By RYAN WALKER
On Saturday morning, Norwell’s girls’ golf team hosted the annual Bi-County Meet at Timber Ridge Golf Course and took home the hardware. The Lady Knights edged out second-place Bellmont by 14 strokes 384-398.
The invite hosted six schools (from first place to sixth) Norwell, Bellmont, Southern Wells, South Adams, Bluffton, and Adams Central.
This isn’t the first time Norwell has finished first this season, as they’ve now won the Bi-County Invite and the South Adams Invite, as well as five dual-matches. The only meet the Knights haven’t left as the top team was the Bellmont Invite, where they finished second by five strokes.
Head coach Mike Niermeyer has seen a vast improvement from 2021 to now and says it’s only getting stronger.
“I have an awesome group of girls this year,” Niermeyer said. “Our 2021 team goal was to shoot under 200 for nine holes, and we only accomplished that a few times; this year, all of our dual meets have been under 200, with our lowest a 182. I am looking forward to working through the remainder of the season with this great team.”
The leader of Niermeyers squad over the weekend was Anna Dodane, who was tied for the medalist of the meet shooting a 90. Right behind her is sister Emma Dodane at 93, who finished fourth in the tournament, Emilyn Heaston finished with a 98, Ellie Gatton with a 103, and Hayden Double with a 112.
Southern Wells finished in the middle of the pack at the meet, finishing just two strokes ahead of South Adams.
The Raiders’ Grace Meeks tied with Norwell’s Anna Dodane as the meet’s medalist, scoring a 90. To round out the rest of the scoring, Kayleigh Jones was second on the team with a 97, followed by Caroline Rippenger at 105, Hannah Duncan at 111, and Jaden Yencer at 116.
Head coach Ross Palmer has been happy with how the season has gone, as his roster orf six players continues to look strong.
“So far, this season has gone very well,” Palmer said. “We have shown improvement at each spot. Kayleigh Jones and Grace Meeks have been medalists on numerous occasions. Caroling Ripperger and Hannah Duncan have given us some good numbers and are starting to make great contact on the golf ball.”
Palmer also mentioned his two first-year golfers having great seasons so far and have been stedily improving throughout the first half of the year. He looks forward to build off of the momentum to the second half of the year.
Finishing in fifth place at the meet was Bluffton who shot a 420 and fallign behind South Adams.
The Lady Tigers’ Lily King shot the best on the team with a 96, which also was good for a seventh-place finish overall. King this season has been the medalist or second-best in each of their meets this season, and headlines the top of the teams scoresheet each match.
The Tigers’ as a team has performed well this season despite a tough six-team meet last weekend. They’ve finished at the top in multiple meets throughout the year, inlcuding matches that feature three or more schools.
At this event, the rest of the final scores for individual’s were Emma Schwartz with a 98, tied for third at 113 Kennedy Nash and Eve Corkwell, and Tressa Renner at 117.
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