Between the juggernaut that is Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression and soft-spoken, bespectacled Leanne Marshall claiming Project Runway’s top prize on Wednesday’s episode, it’s the year of the female nerd!

A Project Runway first, three female finalists headed off to Bryant Park to show their collections and vie for the title. In the end, self-proclaimed nerd Marshall, 28, who hails from Portland, Ore., beat co-finalists, Korto Momolu, 33, of Little Rock, Ark., and Kenley Collins, 25, of Pompano Beach, Fla.

"I am a fashion nerd," said Marshall in a phone interview according to Newsday.com. "I just love to have fun, and I'm not afraid of kind of being a dork." She said of Project Runway, "Without a doubt it's been the most amazing experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Marshall, whose talent shined through early on in Runway’s fifth season, presented a wave-inspired, aqua and cream color palette for her 10-piece collection, which wowed the Runway judges including Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn.

Earlier in the season Marshall won two challenges, one for designing an outfit out of Saturn car materials and the other for creating a look to use in Diane von Furstenberg’s fall collection.

The grand Runway prize includes $100,000 from TRESemmé to kick off her new fashion label, which Marshall said she’ll spearhead soon when she moves to New York City with her musician boyfriend Nathan McKee, who composed her runway music, according to Newsday.

Typically soft-spoken, Marshall got her ire up plenty of times when it came to co-competitor Kenley Collins, but like a true winner Marshall said of their tumultuous on-screen relationship:

"We started off as friends but the competition became kind of cutthroat. All Kenley's relationships kind of deteriorated. There's a level of respect that she didn't really have all the time. But I don't hate her. I wish her the best."