Upon winning the 2019 State Championship, the Edina Girls’ Cross Country team has some unexpectedly young athletes to thank. In particular, sophomore Maggie Wagner has become an integral member of the Edina High School team, as evidenced by her impressive tenth place finish at the MSHSL State Cross Country Class AA Championships.

Wagner’s family—including her sister, Claire Wagner, who is a senior on the Girls’ Cross Country team—is full of runners, which inspired her to begin the sport in seventh grade. “Both my mom and dad are runners and so they told my older sister to do cross country to just have a fall sport. I saw her having fun and I wanted to do it too,” Wagner said. “It feels so cool to play a part in [the team] and know you’re welcome.”

Despite facing multiple injuries this year, Wagner has proved to be an athlete with determination and clear goals. After straining her Achilles before one of the races this year, Wagner briefly halted her regular weekly practices. “I feel like taking time off to treat it before it gets bad helps a lot. I took a week off when that happened and then I came back strong,” Wagner said.

While she is considered one of the younger members on the high school team, Wagner’s presence has not gone unnoticed. “She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met, and she’s quiet, but she’s super humble even though she’s so good at running. You would never know that she’s such a good runner based on how she acts because she’s so humble and friendly to everybody,” junior and fellow teammate Jayne Parry said.

After finishing within the top two spots at the Regional Championships, Wagner, along with her team, will be joining the National Championships in December. “It feels cool to see how all of the work we’ve put in since June to come together into a great finishing product,” Wagner said. “I think that we set the standards high this year, but even for the national meet, our goal is to get into the top ten. In future years, we want to continue our legacy.”