Moving on to the regional final

One stroke could have led to heartbreak for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn during the first round of the Class 1A girls' regional golf meet on May 12.

The Hawks finished one stroke behind runner-up South O'Brien, and usually only the first and second place teams advance to the next round. However, since the Wolverines hosted the meet, the Hawks had the opportunity to keep playing.

Individually, Gracie Knobloch was runner-up medalist, shooting an 18-hole score of 89 (45-44). She finished four strokes behind Olivia Von Bank, of North Union.

Other individual placings and stroke totals for H-M-S were Kinsey Schirmer, 14th, 108 (59-49); Elise Haack, 17th, 109 (53-56); Morgan Grooters, 20th, 112 (60-52); and Abby Kunzman, 25th, 122 (62-60).

"I'm extremely proud of the girls for advancing to the next round," said Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese. "Gracie had an excellent day, putting together two solid rounds. It was exciting to see Morgan come in her second round with a 52, which is her season low.

"Each of the ladies had some really nice aspects to their game and in anything, we still have some parts of the game we need to work on," she added.

Newell-Fonda won the meet with a score of 372 and South O'Brien finished second at 417. H-M-S came in third at 418, followed by North Union 444 and Harris-Lake Park 449. GT/RA, Storm Lake St. Mary's and West Bend-Mallard did not have full teams.

The qualifiers for the regional final were scheduled to play on Wednesday, May 17, at Spring Valley Golf Course at Livermore. Other teams that qualified are Gehlen Catholic, Akron-Westfield, Remsen St. Mary's, Newman Catholic and South Hamilton.

First and second place finishers will advance to the state meet on May 25-26, at the Cedar Pointe Golf Course, Boone/Ames. Individuals may qualify if they finish in the Top 6.

• Westerners top Hawks in WEC finale

A loss to War Eagle Conference girls' golf champion Akron-Westfield cost H-M-S a tie for second in the dual standings.

The Westerners won the dual on May 8 at Akron, 204-221. The Hawks end the season with a 6-3 record, finishing in a tie for third with Remsen St. Mary's. Hinton is the second-place team at 7-2.

Knobloch shot the best round for H-M-S (51) and is listed fourth among the medalists. Other scores were Haack 54, Grooters 55, Schirmer 61 and Kunzman 66.

"The girls didn't come in with as low of scores as a team, but I saw a lot of good things," Kroese said. "We had a rain delay that took some of our momentum away, but it was good to see a different course in preparation for regionals."

Josie Smith (48), Katie Johnson (51) and Lainey Schuknecht (51), of A-W, were also medalists.