Regardless of whether or not you keep up with Harriton sports, you have probably heard of Max Norris’s cross country and track career. Norris, who also goes by the nickname “Wounded Deer”, is one of the most accomplished distance runners in Harriton (and Central League) history.

Max Norris made a name for himself immediately upon entering Harriton, running the best school times since 2000 in the 1600m and the 3200m. As a freshman, Norris’s respective times for the 1600m and 3200m were 4:43.44 and 10:18:25, the latter of which earned him fourth place at the Pennsylvania District 1 AA meet.

He continued to impress during his sophomore year, earning first team All Central League honors for cross country and the 1600m and 3200m for outdoor track. He managed to qualify for States in cross country, and outdoor track, despite Harriton’s move from AA to the more competitive AAA. Max ran a 4:19:00 in the 1600m at the outdoor track district final. At states he was the only sophomore boy to
qualify for the 1600m final.

As a junior, Norris led the Harriton boys cross country team to a winning record of 6-5, the first since Harriton’s transfer into the Central League. At the Central League Championship he finished first side by side with teammate Peter Downs, nearly twelve seconds ahead of the third place runner. He went on to place fourth at the District 1 meet and make the All-State team.

Norris suffered a devastating torn abductor injury on the second day of indoor track his junior year. He visited eight different doctors before he found one that was able to effectively treat his injuries. While most running injuries require at most six weeks of recovery, Max’s torn abductor took a full eight months.

For many people, this would be the end of their running career. But not for Max. During the four months when he was not able to run, he created a routine of swimming, biking, and aqua jogging in order to maintain his fitness level. He acknowledges that it was difficult and mentally challenging, but he pushed on with the help of his coach, Mr. Klick. Norris says that Mr. Klick was “the one person who believed that I could make this comeback”.

Make that comeback he did. His senior year, Max Norris ran 15:23 for the 5000m, a new personal best, and won the Central League Championships, becoming one of the very few back-to-back champions. In fact, he has not lost a race to another Central League runner since indoor track of sophomore year.

He placed fourth at the District 1 meet and fourth at the State meet as well, with a time of 16:00 on the notoriously difficult Hershey 5k course. What could have been a career ending injury for some was simply motivation for Norris to excel.

While his athletic accomplishments are impressive and numerous, Max “Wounded Deer” Norris is just as well known throughout Harriton and in the running world for his sense of humor. His spirited performance in the drumline at pep rallies and football games is often a crowd pleaser.

Norris says that “If nothing else, the one thing that I would love to come out of my hard work is to see other Harriton runners inspired to train as I do. Sure, some people may think it’s a bit crazy to run 400 meter repeats in the cold rain or 14 miles every Sunday all alone, but the risks have turned out to be so worth the rewards.

We have some amazing potential with our underclassmen runners Michael Walsh, Sam Payne, Jerry Delaney, Giovanni Vallejo, and Sam Ebby along with some great up and coming girls. Every runner is motivated by different factors; when they discover what makes them tick, the possibilities will become endless.”

With two seasons left in his high school running career, Norris hopes to win the 3200m outdoor state championship with a time of 8:58. The Harriton Banner wishes him luck in this endeavour and in the many track and cross country meets that are to follow, even though we know he doesn’t need it.