NORTHFIELD — Madison Overby of the Austin Packers earned all-state honors at the Class AA Meet and Sarah Kahle of Austin Pacelli placed 88th in the Class A State Cross Country Meet.
Overby's trip to the state meet as a seventh-grader in 2010 was a learning experience. Her second trip was all business, and Saturday at St. Olaf College, the eighth-grader from Austin High met her goals.
"My goals were to finish in the top 25 and run about the times I've been running," she said.
Overby just missed running her best time of the season, but she was solidly in the top 25. She finished in 14:51.1, good for a 20th-place finish and all-state honors.
"I was more confident (this year) because I feel like I've improved a lot since last year," she said. "I was a little nervous because none of my teammates were here with me. But Chrissy (Monson, of Albert Lea) was there (at the starting line), and we've become friends, so it was nice to have her there."
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Overby said she felt stronger as the race went along, particularly after the first one-third of the race.
"The first mile was just kind of like a dream, then I snapped out of it and thought 'I have to get going,'" she said. "I think I can still improve a lot. I just want to keep coming back here. It's such a great experience."
Maria Hauger of Shakopee, a junior, captured her third consecutive state championship, finishing in 14:04.1. She edged last year's state runner-up, Jamie Piepenburg of Alexandria, by seven-tenths of a second.
Monticello won the team title with 92 points, followed by Section 1AA champion Lakeville South (118).
• Kahle was the first ever state qualifier in cross country for the Pacelli Shamrocks and finished with a time of 16:29.0 for 88th place on the day.
Emi Trost led the Class A state cross country meet for a brief stretch Saturday afternoon. The sophomore from Cannon Falls didn't finish in first — Blake sophomore Clare Flanagan was too fast for the entire field to hang with — but Trost did the next best thing.
The Section 1A champion earned the best finish by a Cannon Falls runner at a state meet by finishing in 14:34.7, which made her the state runner-up. Flanagan finished in 14:21.7.
St. Cloud Cathedral, last year's state runner-up, captured the state championship with 94 points. It was followed by Annandale with 118 and Esko with 132. Section 1A champion La Crescent placed ninth, with 222 points.
