Four Warrenton boys runners punched their tickets to the Class 3 state cross country meet in Jefferson City Saturday after finishing in the top 15 of the Class 3, District 4 meet at Warrenton over the weekend.

Freshman Ben Sommer, junior Nathan Nordwald, sophomore Corbin Estes and senior Stephon Norwood finished third, fourth, ninth and 13th, respectively, to lead the Warriors.

“We knew it was a possibility to get four in the top 15, and they were running their fastest times at the end of the season,” Warrenton Head Coach Jeremy Collins said. “They ran extremely tough, as this year’s field was very competitive. The top nine ran under 18 minutes, compared to four last year.”

Saturday will mark the third consecutive state appearance for Nordwald, who finished 131st (18 minutes, 54.10 seconds) as a freshman in 2015, and 31st (17:03.87) last year.

Nordwald finished fourth at last week’s race with a time of 17:36.70.

“Nathan ran a great race,” Collins said. “Running a 17:36 and not being 100 percent shows how tough he is. Based on times, he was ranked ninth going into districts and had a great race to get fourth.”

Norwood will also be making a return to the state meet.

The senior qualified for the Class 3 meet last season while running for Wright City, finishing the race in 140th place (18:38.73).

He completed this year’s district race in 18:19.72.

“Stephon went out pretty fast and it looked like he was struggling a little on the second half,” Collins said. “But he hung in there and was determined to be in the top 15.”  

Sommer led the Warriors with a time of 17:31.35, good enough for a third-place finish.

“Ben had a great race at district,” Collins said. “He has taken his racing to the next level. Early on in the season he wanted to break 18 minutes, and now he has been running well below 18 and is competing extremely well.  Having a freshman like Ben is exciting because with three more years left, and how hard he works, it will be fun to see how fast he can run.”

Collins called Estes’ performance the “best race of his career,” after finishing ninth in 17:48.64.

“Last year he was close, and going into Saturday he had the 14th fastest time,” Collins added. “Besides placing ninth, he also ran under 18 for the first time. He worked extremely hard all season and he is peaking at the right time.”

Other Warrenton runners included senior Peyton Benfield (20:20.77), junior Michael Hackmann (20:24.15) and senior Ryan Spoede (20:30.04).

The Warriors finished third as a team behind St. Charles and Lutheran St. Charles after averaging 18:21.44.

Sommer, Nordwald, Estes and Norwood will represent Warrenton in the Class 3 state meet Saturday morning at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City.

“The atmosphere of the state meet is pretty special, and it can be a little overwhelming, but once they start running and can just race I think they can have their best race of the year,” Collins said of Sommer’s and Estes’ first trip to the state meet. “Once again we are just hoping for good times to end the season on a high note.  Even though state is a tough course, I think they all can be under 18 minutes with the hard work they have put into the season.”