The Norwalk cross country teams will finish their season this Saturday at the State Championship Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge. The Class 4A girls race begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by the 4A boys race at 11:15.

The Warrior girls are competing at State as a team for the first time since 2019 after placing third at their district competition in Council Bluffs last Wednesday. Norwalk enters the state meet ranked 14th among 15 qualifiers in 4A.

The Warrior boys, who placed fifth at last year’s state meet, extended their streak of team state qualifiers to seven years by placing first in Council Bluffs. Norwalk moved up four spots to No. 6 in this week’s 4A team rankings, led by a pair of ranked individuals in seniors Teegan Kralik (10th) and Sam Parker (24th).

Kralik, Parker and Aksel Beedon are returning state qualifiers for the Norwalk boys, and this will be Kralik’s fourth state meet. The Warriors are aiming for a top-three “podium” finish as a team, and Kralik tells KNIA Sports that he hopes to place in at least the top 10 after earning a 14th-place medal last year. His advice to the younger runners on the team is to not be distracted by the crowd noise and magnitude of the meet, and to save some energy for the second half of the race. Kralik adds that the race strategy at State has changed over the last four years.

“I feel like early on [in my career], people would go out really fast and then slow down, but (now) it’s kind of progressed to the top runners are going to end up going out controlled,” he said. “Still fast, but controlled, but then eventually really pick it up at the end. So I think that’s where we really need to focus is that second half of the race and that’s where basically the winners will be made.”

For the Norwalk girls, freshman Hannah Schmitz has emerged as the team’s pack leader during the second half of the season. Sophomores Olive DeRocher, Gabby Drymon and Grace Wetzeler, meanwhile, each qualified for State as individuals last fall. DeRocher tells KNIA Sports that she will advise her teammates to have fun and prepare the same as any other race.

“I would just say, ‘this whole season you’ve worked so hard for this, so go out there and have fun, do what you’ve been doing because it’s obviously worked out, and just soak it all in,’” she said. “Last year was so fun and I can’t even imagine… it’s going to be such a whole new environment now that I get to experience it with the whole entire team.”

Schmitz adds that she wants to compete hard and finish on a high note, placing as high as possible both individually and as a team.