Park Hill race has little to do with education

The Park Hill School Board race has been an interesting one so far. Oddly enough, the things which have made it interesting have had absolutely nothing to do with the policies, taxes, curriculum or management of the School District. In fact, it’s actually had very little to do with education at all.

Even though his name will still appear on the ballot April 3, when Park Hill school board candidate Casey Beane ended his campaign by announcing he was dropping out of the race, it left more than a couple people scratching their heads. With support of his candidacy from a solid block of parent and teacher groups including several endorsements, it seemed untimely to end his bid just two weeks before Election Day. In the end, though, Beane’s stated reason for leaving the race in deciding to focus on his growing family is admirable. The remaining four candidates, Fred Cox, Chris Seufert, Edward Stephens and Allison Wurst, will contend for two open seats on the Board. The real issue though, doesn’t arise from Beane’s exit from the race, but the effects it leaves behind.

Those who have followed school board elections in the past know how difficult it is for candidates to reach out to voters. School board campaigns don’t tend to have the drama, excitement, or controversy that fuels more partisan races to grab voters’ attention. With that in mind, the local media has announced and made clear Beane’s decision to end his candidacy over the last week. Despite a week-long delay, as we go to press it has been realized the Park Hill School District has also finally noted this on their Web site. As a primary source of information for patrons and voters through the district’s web site, television channel, and email correspondence, news that a leading candidate on the ballot has withdrawn and will not serve if elected is fairly significant. This should have been more proactively communicated by the district. Though as the saying goes: better late than never.

A similar situation happened in 2011, when candidate Victor McCance dropped out of the school board race. Demonstrating the effects a withdrawn candidacy can have, on Election Day he still received 272 votes, a margin candidates Chris Seufert and Fred Sanchez know firsthand could affect their candidacies as both fell short by close margins that same year. Nonetheless, this year it still leaves open the possibility of a couple hundred votes being cast for Beane, a withdrawn candidate who had significantly more support prior to dropping out than McCance did in 2011. The thought of this making a difference in a close election result would be unfortunate.

Out of the four candidates remaining, three have remained fairly uncontroversial, but Edward Stephens has more than made up for it. On the surface, Stephens might appear as an ideal school board candidate: a district graduate, college educated, professional career, well-spoken and well-dressed. But as you may have read in several previous editions of The Citizen, his seemingly insensitive comments and opinions on a variety of subjects including diversity and special needs students have caused quite a stir. Not surprisingly, there’s something about the words ‘White’ and ‘History’ when placed together in a sentence that project a cultural and political disconnect with the average voter. Not understanding that continually using those words would draw negative attention to him reinforces that. Misjudging the negative attention as positive publicity, as Stephens had done, is another example.

While his candidacy deeply troubles some, gauging the level of support Stephens actually has is difficult. The same can be said for all the candidates’ support, as yard signs and social media don’t always prove to be the winning formula in school board contests. As is the case in many elections where candidates are not identified as Democrats or Republicans, it’s hard to tell what will eventually draw voters to a particular candidate.

Election night is shaping up to be the culmination of a fairly active time for the Park Hill School District. With the selection of a new superintendent, approval of new elementary school boundaries, and election of two new board members all in the last 60 days, things should slow down over the next couple months in terms of highly political and sensitive decisions, calmly reverting back to what Park Hill does best, a focus on education.

Park Hill South grad big part of Ohio's March Madness

While the basketball season has ended for most area high school and college players, Platte County still has one local player competing on the hardwood, and he’s doing it on college basketball’s biggest stage. Ohio University junior forward Ivo Baltic, a 2009 Park Hill South graduate, has been a key member of a Bobcat squad that has amassed a 29-7 record and Mid-America Conference (MAC) conference tournament championship this season. It earned them a trip to the NCAA Tournament where last week, as an underdog 13^th seed, the Bobcats fueled March Madness with not only an upset over the fourth seeded Michigan Wolverines 65-60, but two days later another win over 12^th seeded South Florida 62-56. The wins propel them towards an unlikely trip to the Sweet Sixteen and matchup against perennial power house, number one seeded North Carolina this Friday night in St. Louis.

“I don’t think seeding really means a lot. Our mindset was we just wanted to advance,” Baltic said of the upsets. “In the locker room, we have this board that says: graduate from Ohio University, win the MAC championship (regular season and tournament), make it to the NCAA Tournament, and advance in the tournament. These are our goals and we’ve been able to pretty much accomplish them so far.”

Averaging 8.9 points and 5 rebounds per game this season, it’s Baltic’s second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, as a freshman he played every game in a season where 14^th seeded Ohio upset the third seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the first round.

“We weren’t expected to do good things then, this year is a little different because we’ve been pretty successful the whole season,” Baltic said. “This year we’re in the Sweet Sixteen, which hasn’t been done since 1964 so it’s been a good year for us, but we just have to stay hungry and humble.”

It’s a scenario the Ohio University coaching staff painted for Baltic when he was recruited out of high school and one that stood out compared to other schools he was being pursued by at the time. Baltic says Ohio told him not just the positives, but also the potential negatives of college basketball life.

“The whole coaching staff, they pretty much told me we could do some special things with my time here,” Baltic said. “The difference was they told me the ups and downs of what could happen instead of just the positives.”

The former Park Hill South standout was nominated as a McDonald’s High School All-America his senior year when he averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds per game for the Panthers. His talent and ability is still visible around Park Hill South in the form of plaques and recognition as he remains the school’s all-time scoring and rebound leader. Long-time Athletic Director John Sedler says Baltic is the best he’s ever watched.

“In my opinion, he is the best player to graduate from the Park Hill School District,” Sedler said. “He is a multi-skilled (hybrid) player that is effective on the perimeter as well as in the post area.  Today’s game really fits his skills; with all of the spread sets and dribble penetration being used he is very comfortable.”

Baltic echoes the description by calling his playing persona as a ‘versatile big’ by being willing to play whatever role the team needs.

“I can be whatever my team needs me to be. I think that’s a sacrifice anyone on our team is willing to make.”

Sacrifice is something Baltic is very familiar with when it comes to basketball. ‘Basketball junkie’ and ‘gym rat’ are just two of the words used to describe his work ethic, both past and present. At a young age, Baltic knew basketball was his way to college.

“Growing up, my parents didn’t really have a lot of money. We came from overseas. Just getting into college was going to be pretty hard,” Baltic, who was born in Bosnia, but has lived in Kansas City since second grade, said. “I didn’t think I could just get in by academics or money by themselves. I just worked my butt off every day. Fridays and Saturday nights when kids were out going and stuff, I was in the gym.”

Rattling off nearly a half dozen of his former Park Hill South coaches, Baltic gave credit and appreciation (both big and small) for the support he’s received in the past and to this day.

“I just appreciate all the love I’ve gotten from my family, former teammates, former coaches, and all the people who really helped me get here,” Baltic said. “Even people like the janitors at my high school, who would sometimes turn on the lights for me just so I could shoot in the gym. It’s just the little things like that I’m real thankful for and blessed to have the opportunity to be doing what I’m doing.”

Even at 21 years old and a possible professional career ahead of him, he offers a lesson in discipline, as he commonly does with his ability to solve a Rubik’s cube in nearly a minute, mentioning his desire to continue playing the game after college before quickly returning to the immediate task in front of him.

“I just want to stay around the game after I’m done here (at school),” Baltic said. “To be honest, I’m just focused on this season and winning. Too many times people think too much about the future and they forget to live in the present.”

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Tennis

With three consecutive district titles as evidence to backup Park Hill’s dominance as one of the metro areas top boys tennis programs over the years, until a couple weeks ago the 2012 season was looking like it would be the Trojans once again as local favorites. Even with Park Hill’s strong team approach, when junior Blake Barnard, a state qualifier last year, broke his arm and ending his season before it began, it changed the team’s perspective and two thoughts came to Coach Tim Kalis’s mind.

“It’s going to have an impact on our team and our guys, but most importantly my heart aches for him and I know he’s going to come back next season stronger and more appreciative of his talents to lead our team,” Kalis said.

With Barnard’s injury and loss of three varsity starters to graduation, Park Hill brings back two members of last year’s state qualifying team, seniors Michael Jones and Max Schoettger. Jones, who was the Trojans’ top singles player last season and just a few points shy of qualifying for state as an individual, is someone a young squad will lean on early for leadership.

“He’s such a hard worker, he’s pushed himself to be successful,” Kalis said. “It’s nice to have that kind of solid leader up there.”

 Chris To, Austin Keberlein, and Josh Nwanguzo return and hope to fill in varsity spots as upperclassmen, but Park Hill will also be a young team this year which has shifted the Trojans’ focus from confident title defender to more of an underdog-type mentality.

“I think we’re definitely the underdog this season. That’s our mentality and motto,” Kalis said.

“We lack experience and are young. It leaves all of these guys a great opportunity and its going to be exciting to see who steps up and who is hungry to play.”

Some of those new faces are showing promise with several who are no strangers to the game of tennis having come out of local youth tennis programs. Kalis is putting forward a sense of urgency for these young players as the top 5-8 spots are wide open for the taking. Some of those contenders Louis Reinmiller, Noah Higgins-Dunn, Andrew Carter, Sean Moise, Tom Klender, and Jett Mullendore.

“I think you’re going to see some younger guys step up into that mix,” Kalis said. “The kids have to realize they have to put in everything they’ve got.”

Park Hill will be participating in the Blue Valley Northwest tournament for the first time, a tournament which fields some of the best teams in the metro including Pembroke Hill, Rockhurst, Park Hill South, and Lee’s Summit West, teams the Trojans will also see during the regular season as some point or another.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Track

The Park Hill South boys track team returns just a handful of athletes from last year’s third place conference team, but with the nine letter winners they do return and more than 70 underclassmen coming out for this year’s team, the Panthers could be poised to be a surprise.

Senior Dedric Johnson is the only state qualifier returning from last year after he served as the anchor on the 4x400 relay team that finished sixth at state. Joining him will be Cody Kildow in the shot put and discus, Max Rodgers in the pole vault, Keith Loveless in the hurdles, Alex Augspurg in the high jump and sprints, and Abdi Sarbessa in the distance events.

Craig Scott and Marcus Harris will contribute in the sprinting events, but will also be joined by Nick Griffith in the triple and long jumps this year. Their speed and strength could allow them to compete with some of the metro’s top jumpers. Coach Clay Lenhert says the three provide each other with healthy and beneficial competition.

“The practice group of Harris, Scott and Griffith will be interesting in the long jump.  Often when you have 3 guys of this caliber the competition in practice each day turns into really nice performances at meets,” Lenhert said.

While at first glance the Panthers appear most strong in their field events, Lenhert sees a lot of promise in his younger runners as well. While the Panthers will lean on their returning letter winners, it won’t be enough if they want to compete at a high level as a team.

“Many athletes from the junior varsity and freshmen teams last year are expected to step up to the Varsity level and make an impact,” Lenhert said. “We have some young distance runners whom could perform well.  Last year's varsity sprinters have all departed but we have some younger guys whom will work diligently to keep the relays in the battle.”

With Park Hill South’s conference competition featuring some of the best in the metro, the Panthers know track isn’t a sport where they can affect how the other team performs, just themselves.

“Character development is what is in our realm of control and this is will be the key to our success this season and beyond,” Lenhert said. “We can’t control anything or anyone in the conference, we simply develop character, work hard and let the chips fall where they may.”

Park Hill South starts the season with a dual meet against Park Hill March 27^th.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Girls Track

Despite the loss of several of their top athletes towards the beginning of the 2011 season, the Park Hill girls track team was able to salvage what was shaping up to be an underperforming year with several unexpected sectional qualifications at last year’s district meet. Building off some of those late season successes, the Lady Trojans hope to come back strong in 2012.

“It seemed to be one thing after another (last year). We thought it was going to be a great season and (even with the absences) still ended up qualifying five events for sectionals,” Coach Tari Garner said. “I would’ve never guessed it, based on how things started out. It was shaping up to be one of our toughest seasons, but actually turned up being pretty good.”

Building on strong finishes at the freshmen and junior varsity levels, Park Hill has a good portion of their sectional qualifiers returning this year. At first glance, the Trojans’ top strength coming into the season appears to be their field events, but their runners are young and aim on building off early.

Stephanie Atkinson in the pole vault, Dominique Broadus in the shot put, and Bailey Cation in the high jump lead the way in their respective events with jumpers Taylor Houx, Eleanor Parrot, Riley Stoulil and thrower Stephanie Lane adding depth in those events.

A number of young runners return including members of the sectional qualifying 4x100, 4x200, and 4x800 relay teams. Maddie and Brook Bischof, Ryann Fahrenholz, Chelsey Lewis, Katie Ebbrecht, Jo Grauberger , Daisha Battles, Onjhana Davis, and Marche Belcher all hope to improve on solid freshman and sophomore years. Belcher will also compete in the 300 hurdles. Kim Rau, Park Hill’s top cross country runner, and Carly Moyer will contribute in a variety of running events.

While the Trojans finished fourth in conference and seventh in districts as a team in 2011, the season which seemed to be headed towards disaster created some valuable experience for many of the core members of this year’s squad, leaving plenty of optimism about the 2012 season ahead.

Park Hill starts the season off with a dual track meet against Park Hill South on March 27^th.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Tennis

Park Hill South proved their boy’s tennis program continued on the up and up last year. Starting where they left off the year before, the Panthers won all their dual matches on except one on their way to repeating as a conference champions, won the team district title, and advanced past sectionals into the state quarterfinals before falling to Rockhurst. The Panthers’ top doubles team of Griffin Smith and Zack Royle advanced as a pair to state, placing in the top five, which was the highest finish in the programs history.

With last year in the rear view mirror and Smith now playing at Truman State, Royle returns for his junior year to now serve as the Panthers top player and take over as a captain leading what Coach Ian Cunliff describes as a young team with high potential.

“This is a rebuilding year with a young team that will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience,” Cunliff said. “We look forward to learning as much as possible over the next few months and are excited about our chances.”

While Royle will likely play both singles and doubles, his partner or the other pairs have not completely been decided yet. Joining him on the varsity level will be Jim Geary, Josh Robaska, Brandon Courtney, Josh Boehm, and Garrison Ballam.

Despite new and old faces alike competing for the Panthers in 2012, their goals remain relatively unchanged including another trip to the playoffs and to beat rival Park Hill, which has traditionally come hand in hand.

“Our goals are to qualify for postseason play, beat Park Hill, qualify two players for state individual play, and to learn as much as possible,” Cunliff said.

Park Hill South starts the season off with two home matches against Park Hill and Fort Osage next week.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Baseball

Last year’s 12-13 Park Hill baseball team featured a lot of underclassmen in key roles, part due to injuries and part due to necessity. Coming in 2012, this means the Trojans come back with a strength that could come in handy in a sport as strategic as baseball: depth. It also means there are several positions up for grabs among more than enough capable players.

“We played a lot of underclassmen last year and they ended up getting a lot of playing time. It was good for our lower levels in promoting competition,” Coach Greg Reynolds said. “We’re exciting for the kids that will be fighting for jobs, it gives us a little flexibility.”

One of the players thrown into the fire as a sophomore last year was pitcher Logan Sloniker who racked up 50 strikeouts in 38 innings, posting a 4.80 earned run average. It was a tough position to be in for a young player, but using it as a foundation should pay dividends this season.

“Sloniker was thrown in as a sophomore,” Reynolds said. “He’s one of our best when it comes to conditioning and coming in for weights, but it takes a toll. This year we’re hoping to get a lot more help for him in several different ways.”

Returning for the Trojans and providing a solid group to build around are shortstop Zach Thompson, outfielder Zach Anderson, and outfielder/pitcher Dalton Motts, who, with Sloniker, will represent the heart of the lineup with a combined 74 hits and 39 runs batted in. Third baseman Jake Jones, catcher Ryan Winters, and second baseman Austin Lewis return as starters from last year’s team. Marcus Cross, Chris Heustis, Adam Fosdick, Paul Safford, Brent Collins, and Jose Reyes will also contribute.

Park Hill’s depth is probably most evident in the outfield where they have several players who can cover ground and when not starting serve as potential base running threats including John Balsamo, Cooper Gardner, and Seth Ell. This will be key since Anderson’s lone home run last season serves as the only evidence of power returning offensively for a Park Hill team that will rely on line drives and speed to their advantage.

“I think our outfield strength in terms of depth is better than it is anywhere else. We look at this team and think that defense is going to make the difference, so that’s how we’re deciding who wins a position. With that said, speed in the outfield is important. Some of our best teams have had that.”

Pitching is an area Park Hill feels confident in with four solid options to choose from. Cross, Sloniker, and Motts will see significant innings on the mound. Jake Jones, who is recovering from an arm injury, and Nick Jones will see relief opportunities throughout the season.

Park Hill starts the season off at the KC Metro Tournament before hosting Oak Park and St. Joe Central next week.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Track

Coach Mark Gourley is entering his 33^rd and final year as a teacher and track coach and he still says each season, each team is different.

“It’s different every year. You never really know what you have coming into a season, sometimes you might not even know until the end of the season,” Gourley said. “There’s always someone that comes from out of nowhere and you didn’t expect them to do as good. Then there’s always someone who falls off, from injuries or a number of reasons.”

For 2012 though, Gourley knows he has a few key pieces to build around from last year’s team, which seemed to fall just short of several first place placements down the stretch. The Trojans, as a team, finished second three consecutive weeks in a row starting with conference, and then districts, and finally sectionals before finishing towards the bottom of the field at the state meet. They plan on avoiding that stigma this year by picking up where they left off in several events.

The state qualifying 4x200 relay returns two in Jon Saucedo and Anthony Arens while the 4x800 relay team brings back three in Riley Fahrenholz, Cain Winebrenner, and Joey Walton. Walton, who had a standout cross country season, is someone the Trojans hope can see success in several different positions.

“We’re really excited about him after his cross country season. He can run on a lot of things,” Gourley said. “Cain (Winebrenner) is the same way; he has a lot of determination.”

In sprints, Dondrell Hardiman and Devon Belew will be strong competitors in the 300 hurdles and 400 yard dash. John Harris and Levonte Hickman bring added spring as well. Artis Norfleet will be a solid performer in the triple and long jumps. Overall, the Trojans have a fairly balanced team with reasons to be optimistic in 2012. In terms of getting the chance for a top finish at conference, it now comes down to adding depth.

“We’re well rounded, but not terribly deep at some spots. We can always work the relays out as long as we’re strong in other events. They’re always a surprise,” Gourley said. “In conference it’s about having three entries, being deeper always helps.”

Park Hill sees Lee’s Summit West as their likeliest competitor for the conference title. They will jump start the season against Park Hill South March 27^th in a dual track meet at Park Hill.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Baseball

Park Hill South’s 13-13 record last season is deceptive for a team that went 10-2 on their way to a conference title. Even in the tough conference the Panthers play in, Coach Josh Walker couldn’t quite pin down the success they had in league play.

“We just played well when it came to conference time,” Walker said. “A lot of the teams we beat in conference were probably better than teams we lost to out of the conference. Hopefully our force has changed to where we do that against every team this year.”

Minus their top two pitchers, the Panthers return a good core of last year’s team including first baseman Alex Howe (.348 average, 12 RBI), infielder Nick Ferraro, third baseman Ty Elley, centerfielder Eddie Sola, catcher Avery Booth (.381 average, 24 hits), outfielder Luke Ravenscraft, and pitcher Luke Colvault (14 strikeouts, 3.71 ERA). As they approach the regular season, Park Hill South feels most comfortable about their defense.

“Our strength right now is our defense,” Walker said. “I’m somewhat impressed with our hitting, but defense is our strength.”

Joining the team this year is a pair of transfer students in Joel Burkhart and Michael Somerville, both of which could make an immediate impact playing in the infield or pitching. Planned contributions are also expected from pitcher Jordan Fitch (1.62 ERA, 11 strikeouts), outfielder Bryce Thompson, and outfielder Cody Shopper.

Defending their conference title won’t be an easy task in 2012 though as Fort Osage and Winnetonka feature strong programs that will contend. For Winnetonka, there will be the added motivation for redemption for last year’s crown.

“We won conference on their field last year, so I know they’re going to want to get us back,” Walker said.

Overall, Walker is comfortable with this year’s squad as he looks toward the start of the season and the balance it has at first glance.

“We’re a good mix of old and young right now, they impress me with how much they’re playing as a team right now,” Walker said. “We’ve got some good senior leadership and young talent right now.”

With a tough tournament trip scheduled to Bartlesville, Oklahoma for the opening week of the season, Park Hill South hopes to get off to a good start. One which they hope leads to some good momentum going forward.

“Getting off to a decent start,” Walker said. “If we do that, we can really get some stuff done.”

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Golf

The Park Hill South boys golf team brings back another strong group in 2012 to defend their Suburban Conference, White Division title. State qualifiers senior Nick Schleisman and junior Matt Barry return after strong district and sectional performances, hoping to improve on their state outings from a year ago. Their state appearance, which did not see the results they would have liked, was something to build on for 2012.

“I hope both learned that the State Tournament is great to qualify for, but they need to remember what happened last season prior to the State Tournament that actually got them there,” Coach Larry Torgerson said. “I am sure it was a great learning experience and I believe that experience will motivate them to get to the State Tournament and do well both days.

Sectional qualifiers Nick Sobba and Austin Dorrell also return after just missing out on earning a state appearance. Austin Berry will add to the mix and contribute as a newcomer to the varsity level this year.

All of those strong individual performances boded very well for the Panthers overall as a team last year as they placed second in districts and fourth in sectionals, just short of clinching a team state appearance. For Park Hill South, it looks like 2012 is shaping up to be another successful year as they are again favorites to repeat as conference champions and have improved in the offseason with practice and tournament success.

Even though they come into the season with high expectations, Torgerson knows golf has a huge mental aspect to it and continued progress throughout the course of the year is what will determine their success.

“If we improve day by day there is no limit to what we might accomplish,” Torgerson said.

The Panthers start the season against some top competition in March including matches against Liberty and Lee’s Summit West along with the Lee’s Summit North Invite.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Golf

Park Hill boys golf doesn’t return a lot of varsity golfers from last year, but coach Zach Dorrell sees that as a potentially good thing in terms of player development and parity among the top five.

Colby Buehler who saw success on the varsity level last year comes back as the Trojans only golfer which significant experience. Buehler was a sectional qualifier last season, but placed towards the bottom of the field in that sectional round tied for 44^th, which prevented him from advancing to the state tournament.

“He played pretty well all year for us,” Dorrell said. “He should be consistently in the low 40’s on nine holes. Right now, during the preseason, he’s probably our number”

Senior Dax Mullendore will join Buehler this year on the varsity level as he spent most of last season at the junior varsity level. Underclassmen Logan Lashbrook and Grant Brown are also looking to secure a top five spot on the varsity team in 2012. In the opening weeks of the preseason, Dorrell sees a lot of potential for young guys to get opportunities.

“It’s wide open right now,” Dorrell said. “We could see a lot of guys moving between varsity and junior varsity competition just to see what they can do.”

While many teams may see a large difference in the skill set between their number one and number fix golfers, Park Hill will host a team with a fairly well-rounded group this season, which is fairly rare at the high school level, but something the Trojans think can benefit them overall.

“We’re pretty even one through five, probably more this year than I’ve had in a long time,” Dorrell said. “The last couple year’s we’ve had one or two really good golfers, but now we’re more balanced which I think will allow us to score better as a team. This year I think we’ll have a better shot at being towards the top 1/3 of our competition.”

Park Hill will face some tough dual matches as they participate in a conference featuring the likes of Truman and Lee’s Summit West, two teams with traditionally strong golf programs. They host two consecutive matches on March 27^th and 28^th against North Kansas City then Pembroke Hill and Kearney.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Girls Track

In 2012, the Park Hill South girls track team will defend their conference title with a handful of returning varsity athletes who saw success last year. While the Panthers weren’t able to qualify anyone for the state meet, they return two athletes that came up just short of qualifying in Blake Reser and Audrey Rothers, who will be a core piece of the 2012 team in events like the long jump, triple jump, hurdles, and a mix of different relays.

Hannah Carlson in the hurdles, Taylor Termini in sprints, Tia Square in jumps, and pole vaulter Kelsey Sadler also return for the Panthers along with a handful of seniors who will fill in to play a role throughout the upcoming season. While Coach Andy Keefer has some key athletes returning, the unique thing about his teams from past years aren’t stellar performances from standout athletes, but ones which exceeded expectations and led to overall solid team results.

“The team stepped up really well (last year),” Keefer said. “We’re lucky to where we’re usually pretty deep and we get a lot of second, third, and fourth place finishes. We had a lot of people step up for us.”

A lot of those finishes created the motivation for improvement, which led many athletes to put in the time working in the offseason. Work they hope pays off in the form of a potential opportunity to compete in college.

“We had a lot more commitment in the offseason with people getting into it. We’ve got a couple girls looking to do this in college and move to the next level in it,” Keefer said.

While the Panthers hope to build on their success in the jumps and hurdles, there is plenty of potential throughout the events to propel Park Hill South to another competitive season.

“Our jumps are probably our strength right now. We’ve got some freshmen that look pretty quick so we’ll see how that progresses, but we won’t be able to tell until down the road,” Keefer said. “By the time we get to the Kearney meet, we’ll have a better idea of where people are going to be. We have a lot of other people potentially, but no one who has quite shown that yet.”

With the defense of their conference title on the line in the Suburban Conference, Raytown South appears to be the Panthers most clear challenger to the start the season. Park Hill South starts the season with a dual meet against Park Hill March 27^th.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Girls Soccer

With a 22-4-1 record last year, Park Hill South girls soccer was one of the top teams in the metro on their way to the best record in school history. This was pretty impressive given the number of talented teams they’ve had over the years. But as had happened the two previous years, the Panthers’ postseason was cut short once again by Liberty. Liberty went on to win the state championship last season, but the Lady Panthers, with a strong group of experienced seniors, hope 2012 is the year they break through for their own shot at the title.

“We’re hoping we can get over the hump and continue this year where we left off last year,” Coach Joe Toigo said. “Every year the goal is to get to state. We won’t downplay Liberty at all, Kearney will be good too, but we need to take it a game at a time.”

So far, out of the Panthers’ eight seniors Katy Riojas (21 goals, 13 assists in 2011), Haley Shelton (4 goals, 9 assists), and Katy Lindsey ( 6 goals, 10 assists) have decided they will continue their soccer careers past this spring in college next year. Abbey Johnson brings her 13 goals back from last season as well as seniors Hannah McMachen, Crystal Lenhert, Tedi Sanchez, and Emily Jimenez who will also be contributing.

Also returning are juniors Courtney Claassen and Emmy Hanlon who scored 30 and 18 goals respectively last year. Goalkeeper Jessica Lee along with Alysa Guzman, Ashton Anderson, Samantha Carpenter, and Sophie Moody also hope to add quality minutes for a Panthers squad which on the surface appears it will have plenty of experienced scorers returning. In a low scoring game like soccer, that can have its advantages.

“Soccer is one of those games where it’s really hard to score. If you can game plan and do things, a lesser team can easily beat a favorite, more than most other sports if the other team has a bad night finishing,” Toigo said. “That’s the bad part about soccer and the good part about soccer if you always have a chance.”

While Toigo knows he has talent to work with this season, he believes improving on last year comes down to converting scoring opportunities closer to the net.

“We want to be better in the final third of the game. We’re a good possession team, pretty good defensively, but we have to be more efficient when we get toward the last 30 yards of the field,” Toigo said. “When you get into closer games, those opportunities don’t come as easily, especially in the playoffs.”

Park Hill South hopes to be hitting their stride once they hit the Blue Springs South Tournament in mid-April which will lead them into the heart of their conference schedule and into district play.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Girls Soccer

Coming off a .500 season in 2011, Park Hill girls soccer returns this year with many of the same faces that saw a majority of the minutes and scoring from last year. Coach Manny Catano sees that as an advantage and wants this year’s team to start where they left off last season.

“Our strength is our experience, as nearly our whole varsity squad played varsity last year and we have several returning starters,” Catano said.

The Trojans fell comfortable coming into the season with those who will control the tempo of the game through the middle of the field including Sydney Hultz, Shelby Blanchard, and Lyndi Plattner.

“Shelby will anchor our defensive backs,” Catano said. “Sydney and Lyndi will dictate play through the midfield by controlling distribution of the ball.”

While maintaining possession and controlling the ball appear to be strong points for Park Hill as they approach their season opener, the key will be turning those into scoring opportunities. That’s where their forwards come in and will play a pivotal role in putting points on the board for the Trojans.

“A key area of play for us will be scoring goals, getting production from Katie Hibbeler, Maggie Lanham, and Jordyn Galvin will be important,” Catano said.

Upperclassmen Maddie Hemphill, Ashley Sutlief, and Katlin Moran will contribute as well as a large group of sophomores including Regina Bolin, Abby Peoples, Claudia Fonseca, Emily Villarreal, Karra Kennedy, and Jamie Dawalt.

“We have a lot of sophomores that will be stepping up to play big roles on our squad this year,” Catano said.
Park Hill kicks off their season at the Lee’s Summit Tournament this week. They host Lee’s Summit West next week, a team they see as a top competitor for the conference title.

Pride not a good reason to end rivalry

Last week I watched a handful of high school seniors ended their careers with losses in district basketball games. For the most part, they were playing their last game as competitive basketball players. I remember thinking to myself that the finality of this moment would not sink in for these players for some time, possibly not even until next season when they watch a game from the bleachers. The “last time” for something good is not something which can ever be savored enough, making it almost impossible to imagine for many, and preferably avoidable for most.

So it was odd the following day to watch what was labeled as the last Missouri/Kansas men’s basketball game. Pending a Big 12 Championship Game match-up, which is no guarantee, the classic overtime game played at Allen Fieldhouse last Saturday was the last guaranteed regularly scheduled game between the two schools, a game which has been played 267 times over the past 105 years. This is a result of Missouri’s decision to move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) next year.

 

Even in the first match-up in Columbia, with just over two minutes to play, I remember telling myself this was already one of the best games I’ve seen in my life. That was with my Tigers down seven points, before even coming back to win in the final moments. Last Saturday topped it, despite the outcome, for me. It had everything a great game could have and at this point, I can only predict it will be viewed as not only the ‘final’ game, but one of the best in the series. In the end, though, it still brings me back to the finality of it all and how it will be missed. I’m only in my third decade of life, so I can’t even imagine what the rivalry has meant to those who’ve been around long before me. Should it end?

As a Mizzou alum and fan, I can be a realist in a certain sense and understand the reasoning for Kansas not wanting, or seeing the need, to play Missouri moving forward. There won’t be any conference implications in the games and no big pay days for the athletic department they wouldn’t get otherwise. Why exchange an easy non-conference football or basketball win for a highly emotional potential lose to a long-time rival?

One analogy Kansas compares the situation to is that Missouri divorced Kansas with their breakup with the Big 12 Conference. The fact that the two could ever be married really gives a bad name to marriage. First, you have to like each other to start with. Second, you have to agree on something occasionally. Neither has happened for going on 150 years, which is what gives the rivalry its passion and energy. Third, the two states still share the same border and co-existing populations, so they might as well be able to get together a couple times year and see a positive side to it. At least for the kids’ sake, right?

Although there is a lack of comparisons available for this exact situation, there are more plenty of instances where sports rivalries exist with only bragging rights on the line.

Let’s apply some local comparisons. The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals don’t play in the same league or division, yet every summer they play a home and home series against each other for state bragging rights. The fans love it and it helps promote team and regional pride for each city. The same goes for Park Hill and Park Hill South who used to play in the same conference and district, creating some pretty intense and pivotal match-ups between the two over the years. The past couple years they have been in separate conferences and districts, but same as always, the two battled it out on the gridiron and court to packed stadiums and gyms with just as much passion as ever. The football game, which Park Hill South won for only the second time this year, meant nothing to their playoff hopes, but try telling that to the several hundred kids who stormed the field after their victory.

Let’s be honest, both athletic departments are geniuses when it comes to generating revenue and profits for their programs. It’s part of the reason we are where we are at this point, but I find it hard to believe there can’t be a solution developed to make this match-up profitable if that’s the only thing preventing its continuation.

 

In the end, the whole situation is kind of odd. Both schools are public universities funded by taxpayer dollars and donations. Both schools are charged with giving today’s youth the tools and knowledge it needs to solve tomorrow’s problems, to see solutions where there may seem to be none, and hopefully positively contribute to society in some form or another.

Yet, they (well, mostly Kansas) can’t find a way for a rivalry which has been part of the local culture and public good for more than a century to continue to do so despite… a change in conference affiliation? It’d be a head scratcher for St. Louis and Kansas City baseball fans if it were to happen. There’d be plenty of opinions voiced if Park Hill and Park Hill South didn’t get their claim to bragging rights.

Kansas got caught up in the mixed bag of emotions that came with Missouri’s move to the SEC. They hastily staked out a hard claim to backtrack on by saying they’d never play Missouri again, as if to play the ultimate check-mate. Like many of our politicians, that’s the position they’re going to stick with despite any evidence to the contrary. There are some things no amount of money or pride, one way or the other, should be able to compensate or change. But I guess pride is what built this rivalry over the last century, and its on course to be what brings it down as well.

Park Hill girls fade against tough Staley squad

Coming into the fourth quarter of their district semifinal against St. Joe Central, the Park Hill Lady Trojans found themselves down 11 points. Mounting an impressive come from behind effort anchored by Kyleesha Weston, who had 20 points on the night, Park Hill edged the Indians 37-36 to advance to last Friday’s district title game against Staley.

The energy and momentum from the previous night’s effort must have carried into the first quarter as Park Hill held Staley, one of the city’s top teams, scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the game, building a modest 7-0 lead. That’s when Staley turned on the burners though, as they finished the quarter on a 9-0 run, taking the lead, one they would not give up.

 “We got off to a really good start. Probably had a little bit of the home crowd behind us,” Park Hill Coach Aaron Neeser said. “Had some bad possessions at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the 2^nd quarter, they (Staley) settled in and couldn’t ever really get them out of their rhythm.”

Park Hill would continue to battle, but would be unable to overcome Staley, who was able to hit some big shots in the second half to smother any comeback efforts and go onto a 52-37 victory.

“We got beat on the boards and gave up too many second chance opportunities,” Neeser said. “They’re a really good team.”

Park Hill ends their season with a 16-11 record, a successful improvement for an outgoing senior class and foundation builder for Neeser, who concludes his second season at the head of the program.

Park Hill avoids trifecta sweep, but falls in district title game

The old saying ‘It’s hard to beat a team three times’ is commonly used to describe how difficult it is for a team to beat another they’re generally considered the favorite over after having already won two previous games. This was the case coming into last week’s district semifinal game between the Park Hill and Park Hill South boys basketball teams as Park Hill South, with an impressive 17-8 season, came into their district semifinal game against Park Hill with two wins against the Trojans already this season. On the other side of the court was Park Hill, coming into the game after a tough regular season which gave them with a 6-17 record. Having only lost by a combined eight points in their two previous losses to the Panthers, they were two outings in which the Trojans displayed an unmatched amount of fire and passion. The third and final meeting would be no different.

With elimination and the end of the season on the line, the two rivals battled back and forth nearly every minute of the game. The atmosphere had the passionate feel most matchups bring between these two teams, but with the added tension of its playoff implications.

Despite being an underdog, Park Hill took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter which was narrowed to a slim 29-28 going into halftime. Park Hill South would pull ahead by seven late in the second half, but a Park Hill comeback put this year’s Park Hill/Park Hill South finale in the books as a classic. Each basket meaning more and more as time ticked away in the second half, Park Hill’s Keaton Anchors secured a turnover with just seconds remaining in the game and took it in for a layup to put the Trojans up two. Marcus Cross would add another point from the free throw line. Park Hill South guard Anthony Woods, who had been in foul trouble early in the game, took an inbound pass from under the basket, but his three as time expired fell short giving Park Hill the upset and 56-53 district semifinal victory. Garrett Wooldridge led in scoring for Park Hill with 15 points in the victory, which set up a district title game matchup with St. Joe Central.

While the Trojans came out with the same passion they had against Park Hill South, the athleticism of St. Joe Central was tough for the Trojans to compete against. In fact, Park Hill pulled ahead of the Indians in the first quarter resulting in a 15-11 lead. The spark was short lived as St. Joe Central would win the next three quarters. Park Hill remained within striking distance, but couldn’t quite get close enough to regain the lead as the Indians gradually increased their lead each period on the way to a 68-51 victory over Park Hill. Connor Farmer led the Trojans in scoring with 18 points.

“We came out with a lot of enthusiasm,” Park Hill Coach David Garrison said. “In the second quarter things got tough and we had some turnovers which led to some baskets. That’s one thing we knew we couldn’t do.”

Park Hill ends the season with a second place district finish and 7-18 overall record. For Garrison, the Trojans’ tough schedule presented two options for a senior laden team.

“The main thing our kids did is they kept competing. That’s something we really appreciated,” Garrison said. “When you’re having a season you’re not really happy with, there are two things you can do. You can roll over or you can continue to fight and compete.”