of DyeStat.com. "Her results at the state, regional and national levels were a testament to her resolve and mental toughness."
