The Norwalk girls cross country team placed third at a race hosted by Valley Tuesday, and the members of the team know they can have room to improve. Junior Breelie Mauro finished fourth, but no other runners were in the top 10. Senior Kiana Vogel says some of the keys to better finishes include overcoming outside adversity and focusing on the task at hand.

“We push really well together. Right now, I think we have a lot of girls who are injured or are going through a lot with school and stress and stuff. It’s really just pushing over that, running like we know we can, pushing each other, pack running. I feel like we’ll have that breakthrough we’re looking for.”

Norwalk’s next opportunity to race is Saturday at the Central College Cross Country Course in Pella, which is also the site of this year’s Little Hawkeye Conference meet.