With the summer sports season concluding for area schools, another year has come and gone, and 2020 signifies the end of the decade of athletics. At KCII over the next few weeks we will take a look back, by academic year, at some of the highlights the previous 10 years have brought us. Here is a look back at Hillcrest athletics from the 2010-11 academic year.

The Ravens turned the page on a new decade with a huge year athletically. The Raven boys basketball team finished as undefeated regular season Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division Champions with an 18-0 record. They were ranked No. 1 in the state in class 1A at one point during the season. They advanced to state by beating Prince of Peace in a wild substate championship game at Marion 59-56. The Ravens saw their season come to an end in the state quarterfinals as they were upset by Guthrie Center 53-49. Hillcrest finished the year as the No. 3 scoring team in Iowa and No. 2 shooting team.

The Hillcrest boys cross country team also made noise at the state level, qualifying for Fort Dodge as a team and finishing sixth. The Ravens were led by Bill Spencer who rolled through competition all season long, en route to district and state championships, bringing home 1A gold in a time of 15:54. Also representing Hillcrest were Seth and Cody Miller, Malachi Bontrager, Kyle Miller, Jesse Shetler and Justin Boller.

The Raven baseball team fell just shy of the state tournament at Principal Park, falling to Preston 5-4 in the substate final at Iowa City West. The Ravens were two strikes away from the state tournament when Preston came up with a walk-off home run to clinch their bid. They finished with a 16-13 overall record.

The Raven volleyball team had a terrific season, going 32-7 to finish second in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. The Raven soccer team was also over .500 at 11-7. Tuesday will feature the 2011-12 academic year for athletics at Hillcrest in our decade in review.