Trojans, Panthers see mixed results at state track

Park Hill Boys Track & Field
Nick Smith provided the most consistent results for the Park Hill Trojans track team at the state meet last weekend, just as he had all season. His seventh place finish in the shot put and twelfth place finish in the discus were the highest finishes for Park Hill at the state's highest level. The 4x800 team of Nathan Koehler, Riley Farenholz, Cain Winebrenner, Joseph Walton finished 15th with their time of 8:11. Dondrell Hardiman was unable to advance to the finals of the 300 hurdles as well as the 4x200 relay team.

Park Hill South Boys Track & Field
James Bowlin finished sixth in 800 meter dash capping off a successful senior year and accounting as the Panthers top finisher and only athlete to compete in a final race.

Spring Weekly Roundup: April 11-15

Park Hill Boys Tennis
... led by Michael Jones win 10-4 in the top singles matchup they beat Lee's Summit North 7-2 to start off last week. Blake Barnard and Christian Reinmiller also won in their number one double competition 10-6. They next welcomed Ruskin and with a combination of all skill levels beat the Eagles 8-1. Later in the week, they traveled to Pembroke Hill where they fell 5-0 before inclement weather prevented the meet from being completed. They'll compete against Liberty North Wednesday and Blue Springs South Thursday.

Park Hill South Boys Tennis
...improved their overall dual season record to 5-1 last week with a two 9-0 wins against Belton and Fort Osage. Top singles players Zack Royle and Griffin Smith are undefeated at 6-0 on the year.

"They're non-stop, they are just going after the ball constantly," Coach Glynis Chambers said of her top two players."Griffin's got a solid left-hand which can be an obstacle for many players and Zach is a really strong hitter."

Solidifying their lineup, the Panthers have Jim Geary, Justin Dixon, Josh Lukens, and Abhi Gullapalli contributing at the varsity level with Chris McCarthy finding himself pushing those above him in competing for and sometimes stepping into that sixth spot on the roster.

"Our top six players are not only great tennis players, they take their academics seriously, and are overall awesome young men," Coach Glynis Chambers said.

Park Hill Boys Track
.. had another strong performance last week as they placed first overall as a team in the Winnetonka Invitational. A number of Trojans earned top finishes with first place medal winners including Cain Winebrenner in the 1600 meter dash, Nick Smith in the discus (161' 2"), Luke Bossert in the pole vault (12' 6"), Trace Norfleet in the long jump (22' 5.25") and triple jump (44' 9"), and the 4x800 relay team of Nathan Koehler, Joe Walton, Riley Farenholz, and Winebrenner. Runners-up with second place finishes included Anthony Arens in the 100 meter dash (10.88), Quenton Noble in the 200 meter dash (22.8), Nate Huffer in the 3200 meter run (10:48), Smith in the shot put, Nick Shepherd in the high jump, and the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. Burt Taylor in the 100 meter run, Joe Walton in the 800 meter run, Dondrell Hardiman in the 300 hurdles, and Artis Norfleet in the long jump all came in third with their respective performances. They'll compete this week at the Kansas Relays at KU before hosting the Park Hill Invitational next week.

Park Hill Girls Track
...saw some strong performances at the Winnetonka Invitational last week with two top finishes. Stephanie Atkinson continues to standout for the Trojans as she earned first place in the pole vault. Also finishing first was the 4x100 relay team of Thomas, Belcher, Moss and Battles. Marche Belcher in the 200 meter run and the 4x800 relay team of Lewis, Grauberger, Bischof, and Ebbrechet finished in second place while third place medal winners included Davon Thomas in the 200 meter run, Bailey Cation in the long and triple jumps, Belcher in the 300 hurdles, Chelsea Lewis in the 800 meter run, and the 4x200 relay team of Battles, Belcher, Moss, and Thomas.

Park Hill South Boys Track
...with a strong performance in the Winnetonka Invitational, the Panthers scored 101 team points which was good enough for third place. First place finishes included James Bowlin in the 800 meter run and Christian Hildebrandt in the high jump. Second place finishers included the 4x800 relay team of Bowlin, D.J. Johnson, Abdi Sarbessa, and Connor Allison, Johnson in the 400 meter run, and Dillon Ryel in the pole vault. Cody Kildow in the discus, the 4x100 relay team of Lucas Gardner, Jones, Josh Gordon, and Andrew Davis along with the 4x400 relay team of Bowlin, Gardner, Johnson, and Ryel all received third place finishes. They will compete next this Friday at the William Chrisman Invitational.

Park Hill South Girls Track
...placed second in the Winnetonka Invitational. The handful of first place finishes came from Tori Kerr in the discus, Blake Reser in the long jump and triple jump, and the 4x800 relay team of Jessica McCoy, Lizzy Jurries, Logan Tucker-Nelson, and Samantha Roy. Roy also placed first in the 800 meter run. Jen Carlson in the high jump, Tucker-Nelson in the 800 meter run, Hannah Carlson in the 300 hurdles, Lauren Goner in the triple jump and the 4x100 relay team of Chandler Termini, Allyse Edwards, Hannah Brown, and Reser all finished as runners-up in second place. They will compete next this Friday at the William Chrisman Invitational.

Park Hill Baseball
... entered this week with a four game winning streak after victories against Park Hill South (5-2) and North Kansas City (1-0). Nathan Shores (.381, 12 RBI's) and Zach Thompson (.326, 9 RBI's) continue to lead the Trojans on offense. But Shores's impressive 0.69 ERA in 20 1/3 innings and Logan Sloniker's 33 strikeouts seem to be what are making the difference for Park Hill which is now 8-6 on the year. They hope to continue their success in the opening round of the Northland Tournament this week against Excelsior Springs, Staley, and Smithville.

Park Hill South Baseball
... despite a solid win against William Chrisman 6-0 earlier last week, the Panthers continued to see a lack of run support for strong pitching performances as they dropped games against Park Hill (5-2) and Winnetonka (2-0). Park Hill South, now 5-9 overall, will hope to combine their good pitching outings with some offense this week as they play three games against Liberty North, Oak Park, and Kearney in the Northland Tournament this week.

"Our pitchers all threw well, but we did not back them up with anything," Coach Josh Walker said.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
...had a rough week at the Smithville Tournament last week. Losses to Smithville (2-0) and Staley (4-2) started out the week, but the Trojans were able to salvage the last game by pulling out victory against Harrisonville after the game went to penalty kicks after a 1-1 score during regulation. They're now with a remaining game against Truman this week followed by matchups with Liberty North and Lee's Summit West next week.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Boys Golf
Park Hill South pulled out a one stroke victory ahead of Liberty last week in a quad meet competition that also included Park Hill and St. Joe Central at the National II last week. Park Hill South's 336 total team score bested Liberty's 337. Park Hill followed with a score of 352 and St. Joe Central trailed with a stroke total of 377.

Spring Weekly Roundup: March 28 - April 4

Park Hill Boys Golf
... took 13th out of 22 teams last week in Lee's Summit North's Klint Andrew Tournament. Austin Dorward led the Trojans with an individual score of 82. The following day they fell to Kearney when their 167 team strokes were best with the Bulldogs' 157. Kearney was led by Ryan Zeck who shot an impressive 33. The Trojans' top golfer was Travis Perry with a 38. They'll play at St. Joe Central before hosting their annual Darren Floyd Memorial Tournament Thursday at Tiffany Greens Golf Course.

Park Hill South Boys Golf
... finished ninth out of 22 teams last week in Lee's Summit North's Klint Andrew Tournament. They followed it up the next day with a second place finish out of three teams in a match at Lee's Summit West. Matt Barry led the Panthers with a quality performance of 37 on the par 36 course.

Park Hill Girls Track
... didn't get the results they particularly wanted when they finished 13th out of 16 teams with their 17 team points at the Rusty Hodge Invitational at Blue Springs South last weekend. Most of those points came from quality performances from Stephanie Atkinson in the pole vault (3rd), Bailey Cation in the long jump (5th) and triple jump (8th), and Chelsea Lewis in the 1600 meter run (8th). They'll compete in the Jerry Crews Relays at Staley High School this Saturday.

"We had a small crew on Friday at the Rusty Hodge Invitational due to school conflicts/some injuries," coach Tari Garner said. "We didn't fare well overall as a team, so there is always room for improvement."

Park Hill South Boys Track
James Bowlin led the Panthers in the Blue Valley Spring Classic over the weekend as he earned the highest place for South out of all athletes when he got second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:04. Dylan Rylen placed third in the pole vault while Keith Loveless placed seventh in both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. Also having notable finishes were the 4x400 relay team of Bowlin, Lucas Gardner, Dedric Johnson, and Christian Hildebrandt with their time of 3:34. Gardner placed eighth in the triple jump while Alec Gates placed seventh in the long jump. They'll compete in the Kearney Invitational this weekend.

Park Hill South Girls Track
The Park Hill South Girls Track team saw some good results over the weekend as they excelled in several areas at the Blue Valley Spring Classic against some quality area teams including Lee's Summit North, Lee's Summith West, Leavenworth, Olathe North, Blue Valley Northwest, Blue Valley North, Belton, and Topeka West. Although not being able to clinch any first place finishes, they were able to secure two second place medals along with several third place finishes. Lauren Gonner distance of 16' 1" in the long jump and Lauren Gonner's triple jump accounted for the Panthers second place finishes. Third place medalists included Tori Kerr in the discus, Mallory Ross's shot put, and Hannah Carlsonn the 300 hurdles. Other top finishers included Logan Tucker-Nelson in the 800 meter run (4th), Blake Reser in the triple jumpe (4th), and the 4x100 meter relay team of Alyse Edwards, Jill McDaniel, Chandler Termini, and Reser (4th). The next event they'll compete in will be the Kearney Invitational this weekend.

Park Hill Boys Track
... finished fifth out of 16 teams at the Rusty Hodge Invitational. Top performances were turned in by those familiar with high finishes including first place medals for Trace Norfleet in the long jump and Nick Smith in the shot put. Smith placed fourth in the discus while Norfleet's little brother Artis finished behind Trace in sixth place in the long jump. Quenton Noble turned in a fifth place finish in the 200 meter dash while Dondrell Hardiman finished fifth in the 300 hurdles, Cain Winebrenner finished fifth in the 1600 meter run, and the Trojans' 4x200 meter relay team placed fifth with a time of 1:33. They will compete next in the Jerry Crews Relays at Staley next Friday.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
... earned their first victory of the season last week as Rayci Lee and Olivia Derry scored goals in Park Hill's 2-0 victory over Truman. Claudia Fonseca recorded the shutout. They'll host Ruskin Thursday before playing Oak Park and Lee's Summit next week.

Park Hill South Girls Soccer.. improved to 6-1 on the season last week as they suffered their first defeat of the season in a 2- loss to Shawnee Mission West. They bounced right back against West's in-district neighbor Shawnee Mission South though with a 2-0 victory. They capped the week off with a 3-0 victory against Topeka Hayden with two goals from Katie Riojas and another from Ginny Tucker. Alexis Mikulich completed her second shut out of the week and fifth of the season. They'll play at Winnetonka before hosting Fort Osage on Friday before turning their focus toward a pair of home game against Raytown South and William Chrisman next week.

Park Hill South Baseball
… went 1-2 last week when they started off with two losses to Staley (4-0) and Raytown (8-1). Against Staley, Luke Covault gave six strong innings, but the Panthers’ offensive only generate three hits. South had trouble offensive again against Raytown when they only produced four hits. The Panthers concluded the week on a good note with a 6-1 victory over Fort Osage. Kendrick White went 4-4 with a home run, double, and two singles that produced seven RBI’s. Adam Schemenauer notched the victory with his six innings and nine strikeouts. Friday we beat Fort Osage 1-6.  Kendrick White was 4-4 driving in seven runs with a home run, double and two singles.  Blake Phillips and John Christopher collected two hits a piece. Adam Schemenauer got the win pitching six innings and striking out nine.

Park Hill track teams striving for balance

There’s one thing Park Hill track coaches Mark Gourley and Tari Garner know about their respective teams so far in this early season and it’s that they’ll be fairly balanced in the amount of talent displayed on the track this spring. With just under 200 athletes participating between the two programs, there are plenty of events for them to choose from leaving their coaches with a handful of reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season.

“We’re balanced, we’ve got good kids at each event,” Garner said of her team. “We’re also going to be young, so it’s going to be a developmental year as well.”

“We’re also looking at some balance as well,” Gourley added. “You have to just get out there and do it, we don’t know what we have until the KU Relays a lot of the time. That’s a good measuring stick to where people are in shape and the weather starts to turn around.”

Last year, the boys brought home a conference title led by some strong relay team performances, particularly the 4x800. Cain Winebrenner returns from that 12th place state relay team, but will also be defending his conference title in the one-mile run. Also returning will be Burt Taylor, Quinton Noble, Dondrell Hardiman, Levante Hickman, and John Saucito.

Senior Trace Norfleet, who missed last season due to injury after winning the state long jump title the season before, is back and looking to add points in several events. Nick Smith who set the school record for the shot put last season returns after a top five finish at state.Sectional qualifier Luke Bossert returns in the pole vault.

“(Trace) looks good and we’re hoping the form comes back from his sophomore year.” Gourley said. “Nick will be strong again this year and we hope Luke picks up where he left off.”

On the girl’s side, there isn’t as good of an idea of what to expect because of the young make up of the team. While the Trojans return athletes like Stephanie Atkinson in the pole vault who just missed qualifying for state last year, Bailey Cashen in the high jump, and the sectional qualifying 4x800 relay team, the rest of the event field is up for grabs and Garner sees that as a positive.

“There’s not one person who is going to be a top-three person in four events, so we’re going to have to work on bringing more people along to the next level,” Garner said. “It will make us work really hard in every event and will make us more balanced as a team because we won’t be able to necessarily count on any particular event.”

Potential surprises and breakout seasons might take place in the high and triple jump along with the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams that will feature some young sprinters.

Neither coach denied the unpredictable natural of how their seasons would play out, but both embraced the wide range of possibilities it presented.

“It’s going to be an interesting year because of the dynamics of having a lot of open sports up for grabs,” Garner said.

“But that’s the fun part though, seeing who will emerge,” Gourley added.