The Norwalk girls golfers made history on Wednesday, becoming the first team in program history to qualify for the state tournament. The Warriors earned their state berth by placing second out of nine teams in the Class 4A Region 1 Tournament held at Willow Creek Golf Course in West Des Moines.

Ames won the regional with a score of 312 and Norwalk claimed the second state qualifier spot with a school record 331. It was the fourth time this season that the Warriors have broken the previous 18-hole school record set last year.

Senior Mariola Torro Abad paced Norwalk with a personal-best, 6-over-par round of 79 to place fifth overall. Sophomore Evelyn Kinney placed sixth with an 80, senior Lydia Krueger shot an 84 for eighth place and junior Addie Smith carded an 88. Additional Warrior scores included an 89 by Ava Garvey and a 93 for Allie Soukup.

Norwalk coach Steve Wermerskirchen tells KNIA Sports that it was a dream come true for his players to reach the state tournament. He credits the girls for continuous improvement during their careers and adds that Wednesday’s consistency on the course allowed them to steadily pull away from third-place West Des Moines Valley.

“Dreams kind of came true,” Wermerskirchen said. “In sports… as an athlete you work hard and it doesn’t always pay off. You feel good about your efforts… but in this case they’re going to state and it’s kind of what they worked for and dreamt (of). I’m just really happy for them. We’ve got four seniors on the team, and it’s a good way to go out.”

Norwalk will compete in the Class 4A Girls State Golf Tournament on Thursday and Friday, May 29-30, at Pleasant Valley Golf Course in Iowa City.

Baseball postponed

The Norwalk baseball team will have to wait another day to open the 2025 season. Wednesday’s home game against Boone was postponed due to wet field conditions and will be played tonight at 7:00 p.m. The Warriors’ original season opener at Urbandale was also rained out on Monday.