Over the past five years, Austin senior Madison Overby has battled the nerves of being a middle schooler at the state meet, she’s dealt with high expectations and she’s had to fight off injuries for the Packer cross country team.

Through it all, Overby has stayed consistent and that was never more evident than last year, when she hurt her ankle at the Roy Griak Invite and had to sit out for nearly a month in a key stretch of the season.

When the Section 1AA meet came around, Overby was a little nervous if she would be recovered enough to keep up and get to state, but she fought on through like she always does to earn her fifth straight trip to the Class AA state cross country meet. She also took her team along with her as the Packer girls clinched their first ever trip to state as a team in 2014.

Austin head coach Tony Einertson said Overby was in peak shape when she was injured last season, but after she sat out she was not at that level anymore. Einertson said Overby showed a lot of heart and resilience to make it to state anyway.

“She’s one of the hardest working girls I’ve ever had,” Einertson said. “We knew about her when she was in second grade and it’s been so much fun watching her train and watching her work.”

Overby has dealt with the expectation to make it to state every year, and that doesn’t make it any easier for her. In girls cross country, there are often younger runners who jump onto the scene and make it tough on the upperclassmen. Overby’s best finish at state was when she took 20th and was All-state as an eighth grader in 2011.

“I feel like every year it’s added pressure, but I just have to put that in the back of my mind and just go out there and race,” Overby said. “My goal overall [this year] is to be healthy. I know that if I’m healthy and I train hard then I can do the best that I can.”

Overby doesn’t train like a typical distance runner. This offseason Overby kept up with her distance running, she played hockey, she played a little soccer and she was a regular at the Packer strength and conditioning camp.

She will have to get used to taking longer runs this Fall as the girls will be running 5K this season in Minnesota after running 4K in years past.

According to Einertson, no other Austin girls cross country runner has ever gone to state six times in their running career and he’s hoping Overby can be the first to accomplish that feat. Overby still finds it hard to believe that she’ll actually be done with high school country after this season.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet that it’s my last year, but I’m excited [for this year],” Overby said. “I’ve done a lot of cross training and I think that really helps me.”

Overby recently visited the University of North Dakota to check out their cross country program, but she’s uncertain of her running future at this point.