It was certainly a year to remember for the Norwalk boys cross country team.

Battling through injury and illness along the way, the Warriors were ranked as high as 2nd in Class 4A, won four meet titles overall and claimed a third consecutive Little Hawkeye Conference championship. The season culminated in a fourth straight trip to the State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge, where Norwalk placed fourth in Class 4A, improving two spots from 2021.

The Warriors missed out on a team trophy by just one place, but head coach Chad Larson says it is important to focus on how impressive it is to finish fourth in the state’s largest class. Larson called it a fun and rewarding season overall.

“It’s definitely one of the seasons that we’ll remember for a long time,” he said. “You reflect back and, wow, there’s so many awesome memories… Obviously we didn’t finish where we’d like to at the state meet, but we’ve got a lot to be very, very proud of. I’m very happy with the overall season and (there is) really quite a bit to look forward to next season.”

The Warrior roster featured 14 seniors, including four on the state meet squad in Donovan Card, Jack Brown, Will Chase and Ben Hanson. Card, Brown and Chase all competed in four state meets and Card capped his career by earning a 15th-place individual state medal at Fort Dodge.

Coach Larson says it is extremely impressive how Card was the Warriors’ number one runner for two straight years on such a talented team.

“I can’t even put into words how happy I am for Donovan,” he said. “He put so much work into it.”

Junior Noah Buhrow emerged as next year’s potential squad leader, placing 26th at state, while freshman Teegan Kralik and sophomore Tony Anania also established themselves as state meet participants.

The future remains bright, Larson says. In two meets this season, the Norwalk coach moved his top JV squad up to the varsity level and still placed second, edging out a couple of state-ranked teams along the way.