We continue our review of the last decade for Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk athletics with a look at the 2013-14 school year.
The Mid-Prairie boys soccer team put together the best season in program history in the spring. The Hawks started the year ranked No. 9 in class 1A. They finished with a regular season record of 13-2. They rolled through the playoffs, beating Chariton and Albia by a combined 12-1 score. The 5-1 victory over the Blue Demons came in the substate final in Wellman, giving Mid-Prairie their first birth into the state tournament. Once at state, the No. 4 ranked Golden Hawks blasted Oakland Riverside 6-1 in the opening round. In the semifinals Mid-Prairie dominated the No. 1 ranked Dyersville Beckman Blazers to set up a state championship game against rival Iowa City Regina at the Cownie soccer complex in Des Moines. The contest was scoreless through 80 minutes of regulation and two 15 minute overtime periods. Things were still even after five penalty kicks to a side. The seventh kicker for each side decided the state championship as the Regals beat the Hawks by a 1-0 score. Austin Errthum led Mid-Prairie and was fifth in 1A with 27 goals scored. He also led the Golden Hawks and the state with 24 assists. Wyatt Cady added 20 goals and 11 from Nick Stimson. Nathan Faselt and Spencer Shalla spent time in goal, combining for 90 saves and an 87% save percentage, third in 1A. Mid-Prairie finished the year 17-3.
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk softball team flew to state for the fourth straight year that summer. The Hawks were co-champions of the River Valley South with 17-4 mark in league play. The Golden Hawks finished 31-13 overall. Mid-Prairie opened the postseason with a win over Louisa-Muscatine 11-1, then beat Williamsburg 8-1. In the regional final at Iowa City West the Golden Hawks were heavy underdogs against No. 1 ranked Benton Community led by future two-time Big Ten Player of the Year Amber Fiser in the circle. The Golden Hawks upset the Bobcats by a 6-5 score, thanks in part to a Taylor Kurtz homer off of Fiser in the middle innings.
Once at state, Mid-Prairie was upended by East Marshall 4-3 in the opening round before rebounding to beat West Burlington 5-2 and Center Point Urbana 7-5 in the consolation bracket to finish in fifth place.
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls golf team advanced to the state tournament in the spring. The Golden Hawks finished fifth in the state with an overall score of 770. Mid-Prairie was led by Allyson Wertz and her 188. Other players for the Golden Hawks included Courtney Cayton, Syndey Scarff, Mick Van Winkle, Laura Yoder and Olivia Nisly.
Mid-Prairie wrestling sent Phirom Peterschmidt back to the state tournament in Des Moines for the second straight year. Peterschmidt, a senior, qualified by finishing as district runner-up. He finished in sixth place with a 3-3 record in the tournament and a 45-8 mark for the season.
On the cross country course, the Mid-Prairie boys qualified for state as a team finishing in 7th placed with 212 points. Finishers for the Golden Hawks included Jared Draper 46th in 17:25, Ryan Errthum 51st, Ty Feigenspan 56th, Zeb Schwartz 61st, Andrew Schwartz 88th, Jonah Van Roekel 94th and Evan Wild 116th. For the Golden Hawk girls Abby Tornow qualified for state individually, finishing in 28th with a time of 16:04.
The Golden Hawk boys and girls track teams qualified a total of six events for the state meet in Des Moines. Competing on the blue oval in Des Moines that spring for the Golden Hawk girls was Lexi Duwa in the 100 and 200, the 4×100 team of Duwa, Arissa Marine, Emily Cayton and Alex Rath and the 4×800 team of Abby Tornow, Hannah Van Roekel, Greta Schmidt and Maddi Zahradnek. For the Golden Hawk boys Ty Feigenspan was ninth in the 800 and Levi Duwa 13th in the shot put.
For the third consecutive year the Mid-Prairie football team made the playoffs. Head coach Pete Cavanagh guided Mid-Prairie to an 8-3 overall record and 6-1 mark in district play. In the playoffs, the Golden Hawks beat Davis County in a pouring rain storm 36-8 before falling to Albia on the road 26-16. During the season, Reid Miller set the school record for passing yards in a season at 1,592 and completions at 125. His 253 yards in the loss to Albia are the 8th most all-time in a single game and the 29 completions were the most in a single game in school history. He also finished completing 59.9% of his passes for the season, most in school history for a single year. Zach Schwartz six touchdown catches for the year are 7th most in a single season. His 39 catches that year are third most. The 2014 team scored the fifth most points in school history at 354 and fourth most touchdowns with 48. They compiled 3,627 total yards, third most all-time, including 1,668, most in school history. Friday will feature the 2014-15 academic year for athletics at Mid-Prairie in our decade in review.