We continue our review of the last decade for Hillcrest Academy athletics with a look at the 2018-19 school year.
Hillcrest Academy boys soccer followed up their Superconference tournament championship and state tournament appearance from 2018 by spending all season in the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association top 16 rankings. They finished with a 12-5 overall record including two separate four match winning streaks. In the postseason The Ravens did not allow a goal in substate, beating Grand View Christian 5-0, Clarke 1-0 and winning at top 10 Solon in the substate final 1-0.
The Ravens fell by a 5-1 score against Sioux Center in the state quarterfinals. They were led on the year by Louis Etienne who finished eighth in the state with 25 goals. Jacob Boller had nine assists to lead the team. In goal Blake Bontrager made 80 saves and had an 81% save percentage.
On the track Leah Bontrager and Suzanna Yoder shined. The pair combined to bring home three conference championships at the Superconference meet in Mediapolis with Suzanna Yoder winning the 200 and 400 and Leah Bontrager the 800. The duo qualified for state in four different events with Yoder going to Des Moines in the 100, 200 and 400 and Bontrager in the 800. At the state meet, Yoder finished sixth in the 400, 11th in the 200 and 18th in the 100. Bontrager was 20th in the 800.
On the cross country course Hillcrest was led by a freshman, new to the scene Leah Bontrager. The Raven girls were sixth at the Superconference Championship meet, led by Bontrager with her 10th place finish to score all-conference honors. At the state qualifier, Hillcrest kept their streak alive, sending a runner to the state meet in Fort Dodge for the third straight year with Bontrager qualified in 14th place as the Raven girls finished seventh overall in the team standings. At state, Bontrager was 72nd in class 1A with a time of 22:16.
Suzanna Yoder posted one of the best careers in the history of Hillcrest basketball, adding her name to the record books. Yoder ranks in the top five in school history in 11 different categories. When it comes to scoring, Suzanna Yoder leads the program all-time in points in a season with her senior year seeing her score 578 points, topping Angela Bock’s 1997-1998 season of 545 points. Yoder’s junior season also ranks third on the all-time season list with 489 points and her sophomore season ninth. Her 27.5 points per game her senior year is most in program history, beating her own 22.2 point per game mark established in her junior year. Her 18 points per game from her sophomore season is eighth on the all-time list. In Yoder’s senior season she knocked down 75 three point goals, most in school history for a single year, breaking her own school record of 65 from her junior season, in her sophomore year she made 31 long balls, seventh most in Hillcrest history. She set the school scoring record twice in her senior season with a 40 point game in a 54-48 win over English Valleys and then again with 45 in a 63-61 win over Highland later in the season.
Yoder ranks second all-time in career points with 1,566, behind only Angela Bock, a 1999 Hillcrest grad. Her 179 made three point goals in her career puts her second all-time also behind Bock. Yoder finished with 281 assists in her career, third most in school history, behind 2014 alum Kristin Davis and Bock, with Yoder’s 97 assists in her senior year ranking fifth all-time for a single year. She is third in career steals with 205 behind Bock and 2003 grad Tanna Yoder with her 70 steals during her senior year ranking fourth all-time for a single season behind three years from Bock. Yoder finished fifth all-time in career rebounds with 432.
On the golf course Trevor Leyden had a big season. The senior earned all-conference honors by firing a 90 at Twin Lakes Golf Course in Winfield. His round of 82 at sectionals qualified him for the district tournament at Blue Top Ridge in Riverside where he shot a 98.
Hillcrest baseball finished with a 13-8 overall record. It was their third straight season with double digit wins and marks their third straight appearance in a district championship game. The Ravens finished with an 11-3 conference record, one game shy of a division championship. They were led on the season by Blake Bontrager and his .415 average, sixth highest in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. The Hillcrest pitching staff had a tremendous year as a group, posting a combined 3.76 ERA. Trevor Leyden led the state with a 0.33 ERA in 21 innings and a 3-0 overall record. That ERA is a new school record. He is joined by Eli Ours who was second in the Superconference with a 1.82 ERA and a perfect 5-0 record. Blake Bontrager was a workhorse again for Hillcrest going 35 innings on the year with a 3-3 record and 4.80 ERA. Bontrager finished his career with 135 strikeouts, sixth most in the program. His 13 wins are sixth most and his 164 innings thrown in his career are fourth most. The Ravens were awarded with seven all-conference selections including Leyden, Bontrager, Ours, Noah Miller, London Schrock, Jacob Boller and Kobe Borntrager. Raven head coach Danny Hershberger was named Superconference North Division coach of the year.
Rubye Ney and Suzanna Yoder left their marks on the Raven softball record books with Yoder setting the career home run record, finishing second all-time in runs scored and fifth in stolen bases. Ney was fifth in scoring for a career and sixth in stolen bases. Those two were joined on all-conference teams by Mia Graber, a second team pick, and Leah Bontrager and Sarah Miller as honorable mention selections.
The 2018 season was a big one for Hillcrest volleyball. The Ravens finished with a 19-15 overall record, their highest win total in five years. They finished 6-2 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. Their best stretch of the season came in early September when they won 10 of 13 matches. Hillcrest was led defensively by Suzanna Yoder who finished with 450 digs on the year, second in the state and a new school record for a single season. Mia Graber was third in the Superconference with 245 kills, giving her 376 in her career. Sami Miller finished fourth in the conference with 371 assists, giving her 627 for her career. Rubye Ney was seventh in the conference with 265 digs and eighth in the conference with 159 kills. The Ravens had five players selected to all-conference teams.
After more than a year of work by administration, July 30th, 2019 marked a rebranding of IMS with a change to Hillcrest Academy, and the addition of a mascot for the first time in school history, the Ravens. These changes will began in the 2019-20 school year.
Friday will feature the 2019-20 academic year for athletics at Hillcrest Academy in our decade in review.