Nordic state skiing: St. Paul Academy duo claims girls sprint relay crown
Maren Overgaard was part of the St. Paul Academy team that placed second in the sprint relay at the 2023 state meet. She called that an “amazing experience.”
Maren Overgaard was part of the St. Paul Academy team that placed second in the sprint relay at the 2023 state meet. She called that an “amazing experience.”
But after a year off the relay, Overgaard returned to it this year with heightened expectations.
“I knew, coming in with Inga, that our goal was to win, and I knew we had it in us,” Overgaard said.
The expectations came to reality Wednesday at Giants Ride in Biwabik, as the Spartans duo of Overgaard and Inga Wing dominated throughout the day, winning the team sprint in 16 minutes, 16.23 seconds – 28 seconds faster than the second-place duo from Proctor/Hermantown.
Highland Park’s tandem of Addie Corbett and Ingrid Haaland finished in third.
Overgaard called the experience of watching Wing cross first to secure the state title Wednesday “surreal.”
“To know that we finally brought it together,” she said, “it was very amazing.”
It was a long time coming for both. The two had raced together for St. Paul Academy for years, but only this winter did they join forces on the team sprint. It proved to be a winning combination.
For Wing, the state title came to cap her senior campaign. She noted she was “thrilled” to be ending her high school career in such a fashion. It wasn’t always this good. She had surgery a few years back, which was followed by “a couple of tough years.”
But the last two seasons have largely been filled with joy. For that, she credited her coach Max Lundgren, along with her other coaches and teammates for the support and encouragement they provide on a daily basis.
“I think that helps me be ski happy,” Wing said.
Wing and Overgaard spoke at length after Wednesday’s win about how supported they felt by the entire team, but specifically one another. Every time Wing takes a handoff for Overgaard in a race, she greets her teammate with a, “Good job.”
“Maren and I just love each other and we’re both super supportive of each other,” Wing siad. “There’s no competition between us and there’s never any hard feelings. We know that the best way for us to compete well is to be putting each other up instead of putting each other down.”
They fight for one another. Lundgren credited the “massive amounts of work” both put in this season for their successes. He spoke of the time and effort that went into the four-to-five minute aerobic interval sessions that paid off in a big way Wednesday on a long, slow course.
“A lot of it was that super high aerobic stuff that they shined in,” he said.
The duo tallied the fastest time in the heats by a full 40 seconds, which can put a little extra pressure on the finale. Overgaard admitted that pressure was there, but it was overridden by the faith she had in her teammate.
Added Wing: “It was more just like, ‘This is my last year, I really just want to put it all out there,’ and I knew that Maren would, too, and no matter what happens, I’m going to be so proud of us.’”