The biggest story in athletics from the last school year for the Hillcrest Academy Ravens comes to us from the cross country course. Hillcrest Academy making the annual trip north west to Fort Dodge for the 1A state meet around Halloween is becoming an annual tradition for head coach Marty Gingerich and runner Leah Bontrager.

Bontrager, a junior last year, made her third consecutive appearance at the class 1A state meet. She finished third at the qualifier meet in Ottumwa. Once in Fort Dodge, Bontrager finished 52nd with a time of 21:43. This was her best state run of her career, improving on a 72nd place finish as a freshman and 67th place finish as a sophomore. This marked the fifth straight year that the Ravens have had a runner advance to the state meet.