Tuttle’s Surber etching name in record books
TUTTLE — Madi Surber stays busy throughout the school year.
A versatile athlete, the Tuttle junior hops from one sport to another, excelling in all of them.
She begins the year with fastpitch softball. When that season ends, she moves on to cross country, then basketball.
Surber enjoys it but has to wait until the spring for her favorite sport – track.
After helping the Tuttle fastpitch softball and basketball programs win state titles, Surber headed into the track season with some lofty goals, and she's been phenomenal leading up to this weekend's Class 4A state meet.
Surber broke the state record Saturday in the 300-meter hurdles at the Madill regional, finishing in 42.75 seconds. She also captured titles in the 100 hurdles (14.65) and 400 (56.49) and helped Tuttle win the 4x400 relay (4:04.01) as the Tigers claimed the team champion
ship. When the state meet begins Saturday in Catoosa, Surber will try to lead the girls program to its first-ever title — just like she did in basketball less than two months ago.
“As a team, we’re all running really well,” Surber said. “Our relays are doing really well. The main goal is to win a team championship.”
Surber’s time in the 300 hurdles Saturday was 0.03 seconds faster than the previous state record, which was set by Jenks’ Emily Waible in 1999.
“I was really shooting for that goal, and I knew it was within reach if I kept working hard and got my form down a little bit,” Surber said. “It was for sure a goal this year to get it.”
Surber’s victories at regionals weren’t her only notable accomplishments last week. At Ardmore’s meet on April 26, she finished the 400 in 56.37 to beat Southmoore star and OU signee Jada Atkinson, who placed second with a time of 56.91.
“She was six meters behind with 100 meters to go and caught her,” Tuttle coach Lance Cobb said.
The Surber name is well-known in Tuttle.
Madi isn’t the only star athlete in the family. Her older brother, Luke, is a freshman wrestler at Oklahoma State and had a stellar high school career.
Their dad is Tuttle principal and former wrestling coach Matt Surber. He led the wrestling program to a record 12 consecutive state tournament titles before stepping down last year.
Cobb sees some similarities between Madi and her father.
“She’s a lot like him,” Cobb said. “She’s built like him. She’s a perfectionist like him. Everything she does, she does whole-heartedly, 100%. That’s just how they roll.”
Madi is always trying to find ways to improve, which isn’t a surprise considering she’s a coach’s daughter.
“Her work ethic and her desire is just so much greater than everybody else’s,” Cobb said. “When it starts to hurt, she doesn’t mind it. She just keeps going.”
Her dedication should benefit her in college.
She intends to compete in track at the next level and will likely go to a bigtime Division I program.