ST. JOSEPH — Marianne Dickerson described herself as average.
She was anything but.
Dickerson, an IHSA state champion at St. Joseph-Ogden, an Illinois track star, a graduate from Harvard Business School and a member of her high school’s Hall of Fame, died Wednesday night at the age of 54.
A state champion
Dickerson was the first individual state champion SJ-O ever had when she won the 800-yard run at the 1978 state track meet.
Her time of 2 minutes, 16.4 seconds still stands as the school record.
“Just recently in the gym the record boards came down, but until then one of the most impressive parts of that board was Marianne’s 800 placard,” SJ-O cross-country coach Jason Retz said.