Austin’s Overby wins Big Nine title
Published 10:09 pm Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Austin's Madison Overby runs towards the finish line on the way to the Big Nine cross country title as Albert Lea's Chrissy Monson struggles to recover from a fall in the background in Owatonna Tuesday. Overby is the first Austin cross country runner to win a Big Nine title in at least 15 years. -- Ian Stauffer/Owatonna People's Press
Austin eighth grader Madison Overby had the best run of her career as she took home the first Big Nine title by an Austin cross country runner in at least 15 years at Owatonna Tuesday.
Overby had taken second behind Albert Lea junior Chrissy Monson in multiple races this fall, but when it came down the stretch, she passed Monson and finished 12 seconds under her previous career best time to win the race.
Austin's Haley Splinter finishes at the Big Nine meet in Owatonna Tuesday. -- Ian Stauffer/Owatonna People's Press
“It’s amazing,” said Overby, who finished with a time of 14:37.80. “It’s been goal all year long to run with Chrissy and now I’ve beaten her. It’s unbelievable.”
Shortly after Overby passed Monson in the final stretch, Monson fell to the ground, but was able to get up and still take second.
“I didn’t even know she fell until after the race,” Overby said.
Overby and Monson exchanged leads during the race several times while running nearly a minute ahead of the pack. Austin head coach Tony Einertson said it was a fun race to watch and he hopes Monson is healthy for the Section 1AA meet, which will be held next Thursday in Owatonna.
“It’s fun to see Austin and Albert Lea out there representing well,” he said. “Madison’s gotten better and better and she ran a real smart race today. We really hope Chrissy’s okay for sections because it would be fun to watch those two again.”
Overby has shown vast improvements since joining the varsity program and she added even more speed to on Tuesday.
Austin's Nate Schwab leads a pack of runners around the corner at the Big Nine cross country meet in Owatonna. -- Ian Stauffer/Owatonna People's Press
“I backed off training this week so I’d be fresh and I’ve been working on building up speed to help finish stronger,” Overby said.
As a team, the Austin girls took fourth with a team score of 68 as they placed four runners in the top-10. Haley Splinter took fifth, McKenzie Besel took ninth and Justice Tabor took 10th.
The Austin boys finished ninth in the meet as sophomore Andrew Baker took 16th and Nate Schwab took 22nd.
Baker finished with another career best time.
“It was a very strong field this year and Andrew continues to impress,” Einertson said. “He looked really strong and he was with the leaders for the first mile.”
Austin boys results: Andrew Baker (16th, 16:45.00); Nate Schwab (22nd, 17:06.10); Mason Wallwesheim (42nd, 17:51.80); Sandaval Lopez (56th, 18:27.70); Micah Kelly (63rd, 18:40.60); Garrison Meyer (66th, 19:03.70)
Austin girls results: Madison Overby (first, 14:37.80); Haley Splinter (fifth, 15:28.10); McKenzie Besel (ninth, 15:42.50); Justice Tabor (10th, 15:48.50); Jenna Grabau (59th, 17:42.70); Martha McDermott (66th, 17:58.70)
