HILLCREST BOYS’ GOLF HEADED TO STATE FOR FIRST TIME IN 26 YEARS

Article submitted by Zach Ulin/KCII
The Hillcrest Academy Ravens have added to a historic season in boys’ golf by not only punching their ticket to state, but remaining unbeaten. Hillcrest won a Class 1A district tournament yesterday at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville and thus earned their first trip to the state championships since 1997. Despite having just one player shoot a round inside the top 10 on the individual leaderboard, the Ravens’ 332 total strokes across 18 holes was still six better than runner-up Wapello.

Hillcrest was led by senior Jace Rempel’s eight-over-par 80, good enough for seventh overall. Sophomore Liam Schrock was three strokes behind in a tie for tenth, while senior Luke Schrock shot 84 to tie for 13th and freshman Rowan Miller was tied for 18th with an 85. Afterwards, Ravens head coach Phil Schintler told KCII Sports that, while it wasn’t as dominant as some other meets this season, this victory was just as hard-earned.

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Below article submitted by Coach Phil Schintler – 5/16/23
Very early this morning I was sitting in the school van waiting for my golfers to show up so we could head to the District Tournament at Brown Deer today. Don Patterson, a Pastor and our Hillcrest Facilities Manager, walked out of the front door and saw me in the van. He came over and poked his head in the passenger door. He simply said “May God grace your day”. I thanked Don as he shut the door and walked away.

It didn’t take long to figure out that my day had already been graced. I have the honor and privilege to be the coach of 7 great student/athlete golfers, who happen to be one of the best golf teams in the state of Iowa right now. They are a true team. Not one is a real superstar, but when they’re all together there’s no tougher team around. I didn’t want today to be their last day of golf. Today was a brutal test of courage, skill, discipline, stamina and a whole host of other things. Only the elite move on to state and this was the last step to prove their worthiness. If they didn’t quite pull it off today, I wouldn’t love these guys any less. I’m proud of all they have done this year, more than any other Hillcrest Raven/IMS team has at this point in the season. They were undefeated in the regular season. They won the 14 team Super Conference championship by a landslide. They won the Sectional Tournament just a few days ago. Today, the magic continued…

Halfway through the tournament, the Ravens had a slim 6 shot lead. We always seem to shoot better the longer we golf in the day and we did just that. Luke entered the clubhouse first with an 84. Rowan Miller followed shortly with an 85. Liam Schrock carded an 83 and Jace Rempel rounded out the scoring with the Raven’s best of the day with an 80. With the team total having the Ravens leading with a score of 332, they had to wait for the other teams. After a tense few minutes as the other cards came in, the Ravens came out on top once again. Wapello finished second to also go to state with a 338. The final two Ravens, Seth Ours finished with a 91 and Josiah Beachy had a 100.

While other great teams struggled today badly, Hillcrest played the course with precision at times, avoiding big costly mistakes, bouncing back after tough holes, and getting some occasional needed birdies, especially the tough back nine. They kept their emotions in check when it got tough and now they are going to the state golf tournament for the first time since 1997. They are 44-0.

God did grace my day, not by winning but letting me be in the company of some great young men. Thank-you Don!