Going into this season, the Austin girls cross country team wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

The team had graduated some of its top runners, and it was looking to replace them with a group of middle schoolers. While young, that group has matured faster than just about anyone thought they would this season, and the Packers have already won the six-team Mankato West Invite and the 12-team Lake City Invite.

Austin is having this success with a roster that includes one senior Cham Ochudo; two sophomores, Madison Overby and Justice Tabor; two eighth-graders, Paiton Schwab and Tasia Martinson; and two seventh-graders, Morgan Hose and Abby Lewis.

Before the season Austin head coach Tony Einertson set some times for his middle school runners to aim at by the end of the year, and the younger runners were already hitting those marks in the first meet.

“We knew we had a couple of junior high girls that would be decent runners. They’re far exceeding our expectations,” Einertson said. “They’re all competitive as heck, and they hate getting beat by each other. They’re going to try to hold each other off, and that’s going to make each and every single one of them go a little faster. They’re young, but they’ve got that competitiveness that runners need.”

Overby, who is a three-time state qualifier, has seen the younger runners grow before her eyes. In the West invite, she beat Schwab by just 12 seconds.

Overby said it helps to have a team that pushes each other.

“They’ve been improving a lot meet to meet and they’ve made some big drops. It’s surprising,” Overby said. “It’s nice to have people to run with, especially in practice. But we have different race strategies so we don’t always run with each other in meets.”

The youth of the team has created an interesting dynamic. Overby and Tabor are being asked to step up as leaders even though they’re only sophomores.

It’s a task they’ve accepted as they look to show the younger runners a few tricks of the trade.

“It’s different, but it’s okay,” Tabor said of her new role. “It’s fun being successful as a team and you don’t want to let everyone down.”

The Packers are focusing on getting even faster before the Big Nine meet, which takes place Oct. 15 in Owatonna. Einertson is hoping his team can have a good showing at that meet this year and the years to come.

“You never know what’s going to happen year after year, but if we can avoid injuries they should be a pretty solid team for the next couple of years,” Einertson said.

The Austin cross country team will host its lone home invite Oct. 8 at 4:30 p.m. at Meadow Greens golf course.