Winter Roundup: Feb. 11-18

Park Hill Boys Basketball

…put up a tough fight against top-ranked Lee’s Summit West last week before falling 76-68. This was a significant improvement from an earlier week loss to Ruskin 64-43. The Trojans (3-19) will conclude their regular season Friday night with Senior Night against St. Joe Central. They come into the district tournament next week overall as an underdog and they will face North Kansas City in the first round on Tuesday. The winner of that game would advance to take on the one seed, Park Hill South, Friday evening.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball

…before pulling out a narrow 54-51 win over St. Joe Central, Park Hill South handed Lee’s Summit West its first conference loss of the season last week with a 63-51 win. Although the Panthers are a long shot in coming from behind to pass the Titans in the final week of the season for the conference title, they will be the top-seeded team at the district tournament starting next week.

The Panthers (17-6) will be the home team throughout the tournament and are scheduled to host the semi-final game on Friday, March 1^st against the winner of the North Kansas City/Park Hill match-up.

Park Hill Girls Basketball

…will take on Staley in the first round of district play next week Monday night. The Lady Trojans fell earlier in the season to Staley by a lopsided score of 59-25. If Park Hill is able to pull off the upset, they would face Park Hill South in the district semifinal February 28^th.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball

…will conclude their regular season this Thursday against Truman before going into the district tournament next week a one-seed. The Lady Panthers split their two games last week with a win over Lee’s Summit West 61-54 before losing a close contest to St. Joe Central 38-36.

Park Hill South (19-4) will host districts and play in the semi-final round Thursday evening against the winner of the Staley/Park Hill contest.

Park Hill South Girls Swimming

…brought home a top ten finish last weekend at the Missouri state swim meet with their 107 team points, which was good enough for eighth place among the 46 teams at the event. Topping the list for Park Hill South was the second place medal brought home by the 200 medley relay team of Tori Beeler, Anna Riekhof, Helen Yeater, and Olivia McLain. The Panthers were just one tenth of a second behind first place finisher Parkway West. The 200 freestyle relay of Abbie Moyes, Beeler, Riekhof, and McLain came in fifth.

Individual finishes for the Panthers included three placements in the 100 backstroke by Riekhof (4^th), McLain, (10^th), and Mariah Ramirez (14^th). Tori Beeler placed ninth in the 200 individual medley.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

…has a new state champion in Lauren Shaw. The senior who moved to Park Hill this year after placing second in two different events as a junior at Warrensburg last year, launched through the preliminary round in the 100 freestyle and clinched the first place medal with half a second between her and the next closest competitor. She would excel in the  100 backstroke as well with a second place finish.

Madison Heydinger placed 13^th in the 500 freestyle and was part of the 200 freestyle relay team of Lauren Shaw, Olivia Woods, and Rebecca Shaw that placed eighth.

Park Hill finished 14^th as a team with 63 team points.

Winter Roundup: Jan. 28 - Feb. 4

Park Hill South Girls Swimming

For the last 12 years, there has been one constant for the Park Hill South girls swim team. And that constant has been winning conference championships, which they did this past weekend when they racked up 578.5 team points on the way to their 12^th consecutive conference title. While Park Hill gave them a run for their money, the Panthers steadily pulled away to an impressive 84 point margin of victory over the second place Trojans.

Leading the way with first place finishes were the 200 medley relay team, Tori Beeler in the 200 individual medley, Helen Yeater in the 100 butterfly, and Anna Riekhof in the 100 breast. Bringing home second place medals were the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, Olivia McLain in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Maggie Hickey in the 100 butterfly, and Beeler in the 100 backstroke. Third place finishers included Mariah Ramirez in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Kelsey Danielson in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, Samantha Scott in the 100 backstroke, and Maryn Burns in the 50 freestyle.

Park Hill South will compete in the state swim meet next weekend in St. Peters, Missouri.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

While the Trojans came up short of repeating as conference champions in their own right, Park Hill came away with a strong second place performance with their 494.5 team points. Two key swimmers for Park Hill included Lauren Shaw and Madison Heydinger who brought home a handful of various medals. Shaw took first in the 100 free style and 100 backstroke along with a second place finish in the 500 freestyle. Heydinger placed first in the 200 and 500 freestyle events. The Trojans also saw success in the relays with a first place finish in the 200 free relay and second place finishes in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

Park Hill will also compete at the state swim meet next weekend.

Park Hill Boys Basketball (3-15, 0-4)

…continued what has been a rough season last week with two losses. The first came against Lee’s Summit West 70-44 and the second being a 64-54 loss to Truman. As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, the Trojans were in action at St. Joe Central.

Park Hill will host Park Hill South on Thursday in a double-header featuring both boys and girls teams. Park Hill fell short of upsetting Park Hill South two weeks ago when they mounted a comeback effort that left them on the wrong end of a 51-47 Panther victory.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball (13-16, 2-2)

…beat St. Joe Central last week 53-42 before falling behind Ruskin early at home on Friday night. Park Hill South would remain within striking distance, but Ruskin would pull away in the fourth quarter to a 70-54 win.

As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, the Panthers were in action against Truman. Park Hill South plays at Park Hill on Thursday.

Park Hill Girls Basketball (3-15)

…suffered two close defeats last week against Northland opponents. The first came against Liberty North with a score of 33-30 and the second being a 44-38 loss to Oak Park.

Park Hill hosts Park Hill South on Thursday evening.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball (17-2, 4-0)

…came into the North Kansas City Tournament with a 15-1 record and were hoping for their second tournament championship of the season. They handedly defeated Park Hill 62-35 in the opening round, but hit a bump in the road against St. Joe Central which resulted in a 54-40 loss. The Panthers rebounded in the third place game with a resounding victory over Blue Springs South 54-35.

As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, Park Hill South was in conference action against Truman. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game and the result will play a big role in determining this year’s conference championship race.

Winter Round-up: Jan. 21-28

Park Hill Girls Basketball

Fell to 2-13 on the year last week with a 55-46 loss to Ruskin on Thursday night.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball

Improved to 15-1 after a convincing 63-41 win over Lee’s Summit West last week. They will compete in the North Kansas City tournament this week before setting their eyes to what could likely be a key game to determine conference against Truman on Monday night.

Park Hill South Wrestling

After taking second place in a handful of tournaments the first half of the season, the Panthers were finally able to bring home a first place trophy last weekend from the Liberty Invitational. Park Hill South’s 271 team points bested Kearney and their 250 points. Ten medalists and four first place finishes led the Panthers. Alex Fortuna, Jimmy Carpenter, Adam Weatherly, and Chase Gray all won their title matches with Alex Weatherly, Kenric Cook, and Logan Gillespie. Taking third place were George Barth, Alex Carpenter, and Tyler Blythe.

Winter Round-up: Jan. 14-21

Park Hill South Boys Basketball

…for the third time this year, Park Hill South excelled in convincing fashion through tournament play to reach the championship game and fell short of bringing home first place. This time it was last week at the North Kansas City Tournament. The Panthers defeated Shawnee Mission West (65-57) and KC Central (91-43) on their way to Friday night’s title game where they fell 52-50 to Truman. Park Hill South is now 11-4 and in action against Park Hill as The Citizen went to print Tuesday night.

Park Hill Boys Basketball

Went 1-2 in the Basehor Linwood Tournament last week, starting off with two straight losses against Hayden (48-34) and St. Joe Benton (61-58). Park Hill ended the tournament on a high note with a convincing victory over Pembroke Hill (64-46). The Trojans, now 3-11, were in action Tuesday night as The Citizen went to press against rival Park Hill South.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

…placed seventh in the 16 team field at the KC Classic last weekend. Leading the way for Park Hill were Lauren Shaw and Madison Heydinger. Shaw finished second in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke while Heydinger placed second in the 500 freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle.

Park Hill will next compete in the conference swim meet at Lee’s Summit.

Park Hill South Girls Swimming

…ran away with the Raytown Invite over the weekend in the 16 team field, racking up 309 points with their closest competition coming from Blue Springs South and their 262 points. The Panthers won three out of four relays including the 200 medley, 200 freestyle, and 400 freestyle. Lauren Luton placed first in diving. Olivia McLain won the 100 yard breast stroke while Tori Buehler won the 200 yard individual medley

Park Hill South next looks to compete in the conference swim meet at Lee’s Summit.

Winter Round-up: Jan. 7-14

Park Hill Boys Basketball

…faced a talented Liberty North squad to begin 2013. Giving the Eagles a run for their money, the Trojans held a 17-11 lead at halftime before Liberty North edged closer and eventually ahead for a 46-32 victory.

Erik Stratman led the Trojans in scoring with ten points while Kenny McConnell and Devonte Thornton added eight points.

  

“We defended very well and competed the whole game against a very good team on the road,” Park Hill coach David Garrison said.

Park Hill is now 2-9 as they head into action at the Basehor-Linwood Tournament.

Park Hill South Wrestling

…got off to the second half of their season with a bang last week with two blowout victories over North Kansas City (72-10) and Ruskin (75-6). The Panthers won 25 of the 28 total matches with 17 of those wins coming from pins.

Park Hill South was at the Center Invite over the weekend where they brought home seven individual titles. They included Alex Fortuna (120), Jimmy Carpenter (132), Adam Weatherly (152), Alex Weatherly (160), Kenric Cook (170), Chase Gray (182), and Logan Gillespie (220). Cody Vaughn and Tyler Blyth were runners-up in their respective weight classes.

They will compete in the Winnetonka Invite this weekend where Coach Dan Dunkin says there will be some tough teams and individual wrestlers.

“Over Christmas break we had some injured wrestlers return to the room. It was nice to be wrestling close to full strength again,” Dunkin said.  The real test will be next Saturday at the Winnetonka tournament.  Most weight classes will have multiple state ranked wrestlers competing.”

Park Hill Girls Basketball

…after a significant loss to Truman (61-20) to begin the week, Park Hill battled Lee’s Summit West in a suburban conference showdown. Earning an early lead, Park Hill found themselves trailing only 19-18 at halftime. The Titans come out aggressively to build a ten point lead in the second half which would hold steady through the end of the game, where they would record a 51-41 win over Park Hill.

Coach Aaron Neeser says his team is working on improving fundamentals. With such a young team, he says he’s seeing it every day a little at a time.

Now 2-10, Park Hill are playing in the Basehor-Linwood Tournament this week.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball

…let a close game slip away from their grasp early last week with a 40-36 loss to a highly-ranked Liberty team. This followed their prior loss to Liberty North in the William Jewell Tournament title game December 29^th to account for the Panthers’ first back-to-back losses of the year.

“We let it slip away. I think we had them beat,” Park Hill South coach Rick Zych said. “They were ranked higher than us, but we were in position to win.”

This made Friday night’s game against Staley one the Panthers wanted to get out to a quick start. That they did, with a pair of threes from Payton Meek and Anthony Woods that put South up 19-7 at the end of the first quarter.

“We’ve lost our last two games. So we knew tonight would be big,” Zych said. “We talked about starting fast, Payton and Anthony hit some shots early.”

They wouldn’t look back from there as they extended their lead in the second half to as much as 19 points before closing out the game for a final 60-45 victory. Woods finished the night with 18 points while Robert Lane recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Meek contributed 14 points while Hudson Welty added 10 points.

The Panthers displayed a strong sense of discipline in their victory, picking their shots carefully as they picked apart a sometimes quick and aggressive Staley defense. Zych says being able to do that will help them succeed when district play starts.

“We have to get them in the right spots, it just takes discipline. It’s tough especially when they want to get up and down the court,” Zych said. “We want to look down the road, our team goals have a lot to do with February and March.”

Park Hill South, now 9-3, is playing in the North Kansas City Tournament this week.

Park Hill Wrestling

…brought home a first place finish at the Capital City Invitational in Jefferson City last weekend by placing 11 wrestlers in the top four with six winning title round matchups. Individual champions included Shawn Hosford (106), Ke-Shawn Hayes (113), John Erneste (120), Hunter Roberts (126), Canton Marriott (132), and Malik Colding (170).  Russ Coleman (145), Colston DiBlasi (152), and August Sobbing (182) were runners-up while Paxton DiBlasi (138) and Anthony Enriques (220) placed fourth.

Park Hill next looks to an anticipated rematch with Kearney at home on Thursday. Kearney barely beat Park Hill in early December when they took first place at the Park Hill Invitational. They’ll then compete in the Winnetonka Invitational over the weekend.

Winter Round-up: Dec. 11-17

Park Hill Basketball

…suffered two tough losses last week with a 54-36 loss to Liberty and a 65-47 loss to Blue Springs South. The Trojans only scored 11 points in the first half against Liberty which put them in a difficult position early, despite playing the Blue Jays fairly even in the second half. Again later in the week against Blue Springs South, the Trojans weren’t able to piece together a complete game as coach David Garrison said his team played the best through three quarters that he’s seen this season. After going on a scoring streak, the Jaguars pulled away to their eventual 65-47 win.

Park Hill, now 1-6, was in action Tuesday night against North Kansas City as The Citizen went to press. They have a week off before competing in the William Jewell Holiday Tournament starting December 26^th against Rockhurst at 4:30pm.

Park Hill Wrestling

…used their success two weeks ago at the nationally renowed Iron Man Tournament to propel them to a win and top tournament finish last week. The Trojans beat Staley and Columbia Rockbridge by scores of 50-10 and 58-18. Park Hill then focused its attention on the Kansas City Stampede Wrestling Classic at Hale Arena over the weekend where they took fourth place out of 38 teams. Ke-Shawn Hayes placed first in his weight class and John Erneste was a runner-up. Colston DiBlasi took third place, Malik Colding placed fourth, and Ryan Hosford took sixth. Hunter Roberts and Canton Marriott placed eighth.

Park Hill has a dual on the road against Liberty and Ray-Pec on Wednesday before going on a two week break from competition, resuming January 8^th.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball

…continued their early season hot streak last week with two wins over Winnetonka (62-23) and Raytown South (52-35). Jessica Lee led in scoring against Raytown South with 13 points and while Samantha Roy posted 19 points and eight steals in their victory over Winnetonka. Now 6-1 on the season, they host Grandview on Wednesday before going on holiday break until the beginning of January.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

…finished ninth out of 22 teams at the Independence Invite over the weekend with 108 team points. Madison Heydinger led the Trojans in several events including a second place finish in the 500 free and a fifth place finish in the 200 free. Park Hill also took fifth place finishes in the 200 free and 400 free relays. They will get a two week break before heading into the heart of their schedule at the beginning of the year.

Park Hill South Wrestling

…for the second week in a row, the Panther wrestling squad was able to pull out a second place tournament finish despite being short-handed due to injuries. Last weekend at the Lee’s Summit Wrestling Invite, seniors Jimmy Carpenter and Chase Gray advanced through their weight classes to bring home tournament titles. Adam Weatherly came up just short with his second place finish. Other Panther wrestlers to place in the top four included Kenric Cook, Cody Vaughn, Alex Fortuna, Alex Carpenter. Park Hill South will next see action on January 8^th.

Park Hill Girls Basketball

After a thrilling win over Platte County early last week 51-39 that Park Hill coach Aaron Neeser described as one of their best performances of the season, Park Hill wasn't able to keep the momentum going as they fell to Kearney (71-27) last Thursday and then Liberty North Monday night. While Park Hill got out ahead of Liberty North Monday night with a 15-7 advantage going into the second quarter, the Eagles would take control from there on the way to a 64-50 win over the Trojans. Jaeden Cordes and Amanda Alexander led in scoring during Monday night's matchup with ten and nine points, respectively. Cordes also pulled in five rebounds.

"I think we are improving and our kids are learning how to compete every second of every game," Neeser said. "I think we are growing into our roles.  I like this team and what they are doing together to improve."

The Trojans, now 2-7 on the year, will have a two week break during the holidays before hosting Truman at home on January 7th.

Winter Round-up: Dec. 4-10

Park Hill Basketball

…had a tough series of games last week at the Blue Springs McDonald’s Tournament. After losing to Blue Springs 57-35 in the opening round, the Trojans saw two close games slip out of their grasps against tough opponents in Jefferson City (59-55) and Schlagle (55-50). Park Hill had the lead going into the fourth quarter of their final game against Schlagle, but Schlagle went to the free throw line 20 times in the last period to pull out a five-point victory. Through their first five games, the Trojans have seen a fairly balanced scored attack with sophomore Landry Shamet averaging 6.6 points/game while Devonte Thornton pulling in six rebounds/game. Now 1-4 on the season, Park Hill next sees action when they host Blue Springs South on Thursday.

Park Hill Girls Basketball

…lost both of their regularly scheduled games last week against North Kansas City (51-22) and Staley (59-25). The Trojans have been plagued by turnovers so far in this early season with 27 against NKC and 35 against Staley. Park Hill continues to see scoring from a number of contributors. Amanda Alexander led Park Hill in scoring against NKC with 7 points while Kaylyn McGee's eight points was tops against Staley. Even though they are experiencing some rough bumps in the road in their first couple games, Coach Aaron Neeser believes it will pay off at the end of the season as young players become more experienced at the varsity level. Now 1-5 on the year, they next look to a home game Thursday when they host Kearney.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball

…won both of their games last week with a 60-50 win over North Kansas City at home before traveling to Oak Park to pull out a 52-34 victory. The Panthers’ win over North Kansas City was particularly satisfying because of the talent level they were matching up against.

“This was a big win for us since they are a really good team,” Park Hill South Jenny Orlowski said. “This was truly a team effort and our best game of the season to date.”

Jessica Lee led the Panthers in scoring with 16 points while Courtney Claassen (11), Anna Courtney (11), and Madeline Homoly (10) all scored in double figures. Homoly would lead the Panthers in scoring against Oak Park with 16 points and 7 rebounds.

Park Hill South (4-1) next plays at Raytown South on Thursday. 

Park Hill Wrestling

The Walsh Jesuit Ironman Wrestling Tournament in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio is one of the nation’s premier high school wrestling tournaments each year. The competition is so tough, teams that eventually go on to win state titles sometimes only scratch the surface of the leader board in this early season tournament.

Park Hill did their part to change their past performances at the tournament last weekend as they did well by placing 17^th out of the 78 team field with several wrestlers earn high placements. Ke-Shawn Hayes advanced all the way to the title match in the 113 weight bracket before losing a close 4-3 match. In doing so, Hayes became Missouri’s first wrestler to be a finalist in the tournament.

Also leading Park Hill were John Erneste, Hunter Roberts, and Malik Coulding, all three of which finished in the top 12 of their respective weight classes.

Park Hill South Wrestling

…continuing to battle through injuries and a scheduled ACT Test Day that left several wrestlers unavailable, Park Hill South didn’t expect to make too much noise at the Lee’s Summit North Tournament over the weekend. But even with four weight classes going unfilled, the Panthers were able to put together several high placing performances for a second place overall finish.

“Getting second as a team was a big surprise to us and speaks volumes on how well the team wrestled this weekend,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said. “We could be dangerous if we ever get healthy.”

Park Hill South brought home three first place finishes from Jimmy Carpenter (132), Kendric Cook (170), and Chase Gray (182) while Alex Fortuna (120), Tyler blyth (195), and Logan Gillespie (220) took second. Other Panthers competing who had good days included sixth place finishes from Blake Barth (126) and Dillion Propes (152) as well as Erik Elder’s seventh place finish at 145 and Zak Horton’s ninth place finish at 138.

Park Hill South will travel to Lee’s Summit once again this weekend for the Lee’s Summit Invitational.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball

...is off to a hot start in early season play as they've compiled a 4-1 record which led them to the title game of the Liberty North Tournament last weekend where they feel just short of bringing home first place. The Panthers opened up tournament play with a convincing first round victory against Pembroke Hill 67-28 before edging out Kearney 48-36 in the tournament's semifinal round. Park Hill South would earn a first half lead against Liberty North, taking a 24-15 lead into halftime. However, they would go cold in the second half, only scoring 16 points for the rest of the game which allowed the Eagles to earn a fourth quarter lead and go on to win 50-40.

Park Hill South hosts Lee's Summit at home Friday night before traveling to Belton the following week. The Panthers will get a short break before gearing up for the William Jewell Tournament December 26-30.

Fall Round-up: Oct. 23-30

Park Hill Football

After an energy draining loss to Park Hill South two weeks ago, Park Hill was hoping they could drum up some of the postseason magic from years past in their opening round district game against St. Joe Central last Friday. The Trojans had good reason to believe a second chance at the Indians could go their way if they played well as Park Hill mounted a comeback earlier in the season to pull ahead of St. Joe Central late in the game before the Indians posted a score in the final minutes to win 32-29.

The hope that a close game may fall in the Trojans favor disappointed quickly though as St. Joe Central came out firing on all cylinders, mounting an early first quarter 14-0 lead. It wouldn’t get any better from there for the Trojans as St. Joe Central would tally more than 300 yards of offense in the first half, widening their lead to an insurmountable 37-0 score.

Park Hill would be able to post several scores late in the game, but the damage had been done as St. Joe Central ends the Trojans’ season with a 43-13 loss. Park Hill ends the season with a record of 3-7.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Boys Soccer

As The Citizen went to press Tuesday night, Park Hill and Park Hill South were competing in district semifinal match ups against Staley and Oak Park. Victories would put them into the district title game Thursday evening. If both the Trojans and Panthers were to post wins, it would set up a fourth and final chapter for the two rivals in 2012. This time with everything on the line, the two would be fighting for a postseason berth and right to claim the ultimate bragging right of sending the other home for the season.

Park Hill Volleyball

After thumping St. Joe Central in the opening round of district play, the Trojans’ season came to a disappointing end with a 25-8, 25-7 loss to Staley in the district semifinals. While Park Hill didn’t finish the season on a high note, the Trojans’ 18-12 final record is the team’s first winning record in several years.

Park Hill South Volleyball

Compiling a 31-3 record during the regular season was proof that Park Hill South was one of the top teams in the state. But in the heavily competitive state of Missouri volleyball, Park Hill South was defeated in the district title game by St. Theresa’s last week in three hard fought sets.  The Stars defeated Park Hill South in district play last year to end their season as well.

After losing the first game, the Panthers battled back to claim a 25-21 win in game two to send the district title match into a third game. There the Stars would clinch their second consecutive title with a 25-18 win.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

Kainen Utt led Park Hill in the sectional cross country meet last weekend with his 18^th place finish, qualifying him for the state meet this weekend. Also competing for Park Hill were Nate Thomas who finished 41^st and Hanok Tekle who finished 60^th.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

Tucker Melles and Gus Whitman will be competing in the state cross country championship next weekend after quality performances this past weekend in sectionals. Melles finished 17^th overall while Whitman was close behind with his 21^st place finish. Other Panthers competing in the sectional race included Keyan Launders (46^th), Tristan McCoy (62^nd), Lendon Calhoun (66^th), Alex Thurston (69^th), and Jacob Bowlin (75^th). Park Hill South finished seventh as a team overall.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

Erica Guzman fell just short of qualifying for the state meet last weekend when she finished 39^th in a field where 30^th was the cutoff to advance out of sectionals. Lizzy Jurries also competed for Park Hill South, finishing in 72^nd place.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

Mercedes Robinson and Kim Rau finished their season last week at the sectional meet at Ray Pec. Robinson’s 46^th place finish and Rau’s 57^th place finish were not enough to qualify them for the state meet.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Golf

The Trojans and Panthers had several quality performances in the Class 2 state golf tournament two weeks ago. Adrianna Elliott led Park Hill with her 20^th place finish after rounds of 85 and 95. Park Hill South’s Lindsey Gile placed 42^nd and Park Hill’s Bailey Warlen finished 77^th.

Fall Roundup: Oct. 15-22

Park Hill Soccer 
…following their early week win over Park Hill South 1-0, the Trojans went to split the remaining two games they had last week. They fell behind a good Rockhurst team before mounting a comeback that fell just short in a 4-3 loss.

“In the second half we stepped up our line of defense and applied pressure to make things a bit more difficult for their playmakers,” Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said. “A couple of great individual efforts on free kicks were the deciding factor.”

They ended the week with a 3-0 win over Liberty to improve their overall record to 15-6 coming into this week. In a preview of their first round of the district tournament next Tuesday, Park Hill played Oak Park Monday night. Park Hill beat the Northmen 1-0 earlier in the season.

Park Hill Volleyball

…concluded their regular season schedule with two wins last week with decisive victories over St. Joe Central (25-14, 25-13) and Ruskin (25-15, 25-8). Lindsey Grace continues to lead the Trojans in kills and blocks with 189 and 65 respectively, on the year while Kelsey Bearce leads the team in aces and assists.

Park Hill came into this week with a 17-11 record and  was matched up with St. Joe Central again Monday night in first round of districts where they advanced to play Staley Wednesday night.

Park Hill South Soccer

…beat Lee’s Summit West 1-0 early in the week to claim a share of the conference title before dropping a disappointing match to Kearney 1-0 to end the week. The Panthers (19-5) will wrap up their regular season this week with a game at Oak Park on Thursday. Securing the top seed in districts, Park Hill South will face winner of Staley/St. Joe Central in the semifinals on Tuesday at Staley.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…won both of their home games last week to end the regular season. The first came against Truman as the Panthers notched a 25-21, 25-14 victory in two games. Park Hill South would need to go down to the wire in their second game against Liberty to seal a 25-18, 28-26 victory.

The Panthers are the number one seed in the Class 4, District 15 tournament this week and will play Wednesday in the semifinals against the winner of the Winnetonka/William Chrisman match.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

placed fourth in the Class 4, District 8 race over the weekend. Tucker Melles led Park Hill South with a second place finish and first team all-conference selection. Other Panther runners who competed included Gus Whitman (16^th), Keyan Lunders (24^th), Tristan McCoy (36^th), Lendon Calhoun (37^th), Alex Thurston (38^th), and Jacob Bowlin (47^th).

"They all had a great race. Many ran as fast or faster than conference which was on a flat course," coach Brad Banning said. "Tucker Melles had a great race, just getting out kicked for first place. I think we are peaking at the right time heading into sectionals. I'm very proud of the team."

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…finished fifth in the Class 4, District 8 race last weekend. Kainen Utt finished tenth as the Trojans’ top placement. He was followed by fellow teammates Nate Thomas (19^th), Hanok Tekle (26^th), Cain Winebrenner (33^rd), Noah Barajas (45^th), Carter Barajas (52^nd), and Brandon Rich (61^st).

 "I thought our team competed hard.  I was happy for Kainen, Nate, and Hanok who qualified individually for the sectional meet," coach Jon Davis said. "It was disappointing that we didn’t get our team through to the sectional meet."

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…placed sixth at the Class 4, District 8 race Saturday. Lizz Jurries and her 16^th place finish led the Panthers. Margaret McKeon (18^th), Erica Guzman (22^nd), Audrey Rothers (40^th), Madeline Homoly (54^th), and DeDe O’Toole (57^th) also competed for Park Hill South.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…took eighth place at the Class 4, District race last weekend. Kim Rau led the Trojans with a 21^st place finish. Following her were Mercedes Robinson (23^rd), Brooke Bischof (43^rd), Emma Gaiser (47^th), Gianna Tutorino (51^st), Madeline Mudd (59^th), and Libby Lund (64th).

"With all the injuries we battled this year I am extremely proud of the way the girls finished," coach Jason Parr said. "We have Kim Rau and Mercedes Robinson who will run at Sectionals next week.  I hope that both of these girls will make it out to State."

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

...Madeline Homoly and Charlie McFarlane took tough and unfortunate falls in the Class 4, District 8 race last Saturday, which prevented them from advancing to sectionals this weekend. 

"These two falls obviously hurt our team score and I feel really terrible," Coach Pam Jurgensmeyer said.

The Panthers' sixth place finish was led by Lizzy Jurries and her 16^th place finish. Margaret McKeon (18^th), Erica Guzman (22^nd), Audrey Rothers (40^th), Homoly (54^th), and DeDe O’Toole (57^th) also competed for Park Hill South. McFarlane was not able to finish the race because of a turned ankle from her fall. Jurries, McKeon, and Rothers will advance to sectionals next week. Coach Pam Jurgensmeyer had only good things to say about her runners moving on. 

"We are really excited about Lizzy Jurries, Erica Guzman and freshman Margaret McKeon qualifying. Lizzy is running better than she has since her freshman year and we are really excited to see her next week. This is her 4th straight year at Sectionals. Sophomore, Erica has been running really strong all season. Margaret McKeon has been so fun to watch all season, and each week she is improving, making us so excited to see what will happen next. Margaret is very talented, hard working and positive and brings a really great energy to the team," Jurgensmeyer said.

Park Hill South Tennis

…facing a tough draw in the first round of the Missouri Class 2 state tennis tournament last week, Adele Royle fell 2-0 to Lindsey Whitehead of Ladue Horton Watkins.

Park Hill Tennis

…Brooke Barnard advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tennis tournament last week with a 2-1 win over Janet Auclair of Fort Zumwalt East. Barnard would loss 2-1 in the quarterfinal round to Bridget Jane Mayfield of Kirkwood.

Fall Round-up: Oct. 2-8

Park Hill South Soccer

…defeated Liberty North 1-0 in the first round of their annual Panther Classic last week before running into a lightning delay during the second overtime of their semifinal game against Smithville. With the final ten minutes of the contest rescheduled to be decided prior to the tournament’s championship game, Derek Braun’s game winning goal about halfway through the period to give South the 1-0 over Smithville served as a good warm-up for their title game appearance later in the afternoon against Park Hill, which would be another marathon match.

Neither side was surprised that the second match-up so far this season between Park Hill and Park Hill South was full of physicality and fouls, a common feature on display between the two teams in years past. Just the same, no one on hand for the championship game would leave without their money’s worth in watching two quality teams duel it out over 80 minutes and two overtime periods without a score being given up.

That would end when Brian Kissee gave the Panthers their second double overtime victory of the day and, most importantly, their second win of the season over rival Park Hill.

The Panthers continue with a strong schedule moving forward.

“The good thing is when you play teams like these and include the schedule we have coming up, it’s like the playoffs, so that’s good this time of the year,” Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo said.

With a senior-laden team set on high expectations, Toigo says he’s seen some encouraging signs his players are up to the task.

“They have an understanding maturity-wise of how we handle certain situations so that we can win some games,” Toigo said.

Park Hill South, now 15-3, plays Ruskin before facing a third matchup against Park Hill Monday followed by a conference matchup with Lee’s Summit West which could decide a share of the league title.

Park Hill Soccer

…won games against North Kansas City (4-0) and Ray-Pec (1-0) in the Park Hill South Panther Classic last week to land themselves in the title match against Park Hill South. As anticipated the game was a classic double overtime thriller, full of physical play and yellow cards. In the end, Park Hill South would come away with the golden goal and a 1-0 victory. Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said his team simply ran out of energy towards the end of the game.

“We struggled to keep possession and move forward as a unit,” Marchbank said. “In our system of play we demand a very high work rate and today our boys ran out of gas.”

The Trojans fall to 11-4 on the year and look to games against Truman and Blue Springs South this week. They defeated Rockhurst 1-0 Monday after Adam Weatherly scored a goal with under five minutes to play for the game winner.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…Park Hill South had been anticipating the rematch with Lee’s Summit West ever since their early season loss accounted for the only blemish on the Panthers’ record coming into last Thursday’s second meeting. While they would put up a fight, the now 18-2 Panthers’ would fall in consecutive games to the strong-hitting Titans 25-18 and 25-20. Coach Debbie Fay believes her team is better than they were in the previous meeting, but did not pass well enough to beat a quality team like Lee’s Summit West.

“We battled, but we did not pass well and if we don’t pass well we will struggle against a team like this. You have to have you’re A game if you’re going to beat them and even some help from them. Everyone has to have a good game if we’re going to get it done.”

Even with the defeat, there were positives to take away from the performance.

“We had a couple kids who had good games,” Fay said. “That’s the best I’ve seen Samantha Nay hit and Ashton Anderson played amazing defense. She had two strong blocks and she’s the smallest on the team.”

As the Panthers head down the stretch run of their regular season to look towards districts, they will face a strong schedule which will be advantageous. Their hopes are to see Lee’s Summit West again, this time in a high stakes state playoff game.

“We have good competition the next two weeks so we’re going to need to battle, which is what we need,” Fay said. “I hope we face them again, it would really matter if we’re lucky to face them again.”

As The Citizen went to press Tuesday night, Park Hill South was playing Park Hill in a “Dig For The Cure” match, an event used to raise money and promote awareness for cancer search.

Park Hill South Tennis

…notched their second consecutive district title last week by beating Oak Park (5-2) and Park Hill (6-0). Coaches Glynis Chambers and Ian Cunliff say it was a team effort from top to bottom.

“They all just really came through, all came out and played hard,” Chambers said. “The team’s just been really deep and we felt like we had a strong fighting chance.”

Asked what obstacles this year’s team faced compared to last year, Cunliff pointed to the difference in conference alignment and how higher quality competition made it more difficult, which forced them to focus more.

“This year was harder because of the competition we faced,” Cunliff said. “A common theme we focused on was process: playing the process regardless of win or loss, regardless of the outcome. Just to do things the right way.”

Park Hill South will host St. Joe Central, a team they beat during the regular season, in team sectional play this weekend. The winner will face the winner of the Notre Dame de Sion/Lee’s Summit North match-up. If Park Hill South advances, they will land themselves a spot in the state’s Final Four, something which has not been done in the school’s history.

In individual singles, Adele Royle defeated Park Hill’s Brooke Barnard 7-6, 6-2 in the district title match. Royle advanced to individual sectional play which took place in St. Joe Tuesday and scores were not available as of The Citizen’s deadline.

Park Hill Tennis

…while Park Hill did not finish the season the way they would have imagined, the Trojans did leave something to hang their hat on for next season. After winning the opening round contest against North Kansas City 6-3, the Trojans upset second-seeded St. Theresa’s Academy 5-4 in the district semifinal last week. This set them up for a matchup against rival Park Hill South in the district title contest with both team’s defending previous district title considerations. Park Hill’s short upset run would fall short though as Park Hill South would win all six individual matches to secure the title match 6-0.

In the individual portion of the district tournament, Brooke Barnard would advance through the bracket for a title matchup against Park Hill South’s Adele Royle before falling 7-6, 6-2. With her second place finish, Barnard advanced and was competing in sectional play Tuesday afternoon. Results were not available at the time of The Citizen’s deadline.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

….placed fifth at the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Kainen Utt finished in sixth place with a time of 16:40 while Nate Thomas followed with a ninth place finish. Other Trojan runners competing included Hanok Tekle (22^nd), James Adams (31^st), Carter Barajas (36^th), and Graham England (37^th).

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

…was fourth out of six teams at the Suburban Red Conference meet over the weekend. Tucker Melles impressed with his time of 16:17 and fourth place finish. Other Panther finishes included Keeyan Lunders (14^th), Gus Whitman (24^th), Lendon Calhoun (25^th), Triston McCoy (28^th), Alex Thurston (29^th), and Eli Williams (34^th).

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…secured a third place finish in the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Madeline Homoly’s time of 20:44 and 10^th place finish led the Panthers while Erica Guzman came closely behind in 11^th place. The rest of the Park Hill South field included Charlie McFarlane (16^th), Margaret McKeon (17^th), Audrey Rothers (18^th), and DeDe O’Toole (26^th).

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…placed fourth in the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Kim Rau and Mercedes Robinson’s 13^th and 14^th place respective finishes led the Trojans. Other Trojan results included Emma Gaiser (22^nd), Gianna Tutorino (24^th), and Brooke Bischof (25^th).

Park Hill/Park Hill South swimming
...the Trojans and Panthers met in a dual last week with Park Hill South pulling out a 102-83 win. Park Hill South qualified two new swimmers for state with Alex Heuton in the 50 yard freestyle and Caleb Siebert in the 100 yard backstroke.

Park Hill Golf
...finished fourth in the sectional meet Monday with a team score of 391, ending their shot at a first-time appearance in the state tournament next week. However, Adrianna Elliott and Bailey Warlen did qualify as individuals and will be making the trip. Elliott finished tied for fourth place with a score of +13 while Warlen finished tied for 11th with a score of +22. Sydney Paulak missed qualifying for state by one stroke with her score of +25. Josie Stevenson and Jaqueline Yong finished back to back with scores of +44 and +45.

Park Hill South Golf
...will be sending one golfer to state with Lindsey Gile qualifying in the sectional round Monday with her score of +18, tying her for seventh place. Sydney Sanders (+33) and Laiya Smith (+37) also competed in the sectional tournament for the Panthers.

Fall Round-up: Sept. 24-Oct. 1

Park Hill Girls Tennis
…concluded their regular season last week with a close 5-4 loss to a talented St. Joe Central team. Brooke Barnard, Kaylin Lake, and Abby Peoples won their singles matches early, but the Indians came back to win the match in the later rounds. The Trojans wrapped up their schedule with a record of 7-9 on the year.

Park Hill defeated NKC yesterday in the opening round of districts 7-2. They face #2 St. Theresa's today in semi's.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis

…clinched their second straight conference title last week with an 8-1 win over Lee’s Summit West. The Panthers finished their regular season with a 9-1 record and were competing in the Class 2, District 15 team semifinals as The Citizen went to press Tuesday evening. The individual portion of that tournament will be played over the weekend at Barry Park.

Park Hill South Softball

….went 2-1 in the final week of the regular season last week with wins over Lee’s Summit West (4-2) and Park Hill (4-0). Sandwiched in between those two victories was a 3-0 loss to Truman.

Alyx Hagen recorded both victories from the mound.

Park Hill South clinched a number one seed in the Class 4, District 16 tournament this week and will face the winner of the Oak Park/St. Joe Central game in the semifinal Thursday evening.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…kept rolling last week with a big win over Blue Springs South as the Panthers took the first game in overtime 26-24 before clinching the match in the second game with a 25-20 win. Now 19-1 on the season, Park Hill South looks to a rematch against Lee’s Summit West, the only team to have beaten the Panthers this season.

“It was a great match and our kids came so ready to play.  I can’t tell you how proud of them I am.  Blue Springs South is an awesome team and we so love that kind of competition. We have to get up again because Lee’s Summit West is coming to South on Thursday,” Park Hill South coach Debbie Fay said.

Park Hill Volleyball

…split their two matches last week with a convincing win over Ruskin in two games with wins of 25-2 and 25-4. They fell to conference leader Lee’s Summit West to end the week with losses of 25-13 and 25-18. The Trojans are now 10-8-3 on the season will have some time off with their next scheduled match at Raytown on October 8^th. Lindsey Grace continues to lead the team in kills (123) and blocks (40). While Olivia Nowakowski leads in digs with 211 and Kelsey Bearce in assists with 143.

Park Hill South Boys Soccer

…dropped a competitive conference game to Lee’s Summit West to start last week with a 2-1 loss as the Titans scored a late second half goal to earn the win. Brian Kissee scored the Panthers lone goal. Park Hill South win their remaining two games with a Brody Bouillon goal secured a 1-0 win over Truman followed by a 7-0 win over St. Joe Central where Kissee recorded three goals. Daniel Herrjon (2), Adam Weatherly, and Jordan Lindsey also contributed goals in the victory.

Kissee who had previously only had two goals on the year, now leads the Panthers’ in goals with six this season.

Park Hill South, who is now 12-3 on the year, is hosting their annual tournament this week and will play Smithville Thursday with the title game scheduled for Saturday. 

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…finished 25^th out of 37 teams at the KC Metro Classic over the weekend. Kainen Utt led the Trojans as he came in 20^th in the packed field of runners. Nate Thomas (90^th), James Adams (174^th), Cain Winebrenner (193^rd), Graham England (206^th), Carter Barajas (216^th), and Riley Fahrenholz (243^rd) competed for the Trojans. Park Hill will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

…finished 20^th out of 37 teams competing at the KC Metro Classic over the weekend. Tucker Melles came in 16^th as the Panthers top finisher. Keyan Lunders (97^th), Lendon Calhoun (132^nd), Eli Williams (167^th), Jacob Bowlin (192^nd), and Isaac Frieden (201^st) rounded out the Panther field. Park Hill South will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…took 27^th out of 33 teams at the KC Metro Classic last week. Merecedes Robinson came in 61^st place while Kim Rau (70^th), Emma Gaiser (154^th), Brooke Bischof (195^th), and Gianna Tutorino (204^th) also competed for the Trojans. Park Hill will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…18^th out of 33 teams in the KC Metro Classic last weekend. Erica Guzman finished in 76^th place for the Panthers with Lizzy Jurries shortly behind in 78^th. Other Panthers competing included Margaret McKeon (89^th), Audrey Rother (116^th), and DeDe O’Toole (191^st).

 Park Hill South Girls Golf
...finished fourth at the district tournament Monday afternoon. Lindsey Gile led the way for the Panthers with her sixth place score of 91. Sydney Sanders and Laiya Smith, who shot 101 and 102 respectively, joined Gile in qualifying individually for the state sectional tournament. Other scores for Park Hill South included Ashley Kildow's 118 and Tarah Patneau's 123.

Park Hill Girls Golf

...had a historic week last week culminating in a district title Monday. In their final dual of the regular season, the Trojans posted a all-time low score of 184 as a team. Bailey Warlen, medalist, and Adrianna Elliott led the way with their first and second place scores of 40 and 42. That performance set the stage for their first-ever district title win Monday afternoon when Elliott posted a third place score of 88 with Warlen not far behind with her fifth place score of 90. Elliott, Warlen, and Sydney Paulak, who shot a 103, all qualified individually for the state sectional tournament prior to clinching the team title, which allows the Trojans to compete all five of their varsity golfers. The closest Park Hill has been to winning a district title in recent years came last year when they placed second. Elliott and Warlen were honored as Applebee's Athletes of the Week for their performances.

Fall Roundup: Sept. 17-24

Park Hill South Girls Tennis 
…after winning all four of their matches last week, the Panthers finished off a successful week with a bang by bring home a title in the Northland tournament over the weekend. They did so in convincing fashion as well by winning three of the four brackets. With 62 team points, the Panthers topped the closest second point earner St. Joe Central’s 44. Adele Royle won her first two matches as the Panthers top singles player in the A Bracket to earn her a spot in the title match against Park Hill’s Brooke Barnard. The two battled to a close 11-9 decision in Barnard’s advantage. In the singles B Backet, Rachel Brown would win all three of her matches on the way to a first place finish. Marie Gehrke and Katie Smith would team up to win the doubles A Bracket while Emily and Shay Jackson would take first in the doubles B Bracket.

The Panthers had victories against St. Joe Central (6-3), Truman (9-0), Park Hill (6-3), and Ruskin (9-0) earlier in the week. Royle went 3-1 as the Panthers top singles player while Royle and Shay Jackson went 2-1 as the top doubles duo.

Park Hill South hosts Lincoln Academy before traveling to Lee’s Summit West to conclude their regular season Thursday. District play begins next week.

Park Hill Tennis

…finished third in the Northland Tournament over the weekend with 37 total team points. Brooke Barnard took first place in the singles A Bracket with a close 11-9 victory over Park Hill South’s Adele Royle. Abby Peoples placed fourth in the singles B Bracket while Breanna Donahue and Evan Kutz took fourth in the doubles B Bracket.

Park Hill finishes off the regular season Thursday when they host St. Joe Central.

Park Hill Volleyball

...won their two matches last week against Truman and St. Joe Central in straight sets (2-0). Park Hill is now 9-7-3 on the season with road games against Ruskin and Lee’s Summit West on the schedule this week. At the midway point in the season, senior Lindsey Grace leads in the team in kills (117) and blocks (37) while Olivia Nowakowski leads the team in digs with 191.

Park Hill South Softball

…went 2-1 last week to bring their overall record to 13-8 with wins against Ruskin (15-0) and St. Joe Central (4-1) and a loss to Blue Springs (6-1). Julia Switlik struck out eight batters against Ruskin while Kylie DeClue, Jordin Woodward, and Courtney Todd contributed RBI’s in their win against St. Joe Central. Todd’s was a solo home run. They will compete in the St. Joe Benton Tournament over the weekend before starting district play next week.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

…Tucker Melles placed first in the Grandview Invitational last week with his top time of 16:47. Keyan Lunders (7^th), Lendon Calhoun (16^th), Jacob Bowlin (17^th), Eli Williams (18^th), and Matt Robbins (20^th) rounded out the Panthers’ field. Park Hill South finished third as a team overall. They will compete in the KC All Metro Classic this weekend before the Conference meet next weekend.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…finished fourth at the Grandview Invitational last week as Lizzy Jurries led the Panthers with a ninth place time of 20:57.30. Erica Guzman (15^th), Margaret McKeon (29^th), Charlie McFarlane (30^th), DeDe O’Toole (41^st), and Sophie Hardin competed for Park Hill South. They’ll next look to the KC All Metro Classic this weekend before competing in the Conference meet next weekend.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…placed in the middle of the pack at the Rim Rock Classic last weekend with a 21^st place finish out of 43 teams. Cainen Utt led the way with his 13^th place time of 16:42.50. Cain Winebrenner (85^th), Hanok Tekle (96^th), Nate Thomas (126^th), James Adams (205^th), Riley Fahrenholz (218^th), and Noah Barajas (254^th) competed for Park Hill.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

… Mercedes Robinson led the Trojans in the Rim Rock Classic last weekend with her 40^th place time of 17:00.90. Kim Rau (56^th), Gianna Tutorino (110th), and Brooke Bischof (133^rd) competed for Park Hill.

Park Hill Boys Swimming

…traveled three hours to Springfield this weekend for the Splash Out Cancer Invitational and came home with a first place finish out of seven southwest Missouri teams. Park Hill took first in the 200 yard medley, 400 free relay, 500 freestyle (Barry Chang), and 100 backstroke (Matt Wagner). Top three place finishers included Wagner in the 200 freestyle, Chang in the 200 individual medley, Joe Johnson in diving, Vince Tutorino in the 100 butterfly, and Kyle Allen in the 100 yard breaststroke.