Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers breaks through with medalist honors at Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division golf meet

WATERLOO — Iowa City High’s Jack Rogers had been on the verge of one of his goals.

Then, he finally had his breakthrough moment.

Rogers fired 3-under 69 and captured medalist honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division golf meet Monday at Irv Warren Memorial Course. He helped the Little Hawks to the team title with a 300 total, topping runner-up Western Dubuque by two strokes.

He is the first City High golfer to earn MVC divisional medalist honors since Ned Pirotte in 2002.

“It feels pretty good,” Rogers said. “This year I’ve had some close rounds on the verge of breaking into the 60s, so it was nice to finally get below 70. I was happy with the way I played today.”

A strong start propelled Rogers into his best 18-hole round of the season, lowering his season average to 73.17. He birdied the first hole, drilling his tee shot and sticking the approach within “kick-in” range. Rogers followed with a good tee shot that led to par on the par-3 No. 2.

“The first two holes really settled me into my round,” Rogers said. “It got me to a place where I felt confident in my swing.”

Rogers carded 3-under 32 on the front and closed with even par after the turn. He recorded an eagle on the par-5 No. 5 and a birdie on the sixth hole, helping him edge Western Dubuque’s Brock Wilson and Cedar Rapids Kennedy state champion Reid Hall by one shot.

“No. 5 was playing downwind today,” said Rogers, who needed just 29 putts for the round. “I knew if I could put one in the fairway off the tee I would have a chance for a look for eagle. I did that, fortunately. I had a nice mid-iron shot into the green that I put to about 7 or 8 feet.

“The putting stroke was feeling good today, especially on the front nine. I made a lot of great putts.”

Rogers said he was focused on each individual shot. Sometimes he would look ahead to possible shots, which negatively affected those rounds. He avoided the temptation this meet.

“One of my goals was to stay in the moment,” Rogers said. “Focus on one shot at a time.”

City High had all four scorers shoot 79 or better. Ethan Nace shot 74. Jake Mitchell and Nicholas Meredith added 78 and 79, respectively. The Little Hawks have had each golfer count in an 18-hole competition.

“This team is a bunch of grinders and what I love about this team is that you never know who’s playing well and who’s not playing well,” City High Coach Derek Birt said. “For instance, (Monday) we counted our scores from our (Nos.) 1, 2, 3 and 5 player. That shows the depth that we have on this team. It’s something that is new to this program and I’m lucky because it’s my first year as a head coach.”

City High has shown major improvement. The team has gone from shooting more than 400 in previous seasons to coming in at 300 to win a divisional meet.

“It shows that they have put the time in during the summer to continue to get better and better as the season has progressed,” Birt said. “I think the biggest factor is that these kids enjoy being around each other on and off the golf course.”

Mississippi Division: Xavier, Liberty’s Grimm finish runner-up

Cedar Rapids Xavier finished second in the team standings and Iowa City Liberty’s J.J. Grimm earned runner-up honors at the MVC Mississippi Division meet at Dubuque Golf and Country Club.

Dubuque Wahlert and the Golden Eagles’ Ben Dolter swept team and individual titles. Wahlert scored 295 with Dolter leading the way with 67.

Xavier managed 308, beating Liberty by three strokes. Pranay Monga and Logan Otting shot 76 apiece. Garrett Nurre and Quincey Johnson each posted 78 for the Saints.

Grimm shot 71 to lead the Lightning. Vaughn Tyler had 79, Ryan Schmierer shot 80 and Landon Peoples added 81 for Liberty.

Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division Meet

At Dubuque

(Dubuque Golf and Country Club, par 72)

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 295, 2. C.R. Xavier 308, 3. Iowa City Liberty 311, 4. Cedar Falls 315, 5. C.R. Prairie 327, 6. Dubuque Senior 334, 7. C.R. Jefferson 427.

Individuals – 1. Ben Dolter (DW), 67, 2. J.J. Grimm (OCL), 71, 3. Bock Mueller (DW), 75, 4. (tie) Logan Otting (CRX), Jonah Oberfoell (DW) and Pranay Monga (CRX), 76.

C.R. XAVIER (308): Otting 76, Monga 76, Garrett Nurre 78, Quincey Johnson 78.

I.C. LIBERTY (311): Grimm 71, Vaughn Tyler 79, Ryan Schmierer 80, Landon Peoples 81.

C.R. PRAIRIE (327): Tanner Wachtl 78, Henry Sobaski 79, Jayson Kubik 83, C.J. Keenen 87, Pieter Rippentrop 87.

C.R. JEFFERSON (427): Ben Goudy 101, Caden Wilson 105, Braden Hofer 105, Malone Coulter 116, Parker Chyma 116.

MVC MISSISSIPPI STANDINGS

(Through two rounds)

Teams – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 595, 2. C.R. Xavier 609, 3. I.C. Liberty 621, 4. Cedar Falls 631, 5. C.R. Prairie 642, 6. Dubuque Senior 659, 7. C.R. Jefferson 854.

Individuals – 1. Dolter (DW), 141, 2. Otting (CRX), 148, 3. Grimm (ICL), 149, 4. (tie) Tyler (ICL) and Oberfoell (DW), 150.

Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division Meet

At Waterloo

(Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course, par 72)

Teams – 1. Iowa City High 300, 2. Western Dubuque 302, 3. C.R. Kennedy 306, 4. Linn-Mar 312*, 5. Iowa City West 312, 6. Waterloo West 325, 7. Dubuque Hempstead 328, 8. C.R. Washington 341.

Individuals – 1. Jack Rogers (ICH), 69, 2. (tie) Brock Wilson (WD) and Reid Hall (CRK), 71, 4. Christian Cloyd (LM), 73, 5. (tie) Jack MacLagan (ICW), Tyler Skrtich (WD) and Ethan Nace (ICH), 74.

*-Won tiebreaker with best sixth-player score.

CITY HIGH (300): Rogers 69, Nace 74, Jake Mitchell 78, Nicholas Meredith 79.

C.R. KENNEDY (306): Hall 71, Leo Koester 77, Nolan Grawe 78, Brayden Brueggemeyer 81.

LINN-MAR (312): Cloyd 73, Ben Steenrod 76, Max Faulkner 81, Cameron Potter 82, Dylan Heater 82, Ian Anderson 85.

I.C. WEST (312): MacLagan 74, Emery Crawford 78, Dillon Croco 80, Cole Collier 80, Jack Jensen-Fitzpatrick 82, Jack Moreland 88.

C.R. WASHINGTON (341): Preston Haefner 79, Robbie Andersen 85, Wynston Londquist 88, Bjorn White 89.

MVC VALLEY STANDINGS

(Through two rounds)

Teams – 1. Iowa City High 610, 2. C.R. Kennedy 619, 3. Western Dubuque 320, 4. Linn-Mar 627, 5. I.C. West 652, 6. Waterloo West 674, 7. C.R. Washington 680, 8. Dubuque Hempstead 707.

Individuals – 1. (tie) Hall (CRK) and Rogers (ICH), 139, 3. Cloyd (LM), 148, 4. Wilson (WD), 149, 5. Jackson Skrtich (WD), 151.