Golfers win MVC Valley Conference Championship

BASHEIR

By Ahmed Basheir

Going into this year the City High golf team had high expectations. The upperclassmen-oriented team are coming off a year where they return all eight of their starters and are looking to improve and build off of last year’s results and try to qualify for state.

This year the Little Hawks have already shown tremendous improvement out on the course. For the first time since 2002, the City High golf team has won the MVC valley division, shooting a team score of 302. They were led by Jack Rogers ‘26 who shot a 72, Nick Meredith ‘25 who shot 74, and Ethan Nace ‘24 who shot a 75.

“This year the entire team has shown a lot of improvement. If you look at our scores from last year I don’t think we shot under 320 let alone 302 on the biggest stage. We knew we had a decent lead going into the final round but we wanted to make sure we didn’t let any teams back in it and I think we did a good job of that,” Rogers said.

Other accolades from the meet were Jack Rogers ‘26, Ethan Nace ‘24, and Jake Mitchell ‘24 getting All-Conference first team and Nick Meredith ‘25 getting All-Conference second team. New head coach of the team Derek Birt also was awarded MVC valley division coach of the year.

“I’m super proud of the team and how they have continued to improve throughout the season. It was a complete team win from the top to the bottom. Each boy has contributed a score this score.

I’m honored to be coaching at the school that Coach Don Brown and Coach Jerry Hora helped get established when I first moved to Iowa City,” Coach Derek Birt said.

Rogers ended up finishing second individually by one stroke to previous state champion Reid Hall of Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids. Over the three rounds Rogers went 70, 69, 72. Now preparation begins for their district meet in less than a week.

“I think we have made tremendous jumps from last year being last in the conference to being first. It shows all the work we’ve put in need to continue to end this season with a trip to the state tournament,” Nace said.

The team will travel to Cedar Falls for their district meet at Pheasant Ridge golf course. There are 14 teams in the district tournament and only three teams advance to state. The top teams in this district are Xavier, Waukee Northwest, Dallas-Center Grimes, and the Little Hawks.

“We are City High golf. We have always been the underdog. We may not hit our drives the furthest or have the best iron player but I can tell you this, we are fighters. We fight until the end with everything we have. Nobody knows our name so on Monday we hope to change that and shock everyone at state,” Meredith said.