WELLMAN
The night was February 11, 2022.
The bleachers, both sides, were overflowing at Mid-Prairie’s home gym. The noise was so deafening you could have set off a firecracker and …
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WELLMAN
The night was February 11, 2022.
The bleachers, both sides, were overflowing at Mid-Prairie’s home gym. The noise was so deafening you could have set off a firecracker and nobody would have heard it.
When the final buzzer sounded that night, finishing off an unbeaten regular season for the Golden Hawks’ boys basketball team, senior stars Carter Harmsen and Will Cavanagh leaped into a hug in front of the student section. Bench players raced onto the court. Students and fans mobbed the players.
Among those in the stands that night were Mid-Prairie sophomore volleyball players Dakota Mitchell, Callie Huber and Brylee Gearhart.
They all thought the same thing that night as they celebrated a huge Golden Hawks athletic achievement: “We’re gonna do it, too.”
Last Thursday night at the same gym, it happened.
When the Golden Hawks completed a 3A regional championship win against Wilton, Mitchell, now a senior, jumped into the air. Huber and Gearhart, both seniors, hugged each other. Screams of delight turned into happy tears. A gym packed with students, many of them Mid-Prairie athletes and some of them Mid-Prairie alums, joined them on the court in a noisy celebration.
And just like that, history had repeated itself.
The noise.
The cheers.
The championship.
“I wanted this so bad,” Mitchell said. “I couldn’t hear myself it was so crazy.”
“I think we did it almost better,” Gearhart said loudly postgame, overcoming the noise.
Said head coach Sherry Evans: “We packed the house. It’s amazing and humbling to see all the community support we had that night. This was the type of crowd that makes you want to keep coming back to watch games because the atmosphere was so much fun. I’m so thankful for all that came out to support our volleyball team to cheer us on to state.”
Just like the 2021-22 boys basketball team, the 2024 volleyball team did not lose a match at home. And just like that team, the Golden Hawks are headed for the state tournament.
In a 33-9 season, which set a school record for wins, Mid-Prairie’s only losses came to ranked teams. And it included a win over a Cedar Rapids team ranked in 5A.
Monday afternoon, the team bus paraded, behind emergency vehicles, past the downtown shops on B Avenue in Kalona prior to leaving for Coralville and the state tournament at Xtreme Arena.
