NORTHFIELD — The Austin girls cross country ran at the Class AA state meet for the first time in school history as a team as it finished in 11th place out of 16 squads at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday.

Five of the six Packers were running in their first ever state meet and the experience was a new one for them. Austin eighth grader Abby Leiws finished in 68th place.

“There were a lot more people around me and I’m not used to that,” Lewis said. “There’s always someone next to you. I was looking for a better time, but I just went out too fast.”

Madison Overby, who was running in her fifth state meet, took 51st, Paiton Schwab took 118th, Tasia Martinson took 145th, Morgan Hose took 154th and Nicole Justice finished 162nd.

Overby enjoyed having the team element at the state meet.

“I thought it was fun. We were joking around in warm-ups, but you don’t really notice [having your team there] as much when you’re out there,” Overby said. “Just because there’s so many people and you can’t tell where your team is. When you’re running down the stretch, you want to catch people because you’re not just running for yourself, you’re running for your team.”

The Packer girls have won back-to-back Big Nine titles and they’re hoping that this year’s trip to state can help the program take an even bigger step next season.

“It’s a big step for the program,” Overby said. “Hopefully it brings out more girls to cross country, because they can see that not only is it a fun group, but we’re successful too.”

Austin results: Madison Overby (51st, 15:03.5); Abby Lewis (68th, 15:15.6); Paiton Schwab (118th, 15:48.6); Tasia Martinson (145th, 16:06.6); Morgan Hose (154th, 16:22.7); Nicole Justice (162nd, 16:38.9)