Madi Surber looks to leave lasting legacy at Tuttle
TUTTLE, Okla. (BVM) — A lot of high school athletes prefer to focus on one sport today. But there are a handful of athletes that continue to play three sports and excel. Madi Surber is one of those athletes.
From a young age, it was easy to see that Surber would be a special athlete. Tuttle head track coach Lance Cobb has coached Madi since the seventh grade. From then on, he knew he had a special athlete on hand.
“Her work ethic is by far the greatest I’ve ever had in 27 years of coaching,” Cobb said. “She’s one of those kids that’ll try to win a warmup lap.”
That work ethic paid off this past season as Surber set a new state record in the 300-meter hurdles event at the regional finals. Finishing with a time of 42.75 seconds, she broke Emily Wiables’ state record set in 1999. Surber beat it by 0.03 seconds.
Along with setting a state record at regionals, she captured individual state titles in the 100, 300 and 400-meter hurdles events.
Tuttle’s Madi Surber wins her third race of the day, finishing the 300-meter hurdles in 44.52 seconds. She now has titles in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 400. #OKPreps pic.twitter.com/kgGvOl0hGX
— Nick Sardis (@nick_sardis) May 8, 2021
“After my first track meet, I set that goal to break it [the record],” Surber said. “It was great weather, I felt great running the race. [Overall], it was really cool [to accomplish that goal].”
Along with track and field, Surber competes in basketball and softball. This past season she helped the Tigers capture state titles in softball and basketball. But she still remains hopeful that she can help the Tigers capture the program’s first-ever team title in girls track and field.
“Track is my favorite,” Surber said. “I’ve always loved running [and] I enjoy softball and basketball a lot too… [but] the aspect of competing in track, and we’re also really close as a team… I love it all.”
She hasn’t done it by herself though. Her father, Matt Surber, Tuttle’s principal and former Tuttle head wrestling coach has helped instill that work ethic into her daily life.
“She’s like her dad so much,” Cobb said. “She gives you everything she’s got. That’s the way he is and that’s the way she is.”
“He’s always pushed us [Luke Surber, her brother who wrestles at Oklahoma State] to be our best and he’s our biggest fan,” Madi said. “I truly can’t thank him enough.”
Madi Surber is an exceptional athlete. She’s proved that. But she will be looking to accomplish a lot more at the next level. Where that will be is not yet known.
“I’ll commit probably within the next two weeks,” Madi said. “[Thinking about competing at the next level] really excites me. Every race [at the Division 1 level] is going to be tough… [but I look forward to it and] love competing and getting better [every day].
A tremendously talented athlete, Madi has already cemented her legacy at Tuttle. Wherever she lands next, she sure is to have an outstanding career.
“The sky is the limit for her,” Cobb said.
