When Madison Overby was brought up to the Austin varsity cross country team as a seventh grader, she was in a little over her head. But she quickly turned to another runner who was on the team for the first time — McKenzie Besel, who was a sophomore that season.

Now Besel is putting the finishing touches on her college cross country career at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall as Overby starts her college cross country career at the University of North Dakota.

Besel, who gave up swimming to start running with the Packers as a sophomore, said she still remembers her first high school meet when she lined up next to Overby.

“I still remember that race today,” Besel said. “It was awesome watching [Madison] develop as a runner and as a person. She’s doing great so far [at UND] and I hope it goes well for her.”

Overby said that Besel helped her take the next step as her runner. She credited Besel and Austin head cross country coach Tony Einertson in preparing her for a strong high school career that saw her run in six Class AA state cross country meets.

“[Besel] was my first running partner and we ran all the time together,” Overby said. “She helped me transition from running for fun to running competitively, while also having fun.”

Overby has had a strong start with UND this season as she has cracked the varsity lineup with a strong freshman group. The team trains together and Overby has found herself running to keep up with the pack in practices, which has pushed her to be more competitive.

“I was super nervous at first,” Overby said. “I felt like I wasn’t ready, but after I got into that first race I kind of got into my groove. It’s the same type of race [as high school.] Coach Einertson’s training really helped me make the transition.”

Besel ran her freshman season at Winona State University, she took her sophomore season off, and then she transferred to SMSU as a junior. Last year saw Besel miss much of the season with injuries, but this year she’s found a lot more success.

“I’ve had quite a few injuries and it’s really challenged me to see sports from a different perspective like that of being a good teammate,” Besel said. “It’s something that you won’t really learn in a lot of other environments or times in your life. You never expect something to happen. There’s always going to be a curve ball thrown at you.”

When Besel was out with injuries, she took up biking until she was able to start training again in June. It was a lot of work for her to prepare for the season, but Besel was driven to get back into competitions.

“It’s been a long process to get back,” Besel said. “It’s kind of hard when you have to start from ground zero and get better than what you were before in a short period of time.”

As Overby looks to have many runs ahead of her with the UND cross country and track and field teams, Besel said she’s likely to make this season her last cross country season as she’ll have some student teaching in her future. She’s hoping to teach secondary biology and she’d like to get into coaching as well.

Besel said her time as a college athlete has been extremely beneficial to her.

“It’s been really fun. It’s definitely a change from high school,” she said. “It’s a higher level of training both academically and athletically. You have to find the balance socially, academically and physically.”