Park Hill/Park Hill South Mid-Season Track Update

PH Boys Track
…took first place at the Park Hill South Invitational last Friday as they ran away from the competition with 226 team points. Coming away with first place finishes were Anthony Arens in the 100 meter run, Devon Belew in the 400 meter run, Cain Winebrenner in the 1600 meter run, Dondrell Haridman in the 110 hurdle, and Devonte Thornton in the high jump.

What really distinguished the Trojans from the rest of the field were the Trojan relays which swept all races including the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800. Athletes participating in these events included John Harris, Lavonte Hickman, Mike II Williams, Anthony Arens, Dondrell Hardiman, Dominique Anderson, Jon Saucedo, Vince Tutorino, Jessie Witherby, Nate Thomas, James Pitia, Matt Pitts, Michael Bidwell, and Nate Thomas.

Park Hill hosts their home invitational this week with Conference and District meets to follow the following weeks.

PH Girls Track
…saw several successful finishes at the Park Hill South Invitational last Friday as they placed second with 212 points, just 3.5 points behind Park Hill South who won the final race to pull ahead overall in the final standings. Earning first place finishes were Anesia Jamerson in the 100 meter, Brooke Bischof in the 800 meter run, Merecedes Robinson in the 3200 meter run, Bailey Cation in the high jump, and Taylor Cofield in the triple jump. The 4x800 relay team of Joanna Grauberger, Kim Rau, Chelsay Lewis, and Brooke Bischof also placed first.

The Trojans are making do with what they have in the sprints after losing several of their top runners early in the season. Coach Tari Garner says the team has fared pretty well so far.

“We lost a couple kids in our sprints that were hard to replace. The kids are working well together and pretty good for a team that didn’t have a lot going. Our coaches have done a good job of bringing those kids up to the next level,” Garner said. “Our goal for the team is top three for conference. We are who we are and in the end have to show up and perform that day. That’s what I tell the kids.”

One pleasant surprise for Park Hill has been the addition of freshman Mercedes Robinson, who joins Kim Rau in the 3200 meter run. While Rau has been one of the Trojans’ top runners all season, Robinson has come onto the scene as of late improving at an impressive weekly pace. Talent and following what has become somewhat of a new superstitious diet has been part of the equation.

“Mercedes doesn’t know how good she is, to drop 20-30 seconds a week is crazy,” Garner said. “In my class, I have the kids design a fitness program and then teach it to the class. This one group presented yoga and then served low-fat cappuccino and other snacks. That day, she (Robinson) set a personal record dramatically. So ever since, on meet days, she eats carrots, pita chips, and hummus with cappuccino. It’s kind of a funny story."

Robinson and Rau appear to have good opportunities at qualifying for sectionals along with a number of other field event participants and runners. Park Hill will have one more tune up this week before conference when they host their home meet, the Park Hill Invitational Thursday.

PHS Boys Track
…placed second behind Park Hill in the Park Hill South Invite last week as they rounded up 160 team points. The Panthers took first place in four events including CJ Whisnant in the 200 meter run, Cody Kildow in the discus, Nick Griffith in the long jump, and Jalen Ross in the triple jump.

Park Hill South is stocked full of young athletes, of which many are facing varsity competition for the first time. With only four seniors, the approximately sixty freshmen and sophomores on the team make up the majority of the team. This has provided short-term frustration, but will be healthy over the long-term.

“We have a ton of freshmen and sophomores that have been performing well, but they’ve been frustrated all year running as our varsity teams because they’ve been running in all these varsity meets instead of what would normally be freshmen meets,” Coach Clay Lenhert said. “If we can hold them together for the next couple years, we’ll be back on the map. We can compete against any freshmen and sophomores in the city and with growth we will be good in time.”

While the Panthers have several running events along with the pole vault, discus, and shot put which have chances at sectional qualifications, Park Hill South will continue to develop their young talent and place a foundation in 2012 for what they hope it future success.

PHS Girls Track
…came from behind as a team to win their own invitational last Friday as they pulled ahead of Park Hill in the closing events for a narrow victory with 216 points. Coming out of the event with first place finishes were Audrey Rothers in the 100 meter run, Jordan Hammond in the 400 meter run, Blake Reser in the long jump, the relay teams for the 4x100 and 4x400 races, and Morgan Keesee in the shot put and discus.

Keesee, who set the school record in the shot put earlier this season, is someone who head coach Andy Keefer says has worked hard for her success and looks forward to continued success as she is only a sophomore.

“There’s an excellent example of someone who’s dedicated, works hard, and wants to get better. This winter, she went to every clinic she could go to, worked hard in the weight room. Last year she did well, but nothing near what shes doing now,” Keefer said.

She is not alone in contributing as an underclassmen. South has several young athletes who’ve had surprising seasons including freshman Jordan Hammond, Sydney Minnis, Erin Stump, Madeline Homoly, and several others have stepped up for the Panthers.

Asked what he thought his team’s chances were on repeating as conference champions next week, Keefer remains optimistic.

“I’m very confident and think we’ll do pretty good. I sure hope so,” Keefer said.

The Panthers have this week off while they prepare for Conference at Staley next week.

Spring Roundup: Apr. 9-14

Park Hill South Girls Soccer
…took control of their conference last week with three conference victories. Anna Courtney scored two goals in South’s 4-1 victory over Raytown South with Crystal Lenhert and Katie Lindsey also putting in goals for the Panthers. In a 4-2 win over Raytown, Shay Jackson, Alysa Guzman, Courtney Claassen, and Abbey Johnson contributed goals. To end the week, Jessica Lee secured her seventh shutout of the year as Park Hill South defeated William Chrisman 3-0. They will be competing in the Blue Springs South Tournament all this week before returning to home to play against Fort Osage next week.
Courtney Claassen leads team in goals (1st in points), Shay Jackson in assists (2nd in points). The Panthers are now 8-1 overall, 6-0 in conference on the year.

Park Hill South Girls Track
…took first place at Northwest Missouri State University out of 11 teams early last week in the Bearcat Invite, edging out Chillicothe by 17 points out of nearly 1000 earned. Leading them were first place finishers Audrey Rothers in the 110 hurdles and Blake Reser in the triple jump. Reser also brought home second in the long jump. Contributing additional team points with their third and fourth place finishes were Tori Kerr in the discus (3rd), De De O’Toole in the 3200 meter race (3rd), Rothers in the high jump (4th), Morgan Keesee in the shot put (4th) and discus (4th), and the 4x800 relay team of Erin Stump, Lizzy Jurries, O’Toole, and Madeline Homoly (4th).
Park Hill South took eighth out of nine teams at the Winnetonka Invitational later in the week. Jessica Hayes placed second in the high jump while fourth place finishes were secured by Kyndal Mills in the triple jump and Jessica Hayes in the 300 hurdles.
They host the Park Hill South Invitational this Friday.

Park Hill South Boys Track
…finished fourth out of 11 teams at Northwest Missouri State University’s Bearcat Invitational to start last week. The 4x100 relay team of Bryan Robinson, Craig Scott, Marcus Harris, and Nick Griffith clocked in a first place time. With second place finishes were Jalen Ross in the 300 hurdles, Max Rodgers in the pole vault, and the 4x800 relay team of Mitch McDonald, Mason Homoly, Lendon Calhoun, and Abdi Sarbessa. Cody Kildow took third in the discus.

The Panthers didn’t finish the week they way they were hoping to at the Winnetonka Invitational last week as they finished last out of nine teams with just 19 points.

Park Hill Baseball
…increased their winning streak to four to end the week last week with two wins. The first came against North Kansas City when the Trojans rallied from a 6-2 deficit to score five runs in the final inning to win 7-6. Zach Anderson contributed two RBI’s while Zach Thompson and Dalton Moats scored two runs apiece. Moats struck out nine in his outing against Smithville on the way to a 7-1 victory over Smithville on Friday. Moats, combined with Nick Jones and Cooper Gardner to hold Smithville to only three hits the entire game. Austin Lewis, John Balsamo, and Moats had two hits apiece while Jacob Vanvacter contributed two RBI’s.
Park Hill is now 8-2 coming into the Northland Tournament this week.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
…split their two games at the Smithville Tournament last weekend. Despite allowing a goal in their own net, Park Hill was able to defeat Harrisonville in penalty kicks 4-3 after the game was tied 1-1 after regulation. The Trojans fell to Staley 2-1 in the next game. Abby Peoples scored Park Hill’s only goal.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Golf
Park Hill South came away with a match victory after a strong outing against Liberty, St. Joe Central, and Park Hill last week at The National. Austin Dorrell medaled for the Panthers with a score of 74. Park Hill South’s top score of 313 bested Liberty at 334, St. Joseph Central at 388, and Park Hill at 389.

Park Hill Boys Track
…placed fifth out of 13 teams at the Blue Springs Invitational last weekend with 61 team points. Leading the way with their first place finish in the 4x800 meter run was the team of Riley Fahrenholz, Kyle Pudenz, Joe Walton, and Nate Huffer. Deven Belew in 400 and Cain Winebrenner in the 1600 took home second place finishes. Steven Clopine in the high jump and Dondrell Hardiman in the 300 meter hurdles placed third.

Park Hill will participate in the Park Hill South Invitational this Friday.

Park Hill Girls Track
…took ninth place out of 11 teams with 26 points last weekend at the Blue Springs Invitational. Taylor Cofield took fourth in the pole vault and fifth in the triple jump to lead the Trojans in points. Also getting fifth place finishes were Kim Rau in the 3200 run and the 4x800 relay team of Rau, Joanna Grauberger, Chelsay Lewis, and Brooke Bischof.

Park Hill will participate in the Park Hill South Invitational this Friday.

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.

Boys sweep first, Girls runner-up at Conference meet

Last week’s Park Hill Invitational was the last opportunity for the Trojan track teams to prepare themselves for this week’s all important Conference meet at Staley. While the boys took first place against a tough field of competition, both teams have reason to be optimistic down the final stretch.

Near the top of the leader board in almost every event, the boys racked up 185 points compared to Fort Osage’s second place total of 126 team points. The Trojans were led once again by Nick Smith in the shot put and discus. Smith has provided a high level of consistency for Park Hill throughout the season. Other areas of strength for the boys are the 4x400 and 4x200 relay teams which edged out North Kansas City in both races along with other hurdle and long-distance events including Adrien Esaw in the 110 meter hurdles (1st), Dondrell Hardiman in the 300 meter hurdles (1st), and Nathan Kohler (1st), Fernando Garcia (2nd), and Cain Winebrenner’s (1st) performances in the 800 and 1600 meter runs.

The quality outcome against teams with athletes like those of Fort Osage and Raytown sets Coach Mark Gourley’s boys team up for what they hope will be a conference championship this Thursday in the second and final day of the conference meet. Their ability to not necessarily win every event, but score high in a wide range of those events will be an advantage that could pay off for the Trojan boys.

On the girls side, after placing fourth in the PH Invitational Coach Tari Garner doesn’t think she’s seen the best out of her team yet, but sees a lot of potential. Junior Helena Hudson has been a consistently high performer. She placed first in the 100 meter hurdles last week and joined the 4x100 relay team of Rodnisha Willard, Angie Reagan, and Anesia Jamerson which finished third. Also finishing third were Nikki Collwell in the discus and Stephanie Atkinson in the pole vault. Jordan Cox and Kyleesha Weston also continue to excel in the throw events.

Although the girls haven’t been finishing first in as many events as they’d like, Garner has promoted the overall team as motivation at the individual level.

“We consistently talk about the fact that each individual has to give their best performance… it doesn’t have to be about winning the event but improving and placing in the highest possible spot to achieve team success,” Garner said.

Distance hasn’t been their strength, but recent performances from freshmen Chelsea Lewis and Shari Grayson have provided quality additions to this year’s team. One thing Garner isn’t denying is the improvement she’s seen across the board as the season has gone on despite injuries that have affected overall team results.

“We will continue to improve and perform our best,” Garner said. “The Conference Championship is our next goal and we plan to qualify at least three events to the State Championship Meet.”

After falling just short, Girls Track hopes to hurdle competition

Eight points isn’t a lot, but for the Park Hill Girls Track team last year those eight points meant the difference between a conference championship and finishing second behind their rival, Park Hill South. There’s no doubt they’ve come back this year with goal number one clearly laid out.

“We have a strong team, we’d like to be conference champs this year,” coach Tari Garner said.

After tuning up for the preseason with a program that focuses on running form and technique, the girls have been fortunate to be outside as much as they have with the weather as bad as it has been.

“We’ve been outside a lot for this early in the season and that’s been a definite advantage,” Garner said.

Returning are several strong components from last year’s team including sophomore Kyleesha Weston who was a state competitor in sprints and just missed qualifying in the discus event. Senior Jordan Cox will once again be competing in the shotput. She also was a state qualifier last year. Juniors Angie Reagan and Helena Hudson will compete in the distance events after just missing a trip to state last year.

“We’d like to get at least one relay to qualify for state this year,” Garner said. “Just missed it on a couple last year.”

Garner believes an important part of the success of this year’s team relies on the coaching staff and their strong ability to communicate well with each other and the athletes.

“We have all of our coaches back from last year with no turnover and they’re great with communicating with each other,” Garner said. “They work with each other really well and we’ve worked to create that kind of atmosphere.”

With so many athletes participating in multiple events, many times it’s about using practice time effectively and then making sure they are at the right events in a meet that can have multiple events happening at once.

“Our hope is you’ll see leaders from Park Hill in each event and that’s our goal to make sure the kids get to the right event so they can be successful,” Garner said. “That leads to the team being successful across the board."