NHS girls' athletics had record year

When Grace Norris stepped off the track surface at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on June 7 in Columbus, it marked the final athletic event of the 2024-25 school year for Norwalk High School athletes. On June 23, the 53rd anniversary of the passage of Title IX was marked. The federal civil rights law is credited with changing education in the U.S. by barring sex discrimination in the nation's schools. It notably helped increase girls' and women's participation in athletics. Over a nine-month period, NHS girls' athletics had easily the most successful year since the Truckers and other Northern Ohio League schools officially started to compete in the 1974-75 school year. This past school year was the 50th anniversary for that as well. From record-breaking seasons to league MVPs and more first-time team and individual history, here is a quick look back at the year that was for female athletics at NHS: GOLF Duncan breaks glass ceiling Forced to sink a putt on the 18th and final hole at the Bowling Green district on Oct. 2, senior Kilee Duncan did just that to reach the Division I state championships. Duncan became the first girls golfer in program history to reach state, where she finished tied for 50th among 72 competitors at the NCR Country Club in Kettering. TENNIS Osborn endures to state On Oct. 17, senior tennis standout Ana Osborn competed in the Div. II state championships at the College of Wooster. Osborn became one of two players to reach state as a singles player at NHS, and just the fourth player overall in program history. Prior to that, Osborn helped the Truckers to a 15-4 overall record, including a 10-0 mark in the Lake for a third straight league title. At the individual Lake tournament, Osborn fell 6-1 in the first set to Columbian's Leah Weingart. Osborn was down 5-2 in the second set and facing match point, but she rallied for a 7-6 (1) win, then outlasted Weingart in a third set tiebreaker, 12-10. She also finished No. 2 in her class academically as the Class of 2025 salutatorian. SOCCER Spettle, Truckers repeat Led by the top player in the league, the Truckers again went unbeaten in SBC Lake play to repeat as girls soccer champions. Sophomore Claire Spettle had 34 goals and 16 assists for the Truckers (15-3-1, 9-0) to earn her Lake Most Outstanding Performer and All-Ohio honors. Norwalk also had Lake first team selections in senior goalkeeper Lilly Farmer (113, 11 shutouts); senior defender Bella Koelsch, senior midfielder Abby Koenig (12 goals, 11 assists); and junior midfielder Xavi Immel (seven goals, three assists). VOLLEYBALL More dominance from Schlotterer, Norwalk Like Spettle, senior Lucy Schlotterer also repeated as the Most Outstanding Performer in the SBC Lake volleyball season. And, the Truckers also again won a league title en route to winning 20 matches once again. Schlotterer finished with 403 kills, 239 digs, and 157 points (58 aces) to also earn All-Ohio second team honors in Div. III. She was joined on the all-state team by senior classmate Mac Wineman, who was honorable mention after she finished with 403 digs and served 195 points with 29 aces. Schlotterer and Wineman — who are respectively the all-time kills and digs leaders in program history — helped Norwalk to a 20-4 record, the league title, a district runner-up trophy, and the No. 10 ranking in the final state coaches poll. CROSS COUNTRY Immel becomes a four-timer On Nov. 2, Zuri Immel once again made her return to Fortress Obetz and the Div. II state cross country championships. It marked the fourth and final trip to state for Immel, as she joined Tracy Meyer as the only four-time state qualifiers in program history. COMPETITION CHEER Repeat champions After another strong winter at various competitions, the Truckers' cheer team returned to the OASSA state championships on Feb. 22 at Big Walnut High School in Sunbury. Norwalk finished state runners-up in the Div. III Traditional competition, but then came back to top SBC Lake foe Tiffin Columbian to repeat as the Div. III Game Day state champions for a second straight year. GIRLS BASKETBALL Another record-breaking season The 2022–23 season was the benchmark for the resurgent NHS girls basketball program, with a 23-4 record and a run to the regional championship game. This past winter, with all five returning starters from a 17-7 team, the Truckers added more history. On Jan. 4, Norwalk defeated eventual Div. IV state champion Bellevue (28-1). That helped Norwalk earn a share of the SBC Lake title, the first league championship in program history. Norwalk also finished the regular season with a 20-2 record, resulting in the most wins in a regular season for the program as well. The Truckers fell in a district title game, marking the program's fourth appearance in the tournament round. Individually, senior guard Abby Koenig became the third NHS player to break 1,000 career points. She was also selected as the Div. III Northwest District Player of the Year, and joined Jiselle Thomas (2017 grad) as the only players to earn All-Ohio first team. Sophomore Emmie Leber also earned All-Ohio special mention honors. SOFTBALL More program history Coming off the program's first-ever league championship in 2024, the Truckers needed to replace six experienced seniors on the diamond entering this past spring. After a slow start, the Truckers were 0-6 with a front-loaded schedule, but they rebounded to win 10 of their next 15 games. Three of the five losses were by one run. That set the stage for a district semifinal game against Tiffin Columbian for the third time on May 23. After each team won in their final at-bat during the regular season, the Truckers rallied from an early 6-0 deficit to again win in the final at-bat, an 8-7 win at Willard High School. It proved to be the first-ever district win in program history for NHS, which fell to longtime power Mansfield Madison in the district title game on May 24 to finish 13-12 overall. Seniors Lilly Farmer and Mya Prochnow earned SBC Lake first team honors, as did freshman pitcher Kenadee Lesch. Farmer also finished No. 1 in her class academically as the Class of 2025 valedictorian. TRACK AND FIELD Norris, Immel cap banner year Before Norris qualified for the big-school state championships in the 400-meter dash — where she placed ninth on June 7 in Columbus — there was more first-time history for Norwalk. On April 25, Zuri Immel was joined by her sister, Xavi, Norris, and senior Shyla Gruhlke in the 4x400 relay at the historic Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The group finished with a new season personal-record of 4:07.24 to place fifth in their heat out of 16 teams and 155th out of 479. Shortly after that race, Zuri Immel returned for a historic formality. She earned her fourth varsity letter in the sport — which was also her 16th varsity letter across four sports: cross country, soccer, swimming, and track. The achievement made Zuri the first male or female athlete at NHS to earn 16 varsity letters in a career.