Former Player, Marshall Swartzendruber Takes Over Soccer Program

Marcus Miller: A Life on the Pitch

Marcus Miller’s love affair with soccer at Hillcrest Academy and Iowa Mennonite School started back in the 1970s, when he played a starring role in the school’s only unbeaten soccer season, helping his IMS teammates go 14-0 in the fall of 1975.

Now, fast forward, and the star player who became a legendary coach is hanging up his whistle after 33 seasons as Head Raven. He leaves with a career record of 345-244-13, having coached a season of Mid-Prairie boys soccer and helping launch the Mid-Prairie girls program, guiding it through its first three years of play. Twenty times his teams finished with a winning record. Sixteen times they won at least 10 games. Five times they cracked 15 wins, topping out at 19 victories in 1997 (his best season ever). Under his leadership, the program made six trips to the State tournament, including a State Championship in 1997, with additional appearances in 1996, 1998, 2000, and back-to-back runs in the spring of 2018 and 2019.

However, if you ever asked anyone who played for Miller, his winning record wouldn’t be their first answer. 

They’ll tell you about the chemistry he built within his teams, the way he could turn a roster of individual kids into a team that not only would play for him, but for each other. They’ll tell you he was a player’s coach, meaning he is there for his players on and off the field. Miller doesn’t just preach his adopted motto of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to his soccer teams; he practices it. No matter what, he’s there for his team. 

Last season, in a fitting tribute, the Hillcrest Academy Alumni Association, with the support of many soccer alumni, installed a new scoreboard on what will forever be known as Marcus Miller Field. And even though the whistle is retired, nobody who knows Marcus believes he’s really leaving the game. After 32 years teaching social studies and a lifetime on that field, you can bet he’ll still be right there (now) on the west sideline, cheering on the Ravens like he never left.

Congratulations, Marcus and well done. 

Meet Coach Marshall Swartzendruber

Marshall Swartzendruber ‘98 brings a lifetime of soccer experience as a player and coach at the high school, competitive club, and collegiate levels, including 14 years of coaching experience. Most recently, he spent the past two seasons as varsity assistant coach for the Hillcrest Academy boys soccer team. Before that, he co-founded and served as President of the Palmer Divide Soccer Club, leading its overall strategy and player development and growing it from a startup into an organization of more than 500 active players in just four years.

Marshall played collegiately at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. A 1998 graduate of (then Iowa Mennonite School)l, he was part of the 1997 boys soccer state championship team and the 1996 state runner-up squad. He holds several US Soccer coaching licenses and has completed additional technical coaching certifications over the past decade. He also remains an active player in competitive indoor and outdoor adult soccer leagues.

Marshall’s family connection to our school also runs deep. His wife, Brynn ’00, son Mason ’24, and daughter Nora ’26, are alumni as well. With his playing and coaching resume, his track record of building successful programs, and his personal ties to Hillcrest, Marshall is well-positioned to lead the soccer program forward.