The Norwalk boys and girls cross country teams will both finish the season in Fort Dodge following top-three finishes at Wednesday’s Class 4A State Qualifying Meet.

Competing on the campus of Iowa Western Community College, the 10th-ranked Norwalk boys outperformed two teams ranked ahead of them to place first out of 10 schools. The Warriors posted a winning score of 50, earning their second consecutive district title and extending their streak of team state qualifiers to seven. Fourth-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes placed second with a score of 53, closely followed by No. 9 Ankeny Centennial’s 57.

The Norwalk girls, who narrowly missed qualifying for last year’s state meet as a team, finished on the right side of a close battle for third on Wednesday. Sixth-ranked DC-G placed first with a score of 37, No. 3 Centennial took second with a 50 and the 15th-ranked Warriors outlasted No. 16 Des Moines Roosevelt for third by a margin of 82 to 84. The Norwalk girls will return to state as a team for the first time since 2019.

Individually, Norwalk’s 14 runners all finished in the top 30 at Council Bluffs. The Warrior boys were paced by senior Teegan Kralik’s runner-up finish in 16:06 and senior Sam Parker’s fifth-place time of 16:26. Kralik is ranked 12th in Class 4A and Parker is ranked 21st. Juniors Sam Buhrow and Aksel Beedon also broke the 17-minute mark, placing 13th and 14th, respectively. Freshman Brayden Walderbach finished 16th, senior Lane Osterloh was 19th and freshman Oliver Tice came in 21st.

The Warrior girls were led by freshman Hannah Schmitz’s 10th-place time of 19:44. Sophomores Olive DeRocher and Gabby Drymon placed 13th and 14th, respectively, followed by freshman Elizabeth Evans in 22nd, senior Pearl Brown 23rd, sophomore Grace Wetzeler 26th and sophomore Ava Brungardt 28th. DeRocher, Drymon and Wetzeler each qualified for state as individuals last season.

This year’s Class 4A State Meet will be held on Saturday, November 1, at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.