We continue our review of the last decade for Hillcrest Academy athletics with a look at the 2011-12 school year.

The school year started with a pair of Raven runners qualifying for the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge. Renee Buckwalter ran in the 1A race at the Lakeside Golf Course taking 36th overall in a time of 15:53. Jesse Shetler competed in the boys 1A race, finishing 57th in 17:51.

The Raven boys basketball team made it’s second straight appearance at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at the state tournament. Hillcrest went 22-5 on the season. They beat Gladbrook-Reinbeck 55-39 on substate Saturday at Cedar Rapids Prairie to clinch their bid. At state they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Boyden-Hull 64-44 despite four, first quarter three pointers from guard Chance Miller. This edition of Hillcrest basketball was an offensive juggernaut. They led class 1A in shooting percentage and free throw percentage, were second in the state in assists, the third highest scoring team in 1A and seventh best three point shooting team. Miller led the way for the year with 363 total points. Cameron Gingerich with 316 and Peyton Thompson with 301 rounded out a Raven trio that scored nearly 1,000 combined for the season.

The Hillcrest boys soccer team was best in the Southeast Iowa Superconference North division that season, hanging a conference championship banner with a 15-5 overall record. The high-powered Hillcrest offense was led by Tommy Rhodes and his 16 goals on the year while Ben Brenneman was one of the best goal keepers in the state, boasting a 90% save percentage, allowing just 11 goals all season. Wednesday will feature the 2012-13 academic year for athletics at Hillcrest in our decade in review.