The Hillcrest Academy Ravens have added to a historic season in boys’ golf by not only punching their ticket to state, but remaining unbeaten. Hillcrest won a Class 1A district tournament yesterday at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville and thus earned their first trip to the state championships since 1997. Despite having just one player shoot a round inside the top 10 on the individual leaderboard, the Ravens’ 332 total strokes across 18 holes was still six better than runner-up Wapello.

Hillcrest was led by senior Jace Rempel’s eight-over-par 80, good enough for seventh overall. Sophomore Liam Schrock was three strokes behind in a tie for tenth, while senior Luke Schrock shot 84 to tie for 13th and freshman Rowan Miller was tied for 18th with an 85. Afterwards, Ravens head coach Phil Schintler told KCII Sports that, while it wasn’t as dominant as some other meets this season, this victory was just as hard-earned.

“Front nine [holes were] wide open, which maybe was a little bit of an advantage,” Schintler said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but that’s typical of us. We always finish strong. We weren’t playing our best, by any means, but we played well enough.”

Winfield-Mount Union junior Carter Loyd very nearly also punched his ticket to state by firing a 78 but finished third at Brown Deer. Hillcrest will move on to compete at the 1A state tournament Monday and Tuesday in Ames.