Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Natalee Sample signs her National Letter of Intent to compete in cross country and track and field at the University of Mary on Wednesday as her family looks on.

MARSHALL — With a quick scribble of the pen, Natalee Sample’s next step to her athletic career was complete. The Marshall senior signed her National Letter of Intent to compete in cross country and track and field at the University.

Sample said it’s a great feeling to finally have things decided.

“It feels awesome,” she said. “I’m really glad that I was able to come to a decision and I’m just really excited to go there.”

Sample said what ultimately drew her to Bismarck and the Marauders was the size of the campus and the camaraderie of the team. She’s also hoping to major in exercise science.

“Ultimately it came down to the school, I like a small school but not a super small one and the team had a lot of chemistry and I really liked that about it,” Sample said. “It’s really far away, but I just really like the atmosphere there.”

It helps too that she’ll have a familar face on the team in former Marshall teammate Kaia Sueker.

Sample said she’s excited to reunite with Sueker on the course and track for another few years.

“It’ll be very special,” Sample said. “I’m really excited, especially because I got to run with her for five years here and now I get to run with her some more, which is super awesome.”

Sample has been a key contributor to the Tigers’ success on the court, track and course throughout her time at MHS. She attributed that to the impact that her coaches — who happen to be her parents during the cross country and track seasons — and teammates have had on her.

“They’ve had a huge impact on me,” Sample said. “I’ve had a great support system from this school and this team and my parents are my coaches, so I’ve had a great support system from them and it’s just been a great experience.”

Next year, Sample will join a U-Mary team that is coming off a fall season where the Marauders placed Top 6 finishes in each of their meets, including capturing their fourth straight NSIC Championship and placing fifth at the NCAA Championships.

Before she drives the 411 miles to Bismarck, though, Sample still has one more season on the court with the girls basketball team as well as a final spring on the track. She said she’s looking foward to just spending quality time with her teammates during the last part of her high school career.

“I’m really looking foward to spending one last season with my friends,” Sample said.