It was a good day to be a Warrior at Wednesday’s Class 4A State Qualifying Cross Country Meet in Marshalltown.
The fifth-ranked Norwalk boys placed first by one point over Dallas Center-Grimes, cementing the team’s sixth consecutive trip to the state meet in Fort Dodge. The Norwalk girls placed fourth – one spot away from a team state berth – but advanced three individual state qualifiers in the freshmen trio of Olive DeRocher, Gabby Drymon and Grace Wetzeler. The meet was held on the campus of Marshalltown Community College.
Warrior junior Teegan Kralik, who is ranked ninth individually in Class 4A, was the district runner-up to Marshalltown’s Preston Johnson. Kralik placed second with a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 38 seconds. Senior Tony Anania, ranked 18th in 4A, placed sixth in 15:58. Sam Parker and Grant Wallace placed 10th and 14th, respectively, while Aksel Beedon was 21st. Henry Groos finished 26th and Corwin Oswald was 27th out of 62 runners.
The Norwalk boys posted a team score of 53, edging DC-G by a point. Marshalltown placed third with a 69 and 8th-ranked Ankeny Centennial was left out of the state meet field after placing fourth with a 77. This is Norwalk’s first district title during their six-year run of qualifying for state. Kralik tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that it was a true team victory.
“I’m really, really proud of my team today,” he said. “That one point [win] didn’t just come from any single one of us. Every single one of us put in the work and we earned this place.”
Wednesday’s girls state qualifiers were Centennial with a 29, DC-G (48) and Davenport Central (74). Norwalk placed fourth out of nine teams with a 94. DeRocher paced the Warriors with an 11th-place, personal-best time of 19:35. Drymon took 18th in 20:15 and Wetzeler was 20th in 20:46, edging out freshman teammate Khloe Scandrett by one second for the final individual state qualifier spot. Additional Norwalk runners were Pearl Brown in 24th, Maya Butler 30th and Andie Davitt 33rd.
DeRocher tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that she is proud of the entire team’s performance in peaking on the right day. “We have definitely gone through a lot as a team this year with different injuries and sicknesses,” she said. “We really just put it all out here today and worked so hard together, and we’re really all just family.”
Norwalk’s state qualifiers will compete in the Class 4A State Cross Country Championships on Friday, November 1, at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. The 4A girls race will begin at 2:00 p.m., followed by the boys race at 2:45.
REGIONAL VOLLEYBALL
The Norwalk volleyball team opens Class 4A regional play tonight with a home game against Bondurant-Farrar. The Region 6 semifinal will begin at 7:00 p.m.
The 11th-ranked Warriors enter the postseason with a 27-13 overall record and eight straight wins. They received a first-round bye on Tuesday while Bondurant-Farrar swept Newton in three sets to improve to 16-18. Tonight’s winner will meet fifth-ranked Pella or Burlington in the Region 6 final on Tuesday, October 29.
Norwalk is seeking a second consecutive trip to state after reaching the State Volleyball Tournament for the first time in school history last fall.