We continue our review of the last decade for Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk athletics with a look at the 2018-19 school year.
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls cross country team won their second consecutive district title and followed that up with their second state title in a row. Mid-Prairie put together a team score of 89, led by Marie Hostetler who won her second straight individual state championship with a time of 18:02. Joining Hostetler at state were Mitzi Evans in 14th, Ana Fleming 15th, Moriah Brase 23rd, Kate Cavanagh 36th, Angelina Evans 54th and Kessa Jones 64th. The feat makes the Mid-Prairie girls cross country team the first program in school history to win back-to-back state championships. Hostetler was also named Gatorade Runner of the Year for Iowa for the second straight season.
On the boys side, while the team didn’t qualify, Quinn Schmidt made his way back to Fort Dodge. The senior wrapped up his Mid-Prairie career with a 32nd place finish at the meet.
It was twice as nice for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls track and field team in 2019. The Golden Hawk girls qualified nine events for the state meet including Marie Hostetler and Mitzi Evans in the 800, Hostetler and Evans in the 1500, Hostetler in the 3000, the team of Amber Swart, Mitzi and Abbigail Evans and Maddie Edgington in the 4×100, the 4×200 team of Swart, Cassidy Rourke, Edgington and Abbigail Evans, the 4×800 team of Angelina and Abbigail Evans, Moriah Brase and Kate Cavanagh, the sprint medley team of Edgington, Rourke, Swart and Mitzi Evans, Tori Boyse in the discus and the distance medley team of Abbigail Evans, Rourke, Swart and Hostetler.
The Golden Hawk girls won the state title with 49 points over second place Aplington-Parkersburg with 39 points. Mid-Prairie’s time in Des Moines was highlighted by three state championship events, all of which involved Marie Hostetler as she brought home individual gold in the 1500 and 3000 while being a part of the state championship distance medley team. Other events for the Hawks included Hostetler runner-up in the 800 with Mitzi Evans 21st, third place for the sprint medley team, fourth for the 4×200 team, eighth for Boyse in the discus, ninth for the 4×800 team, a finals appearance for the 4×100 team and 18th for Angelina Evans in the 1500.
The Golden Hawk boys qualified five events for the state meet including Clarke Latcham, Caleb Thomas, Grant Boyse and Elmir Ganibegovic finishing 17th in the 4×100, Latcham, Quinn Schmidt, Boyse and Ganibegovic in seventh in the 4×200, Schmidt, Brad Tornow, Miles Burrows and Justin Schwartz in the 4×800, the sprint medley team of Latcham, Schmidt, Ganibegovic and Boyse was 11th and Jack Baker 20th in the discus.
The Golden Hawk wrestling team was coming off of a season where they had not had a wrestler advance to the district meet for the first time in eight seasons. They would start a new streak and make history during the 2018-19 campaign. At the River Valley Conference Championship meet Mid-Prairie saw junior Isaac Boucher break out and win the conference title at 195lbs. The run in the tournament was impressive enough to move him into the top 10 in the state according to thepredicament.com for the first time on the season. His momentum didn’t stop there as he rolled through the sectional tournament with the championship at 195lbs, joining teammate Colton Allen who made it through to districts as runner-up at 182lbs. At districts, it took a wrestleback but Boucher punched his ticket to Des Moines with a 3-1 win over Solon’s Adam Bock. Once at state, he made the most of it, placing sixth, getting to walk in the parade of champions and appear on the podium. He went 3-3 during his time in Des Moines.
The Golden Hawks also had one of their own make history during the season. Golden Hawk wrestler Rylee Vercande had a terrific year as a freshman. She was ranked No. 1 at 132lbs in the first ever Iowa High School Girls Wrestling Rankings submitted by iawrestle.com. She also participated in the first ever Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Girls State Tournament finishing in fifth place with a 4-1 record at the tournament.
The Mid-Prairie girls golf team had a big season. Golden Hawks shot 206 as a team for nine holes, second best in the River Valley Conference. Their team score of 404 per 18 holes was also second best. Abbi Patterson led the way for the Golden Hawks with a 50 average per nine holes, fourth in the RVC. Her 97 average per 18 holes was fifth in the league. Mid-Prairie finished third at the River Valley Conference championship meet in Muscatine with a score of 415. Patterson and Abigail Statler were elite all-conference team members with their scores of 99 and 100 respectively. In the postseason, Mid-Prairie took the regional title in the first round, with a team score of 410, edging Prairie City Monroe by a single shot. Patterson was meet medalist with a round of 99. Despite not qualifying for the state tournament as a team, Patterson advanced to Ames with a round of 94 in the regional final, finishing in fifth places as an automatic qualifier. At state she shot a career best 85 on day one, sitting in 14th place. She followed that up with a 92 on day two to finish with a 177 in 19th place.
The Golden Hawk boys golf team averaged a 172, second best in the River Valley Conference per nine holes. Individually the Hawks were led by Noah Schlabaugh with his 40 average per nine holes and 78 average per 18, both second in the RVC. Mid-Prairie lost just one conference dual all season. The Golden Hawks were runners-up at the River Valley Conference Championships in Riverside shooting a 342, led by Noah Schlabaugh with a 77. He, Monte Slabaugh and Ryan Smit were all selected to all-conference teams. At sectionals, Mid-Prairie advanced with a third place finish at Stone Creek in Williamsburg with a 357 team score. At the district tournament, Mid-Prairie shot a season best score of 320, but failed to qualify as a team, taking third place. Schlabaugh however, punched his ticket with a medalist runner-up round of 74. Once at state, the weather did not cooperate and the event was called after one day with Schlabaugh finishing at 76, in sixth place overall. He was named second team all-state and to the all-tournament team.
The Mid-Prairie boys soccer team finished with a 9-4 overall record, their most wins since a state runner-up performance in 2014 and a three match improvement over the previous season. After a 1-2 start, Mid-Prairie put it together to win eight of nine matches in the middle of the season. Aaron Slaubaugh led Mid-Prairie with nine goals fifth most in the River Valley Conference. Camden Marner, Slaughbaugh, Ethan Trimpe and Byron Yoder all had three assists each to lead the way. In goal, Dominic Pickard had 33 saves and a 75% save percentage, fifth best in the conference. Defender Jose Juarez was also an all-state selection for the Golden Hawks.
The Golden Hawks girls program had a remarkable turnaround from 1-10 last year to 10-4 in their most recent season. That’s their highest win total since 2013 and included an eight match winning streak in the second half of the season. Mid-Prairie led the River Valley Conference in scoring, assists, shots on goal and penalty kicks. Julia Boller was the team leader with 19 goals, second in the River Valley Conference. Her 10 assists led the conference and were 10th in Iowa in class 1A. In goal, Emily Swartzentruber made 57 saves with a 71% save percentage.
Mid-Prairie senior Justin Schwartz came into the football season already one of the best receivers in Mid-Prairie history, ranking in the top 10 in program history in catches and yards. His role in 2018 however, would focus on him coming out of the backfield. He excelled there as well. Schwartz finished 2018 with 1,015 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. The defining moment of the season for Schwartz however, came on a rainy night in Bloomfield against Davis County when he hauled in a Brad Tornow pass, the 72nd of his career to set the school record, breaking the mark of 71 set by Darian Patterson in 2005. Schwartz ended with 75 total catches and 811 yards through the air. His yards total is sixth in school history. In all, along with Schwartz, seven other Mid-Prairie players were named to the all-district team after the Hawks finished a 3-6 season.
Friday will feature the 2019-20 academic year for athletics at Mid-Prairie in our decade in review.