Nordic State Skiing: Duo Academy St. Paul Claims for Girls Sprint Relay Crown – St. Paul Pioneer Press

Maren Overgaard was part of the St. Paul Academy’s team, which ranked second in the sprint relay at the 2023 State Meeting. She called this “incredible experience”.

But after a year of the relay, Overgaard returned to him this year with increased expectations.

“I knew I was coming with Inga, that our goal was to win and I knew we had it in us,” Overgaard said.

Expectations came to reality on Wednesday of Giants Ride in Bivabik, as the Spartans duo of Overgaard and Inga Wing dominated all day, winning the sprint team in 16 minutes, 16.23 seconds faster than the duo in second place from the second place Proctor/Hermantown.

The Highland Park tandem of Addi Corbett and Ingrid Haland finished third.

Overgaard called the attempt to watch Wing Cross first to secure the state title on Wednesday “surreal”.

“Let’s know we finally collected it,” she said, “it was very amazing.”

It was a long time for both of them. The two competed together for the St. Paul Academy for years, but this winter did they join forces in the team. This turned out to be a winning combination.

For the wing, the state title came to limit her senior campaign. She noted that she was “excited” for ending her career in high school in this way. It wasn’t always so good. She had an operation a few years ago, which was followed by a few difficult years.

But the last two seasons have been largely filled with joy. For this, she credit her coach Max Lundgren, along with her other coaches and teammates for the support and encouragement they provide daily.

“I think it helps me to be skiing,” Wing said.

Wing and Overgaard spoke long after winning Wednesday about how supported they felt from the whole team, but more special. Each time the wing takes overgaard broadcast in a race, she greets her teammate with a “good job”.