Without a senior on the varsity roster, the Norwalk boys cross country team capped one of the most successful seasons in program history last fall with a sixth-place finish at the Class 4A State Meet in Fort Dodge. Today, that accomplishment earns the Warrior harriers the number seven spot on the school’s Top 10 Sports Stories of the past year.

Norwalk earned its third consecutive trip to state by placing second at the 4A State Qualifying Meet in Indianola, then finished sixth out of 15 teams in the largest class running at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course, posting a team score of 179.

The Warriors were paced by the junior trio of Donovan Card, Will Chase and Jack Brown, who placed 30th, 34th and 36th, respectively, with 5K times ranging from 16:35 to 16:41. The team score was rounded out by sophomore Noah Buhrow in 56th place and freshman Henry Groos in 66th. Junior Ben Hanson finished 75th and freshman Corbin Oswald was 100th out of 123 participants.

The Norwalk boys placed 14th in Class 4A at the 2020 state meet and took ninth place in Class 3A in 2019. The Warriors’ only other state appearance came back in 1993.