Swedish Swing

One of the brightest areas for the Park Hill golf team halfway through their season has been the play of senior Victor Soderholm. While Soderholm’s performance on the course is a topic of discussion on its own, his personal story adds even more interest.

Soderholm is a foreign exchange student from Sweden. A soft-spoken kid, Victor was shy at first, but has warmed to his teammates.

“Early on he was quiet and didn’t really interact with the kids,” Dorrell said. “Now he’s becoming more comfortable, starting to show more of a personality and is fun to be around.”

Last week was a breakout week for Victor as he led the Trojans with their lowest score four consecutive days including an 84 at the Ray Pec Tournament, a 77 at Liberty, a 40 (on nine holes) at St. Joe Central, and capped it off with a second place finish in Park Hill’s annual tournament by shooting a 78, besting over 50 other golfers in the field.

“No one has ever won (from Park Hill), I’ve now had two kids that have taken second, including Victor,” Dorrell said of his top golfer.

While he said the car and traffic flows of the U.S. were particularly different along with an apparent love for McDonald’s, for Soderholm some of the interesting contrasts are golf-related.

“You’re not really a member here,” Soderholm said of many of the local courses. “There you’re usually a member and pretty much play the one course.”

Victor finds himself in a unique education situation. Although an 18-year old senior at Park Hill, Soderholm is considered a tenth-grader in Sweden and upon the completion of this school year, he will likely return and attend two more years of high school. With such a high quality of skill, Victor would be a top candidate for a golf scholarship to attend a college or university in the United States, but the rules or requirements are uncertain.

“I have two more years in high school. I don’t really know how that works, but I’d really like to do it if I got a good offer,” Soderholm said.

Soderholm’s first exposure to golf was in 1999, but didn’t really start until 2003 when he and his father picked up the sport. Pending a waiting list, they were finally able to become members and started playing more and more.

“Someone has taught him very well and he’s had formal training,” Dorrell said of Victor’s talent level.

Even with the quick season high school golf has, Victor could be peaking at the right time. Saying his strength is approaching the green, he hopes to improve on his putting.

“I kind of knew in the beginning I would get better, and just kept my confidence to stay calm. I want to have an average around 77. The last week I’ve gotten closer and closer. I want to be as good as possible for the team, play well at districts and make it to state,” Soderholm said.

Spring Roundup: April 5 - April 9

Park Hill Baseball
Park Hill Baseball continues to rack up the runs as they defeated Winnetonka last week 11-1 in 5 innings. Clay Smith pitched the complete game while striking out eight batters, allowing just two hits and one earned run. Nathan Shores, James Vega, Austin Kepler, and Adam Vanderpool all drove home two runs apiece. Vanderpool hit his first home run of the season. The Trojans are now 3-0 on the season, with two of those victories coming in conference play. They will play Truman Wednesday afternoon in their only scheduled game.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
The Lady Trojans soccer team had a busy week with five games on the schedule including the Smithville tournament this past week. Kicking things off on the right foot early against Winnetonka, they secured a sound victory 10-1 with four goals from Emma Gossett, three from Rayci Lee, two from Olivia Derry, and one from Heather Schieber. Against district rival Park Hill South, the Trojans got down early in the first half after the Panthers were able to capitalize on two corner kicks resulting in goals before eventually losing 4-0. Coach Manny Catano was disappointed in the performance and missed opportunities, but were right back at it Friday and Saturday in Smithville as they took on Roger’s Heritage out of Arkansas along with Smithville and Staley High Schools. They’re currently 2-3 overall with a 1-2 record in conference play. Oak Park and William Chrisman are on the schedule for this week.

Park Hill Boys Golf
Park Hill Golf is coming off a very busy week with four competitions in four days. Last Monday at the Ray Pec Tournament they shot a 352 team score with Victor Solderholm leading the team with an 84. Tuesday at Liberty against Liberty, Lee’s Summit, and Lee’s Summit North the Trojans trailed the field placing fourth with a score of 341. Solderhold led with a 77. Park Hill took first out of three on Wednesday in St. Joe against St. Joe Central and Oak Park with a 183 on nine holes. Solderholm was a match medalist with a score of 40. Other Trojans scores: Austin Dorward 46, Colby Buehler 47, and Collin Pummill 50. In the annual Darren Floyd Memorical Tournament, Park Hill took fifth as the host school with a team score of 348 behind first place team Liberty which scored a 320. Solderholm placed 2nd with a 78, one stroke off the first place finish of 77 from Sam Mears of Liberty. Competitions this week include Sedalia Smith-Cotton and William Chrisman.

Park Hill Boys Tennis
Park Hill Tennis knew they would have a tough test last week going into their matches against local powerhouse Rockhurst, but in order to be the best, they believed they had to beat the best. As a tune up to the showdown between the two programs, Park Hill was able to bring home a 5-1 victory against Winnetonka earlier in the week. Mike Merchant defeated Tonka’s Wollard 10-4 in the number one singles match before rain caused the cancellation of the doubles competition. Unfortunately for Park Hill, Rockhurst came out strong last Thursday. Although a tough, hard fought match, Rockhurst’s Edmonds was able to edge out Merchant in the number one singles match. Then, Edmonds along with teammate Nelson went on to defeat the doubles team of Merchant and Brian Willis 6-0, 6-3. The loss was the first for the Trojans on the year. They are now 4-1 on the year.

Park Hill Boys and Girls Track
The girl’s team finished 6th overall at the Jerry Crews Relays at Staley last Friday. The top three finishers include Helena Hudson (3rd) in the 100 m hurdles, Kyleesha Weston (2nd) in the discus and Stephanie Atkinson (3rd) in the pole vault.

"Things are starting to come together but still need to improve in several areas. It was a nice surprise with Stephanie in the pole vault," head coach Tari Garner said.

On the boy's side, James Leach took second in the 800 meter run, Cain Winebrenner took fourth in the 1600 meter run, Adrien Esaw placed fourth in the 110 hurdles and second in the 3200 hurdles, and the 4x800 relay team of James Leach, Fernando Garcia, Nathan Koehler, and Ricardo Garcia continued to dominate with a first place finish. Nick Smith placed first in both the discus and the shot put.

Both teams will week compete in the Winnetonka Invitational on Thursday followed by the Kansas Relays in Lawrence over the weekend.

Park Hill and Park Hill South Boys Basketball
Park Hill’s Justin Leathers was named as a member of the Class Five Second Team All-State Missouri basketball team last week by Missouri sportswriters and broadcasters. He also participated in the annual Missouri/Kansas High School All-Star Challenge last weekend at the Independence Event Center. Leathers averaged 19 points a game this past season.

Park Hill South’s Anthony Perry was named the Class Five Coach of the Year in the state of Missouri. His Panther squad made an unlikely journey to the state’s Final Four and took home fourth place on their way to a 21-11 season and finishing sixth in the final rankings.