Getting to the state tournament has been a regular feat for the Marshfield girls golf team.

But this year, the squad accomplished something the school hadn’t done in recent memory — taking both the individual and team titles at the Midwestern League district tournament.

Nicole Nguyen, who transferred from Coquille for her senior year, ran away with medalist honors during the district meet, while her four teammates all had season bests on either the first or second day.

“The whole team did really good,” said Nguyen, who qualified for state as an individual last year. “I’m proud of them.”

The Pirates will be in action at the Class 5A state tournament on Monday and Tuesday at the OGA club in Woodburn.

“Because we won districts, there’s added pressure to do good,” said Brittany Gilmore. “I’m excited to see what happens.”

Gilmore and Liz Whinery each shot a 99 in the second round of the district tournament, while Karlie Hahn, a first-year player, had a 114. Olivia Duenas, Marshfield’s other player, had a 103 during the opening round.

“It just all came together,” said Gilmore.

Nguyen and Whinery, the team’s only two seniors, were ecstatic with the results at district.

“That’s what I wanted senior year,” Whinery said of the team title.

She improved her score by 12 or 13 strokes from the practice round to the first round and another nine strokes during the second round, a scoring jump she attributed to a swing tip from Marshfield athletic director Greg Mulkey, who accompanied the team to the Tokatee Golf Club because he was the league administrator in charge of the tournament.

Duenas attributed her outstanding round to better work around the greens, while Gilmore was happy with her driving.

All the players had strong efforts, which Hahn said was due a lot to the emotional support from coach Mindie Wilson.

“I’m really pleased with district, and I think we can perform well at state,” Hahn said.

The key this week will be playing smart, Nguyen said.

“The main thing we need to keep in mind is course management,” she said. “If we play smart, we’ll do good.”

A big part of that is not getting upset at mistakes, Nguyen said.

“The main goal is to have fun,” she said. “If you have fun you play (better).”

Wilson said the Pirates have a goal of placing in the top five.

“I have all the confidence in the world the team can place in the top five, if they play as well as they did at district,” she said.

The Pirates will need another strong opening round, like they had Monday, when they opened a 22-stroke lead on Thurston at the league tournament.

“The girls played incredible the first day,” Wilson said. “The team I had this year was really young. We wanted to come out ahead the first day.”

Marshfield boys

The Pirates enter the state tournament at Trysting Tree in Corvallis on a high note after shooting their best rounds of the season while finishing second to Thurston at the district tournament.

“That’s as good as we’ve played all year,” said Marshfield coach Scott Banks.

Still, the Pirates think they are poised to do even better. Seniors Mike Millner, Trevor Smith, Jake Graves and Zan Walker all have shot in the 70s, just never in the same round.

The other two Marshfield players, Brady George and Bryan Johnson, also are capable of shooting low scores.

“I feel district wasn’t up to the potential our team has,” said Smith, who shot a 71 in the opening round and ended up second in the individual race. “Everybody has been in the mid-70s. Everybody is capable. We just need to do it.”

The Pirates are familiar with Trysting Tree.

“I feel we can place really well if we play up to our potential,” Graves said. “It’s a course we all enjoy.”

Banks would like to see the Pirates finish in the top five.