AMES

On a day of Hillcrest Academy history, a ball hit out of trouble on the final hole by Ravens senior Luke Schrock found the perfect target.

Another player’s ball.

Instead of hitting the ground and heading off the fairway into the high grass, Schrock’s ball hit another ball and stayed in place on the fairway. A croquet shot. It was just one more sign that something special was happening in the final round of the Iowa 1A Boys State Golf Tournament on May 23 at the Ames Golf & Country Club.

Another sign was Phil Ropp, the founding coach of Hillcrest’s golf program 30 years ago when it was Iowa Mennonite School, following the action in person, riding in a golf cart with his wife, Joyce, to watch not only history but their grandson, Rowan Miller, playing in his first state tournament.

“For grandpa,” Miller said, “just like end of a story almost. Third (place) one year, 30 years ago, with his son on the team. Now he gets to watch his grandson.”

Led by Miller’s seventh-place finish with a two-day total of 156 and Schrock’s 13^th-place finish with a 160, the Ravens emerged with the school’s first state championship in golf and their first state title in any sport since the IMS boys cross country team won in 2009.

“It’s amazing,” Schrock said. “Never something I pictured happening.”

The victory, which came by five shots over runner-up West Fork, produced smiles and wet eyes, along with cheers from a large group of Hillcrest followers who made the trip to Ames.

“Our guys, they just care about each other,” head coach Phil Schintler said. “They’re like family out there. It’s never an I out there on the course, it’s always a we. What can we do to make each other better? They’re helping each other. They’re like extra little coaches out there. It’s unbelievable.”

The Ravens, who were in the state tournament for the first time since 1997 when Dropp’s team finished third, had to shake off early day nerves both days in Ames.

“Coming into yesterday’s round, I was pretty nervous,” Schrock said about the opening round May 22. “Hit me about 10 minutes before the round when we had to tee off in front of everyone.”

“We struggled to get out of the tee box,” Schintler said. “Five of our six guys were out of bounds or in the rough or behind trees.”

It didn’t stay that way.

Schrock posted four birdies on his back nine in the second round. Miller had a pair of birdies.

“We always come back,” Schintler said. “Seems like we do. We do better on the last half of any 18-hole tournament or 36-hole tournament. We were struggling the front nine. The last nine, we played the best golf we’ve ever played.”

Jace Remple, a senior who tied for 22^nd place individually with a score of 166, sank a birdie putt on the 15^th hole. Liam Schrock, a sophomore who was 26^th with a score of 169, birdied three of his last eight holes and had pars on the others.

“Just tore the last nine holes up,” Schintler said of Liam Schrock.

Seth Ours carded 186 and Josiah Beach shot 187.

After there finished, one by one, Hillcrest’s golfers assembled around the 18^th hole to watch the end of the action and keep an eye on the leaderboard. Nervous looks eventually turned into smiles.

“For me, it’s special,” Miller said. “I mean, freshman year, making it to state is just so special. Winning it is just another story.”

The Ravens finished with a two-day score of 650, topping West Fork by five shots and Kingsley-Pierson by 10.

Mikey Takacs of Iowa City Regina Catholic and Keith Thompson of Hamburg tied for medalist honors with two-day 148 scores.