Palmer’s offseason push paying early dividends for West Delaware

CEDAR RAPIDS — Natalie Palmer knew more was required to elevate her game.

So she took the offseason to do exactly that — more work.

It’s already paying dividends for a West Delaware girls’ bowling team off to a 2-0 start.

“I didn’t do a ton of it (offseason practice) in between eighth grade to freshman year or freshman to sophomore year,” Palmer said. “I knew that if I wanted to reach the goals I have, it was going to take more work, more stuff I might not want to do — like spares. I tend to leave a lot of seven pins, so over the summer it was a lot of repetition.

“My dad was able to take me to a bunch of different bowling alleys as well, so I got a feel for how different places act, how their lanes are set this year.”

Palmer is averaging a career-high 200 points per game to open the season in wins over Tripoli and Independence.

“She’s very dedicated and spent most of her summer bowling either in tournaments or going to camps — she’s improved tremendously,” West Delaware Coach Sue Morris said. “She had all the potential last year but could never quite get to that level. This year, we watched her come in and shoot 222 and 204 against Tripoli.”

In addition to her work on the lanes, Palmer has put the time into further developing her balance and coordination.

“I do dance on Wednesdays,” Palmer said. “It helps a lot. The flexibility, being able to stay in my shot, get that good leg support and just have control of my core every time I’m walking has really helped me.”

The junior southpaw is a two-time Class 1A individual state qualifier. As a freshman, she was a key member of the 2023-24 West Delaware team that qualified for state.

Given her experience and résumé, she’s been a peer mentor to a young Hawks’ squad that has only one other upperclassman on its varsity roster.

“Natalie’s a great leader for us. I think she understands the empathy in regard to this game,” Morris said. “When things don't go well for the other girls, she understands that it's the mental side of the sport that’s important … so she will be quick to jump in to support them.”

Lilleyn Hogan, Sadie Schnieders, Anne Dunkel, Bella Wegmann, Kianna Johnson and Addisyn Kintzle have also made varsity contributions this year.

Hogan, a sophomore, is second on the team averaging 179.

“Lilleyn has really stepped up,” Morris said. “She’s got a great release and is getting close to putting in all the effort that’s needed to get to that next level.”

The Hawks will need everyone’s best efforts in upcoming meets Friday at Vinton-Shellsburg and Saturday at the Prairie Baker Bowling Tournament.

“I think the main thing is making sure we keep our heads in the game,” Palmer said. “Everybody knows that Vinton has a really good team. Whatever the outcome, we’ll have fun, learn different types of lanes and work on our spares.

“For Prairie Baker’s, our goal always is to make it to bracket play. But the main thing is learning in a new environment.”