Mount Si's Cole Norah signs with Washington State as PWO after being sidelined by injury, pandemic

Cole Norah’s signing day admittedly did not go as he envisioned it growing up. 

As a sophomore, Norah was Mount Si’s starting running back and saw time in the secondary for a team that made the 4A state quarterfinals. He saw several teammates go Pac-12, and thought he’d be a shoe-in to one day to join them.

Norah couldn’t have anticipated an ACL tear that kept him out half of his junior season. Nor did he factor in the pandemic that would keep him off the field for the fall of his senior year, during perhaps the most critical stretch of his recruitment.

So before Norah signed with Washington State as a preferred walk-on Wednesday afternoon at Mount Si High School, he took a moment to appreciate how quickly his college dreams were fulfilled, after months of stress, desperation and advocacy on behalf of high school athletes sidelined because of COVID-19.

“The amount of things we’ve gone through as players this year, and then what I’ve gone through personally with my ACL and then having no season, just getting that preferred walk-on was the best moment I can recall in recent history,” Norah said. “It was a really cool feeling and I’m excited to be a Coug.”

Norah was a central figure behind a petition asking state officials to restart the high school sports season in Washington in September, after the WIAA postponed the season to the spring due to the state’s response to the novel coronavirus. The petition, which initially aimed for 5,000 signatures, amassed more than 35,000 in days.

He spoke at the ensuing student-led rally at the state capitol in Olympia, diving into detail about his situation, how he felt like collateral damage and just wanted a chance to show for the work he’d put in preparing for the season. 

He wanted everyone to understand with what he was feeling — the desperation — holding no college offers less than four months before the first signing day.

As a sophomore, Norah was invited to Washington State’s junior day around the team’s spring game. It was only the second time he’d been to Pullman and it didn’t take him long to picture himself there. 

“I just fell in love with the town, the campus, all of the football facilities, everything,” Norah said. “So that was my No. 1 top dream school from that point, almost two years ago.”

Norah’s mom, Bridget Norah (formerly Davies) played soccer at Washington State for less than two years, when an anterior cruciate ligament tear ended her career. Back then surgery and recovery was far less advanced, making a comeback an insurmountably steep climb. But Bridget Norah stayed and finished out at Washington State as a student, which is in part why Cole grew up in a Washington State household. 

After recovering from the same injury that ended his mom’s college soccer career, Cole’s return to the field during Week 5 of the 2019 season was long-awaited, both for himself, as he was ready to make an immediate impact, and a young Mount Si team that welcomed back its experienced defensive back/running back with plenty enough time to make a surprise run to the 4A state semifinals as an 11-seed.

He entered the offseason and his 7-on-7 season with momentum, which the pandemic swiftly fanned.

Now, after receiving preferred walk-on offers from Washington and Washington State within one week of one another in early December, he’s a tale of perseverance within Mount Si’s football program.

“We can all learn so much from what he’s been through,” Wildcats coach Charlie Kinnune said Wednesday at the school's signing ceremony. “The grit, the grind,”we’re so excited about the opportunity he gets with Washington State.”

And the fire is burning within him to one day earn the ability to remove the words "walk-on" from his name.