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.