PH South backcourt will power Panthers

Park Hill South’s 11-15 record in the 2010-11 season was a big improvement from their single digit win season the previous year, but this year is what head coach Jenny Orlowski is branding as a ‘fresh start’ yielding to the theme of the Panthers’ season: New year, new team, new attitude.

Confidence is high in the Panthers backcourt as they return their two starting guards from last year in sophomore Samantha Roy and junior Courtney Claassen as they will be a strong part of what Park Hill South does in the 2011-12 season. According to their coach, both have played well in practice leading up to the season opener with Roy improving her shot over the summer and Claasen building on her previous two varsity seasons.

A defensively solid Brandi Weymuth will serve as the Panthers only senior on a generally young team overall with post player and junior Jessica Lee joining Weymuth and Claasen as the only three upperclassmen on the squad.

“We’re young, so we have that fresh start kind of attitude,” Orlowski said.

Five of the team’s top eight will come from the sophomore and freshman ranks. Roy is joined by sophomore Morgan Keesee and freshmen Mackenzie Stout, Anna Courtney, and Madeline Homoly. While the freshmen will likely work their way more into the complete rotation as the season goes along, they’re very seasoned compared to most first year varsity players with the competitive AAU basketball experience they bring to the table. Still, how that past play translates into varsity results is yet to be seen.

“We don’t know where we’re going to be until those first couple games, right now we’re just looking to get experience early. We could have three or four players on the floor at any given time that haven’t played varsity before,” Orlowski said.

While depth and experience may not be a bedrock for Park Hill South, quickness and speed will be. Orlowski says her team has shown a desire to run in preseason workouts, something that plays well to their lack of a tall post presence.

“Quickness is definitely something we’ll have this year that we haven’t had in recent years,” Orlowski said. “We’re going to get up and down the floor a lot faster this year, our posts are generally shorter, but they’re quick defensively.”

Fresh starts come with their share of trial runs, but the Panthers hope it’s the new attitude along with their fast paced style of play that give them a chance this season at taking a step up from last year’s improvement.

“We’re really young and we’ll probably make some mistakes right out of the shoot, but I think we have potential on any given night,” Orlowski said.

PH South grapplers not content with league title

Park Hill South Wrestling had a breakout year in 2010-2011 by going 16-3 and winning the school’s first conference wrestling championship with a 6-0 record, all while fighting through various injuries. They then expanded on it more by taking second place in districts and advancing six wrestlers to the state tournament. The goal for the Panthers as they come into the 2011-2012 is taking the next step by building on last year’s success by bringing home some state medals.

“Last year’s team did a great job achieving their goals. Many of our wrestlers were good enough to go to state last year,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said. “I think we need to be a little greedier when we get there. Just going to state is not enough. I want our South boys to bring back medals.”

A lot of what Park Hill South wants to accomplish will add higher focus to the two end of the year events: districts and state. The days of just getting to state being considered a worthy goal are of the past, replaced with the intent to do well once they get there and regularly aimed for by the top programs in the state.

“As a coach, we’re still going to try to win conference, but the main focus around our season isn’t going to be about conference, that’s just going to be something we do,” Dunkin said. “Most of our focus is going to be towards end of the year competition, whether it is districts or state. Most of the kids we return have won a match down at state. We did a lot of good things last year, I think we were happy to get to state. I’m going to make sure that we’re not happy to just get there.”

The Panthers return five state qualifiers from last year’s team including senior captains Brett Rounkles and Nick Gillespie who provide two different leadership styles according to their coach that benefit the rest of the team depending on how they’re best motivated.

“Brett is a leader in the room, he lets them know what they should do so the coaches don’t have to,” Dunkin said. “Nick’s a little livelier, charges the guys up more, Brett is more of a ‘get down to business-type guy. So they complement each other well.”

State qualifiers Junior Chase Gray, an experienced two-time captain, Alex Fortuna, and Jimmy Carpenter also return as strong competitors. Also returning are Justin Haughenberry, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly who were strong pieces to the Panther team last year before their seasons came to an early end.

“All three of their seasons ended with an injury. I’m not sure I would call these three a surprise, because they’re as tough as anyone,” Dunkin said. “The expectation for these three is as high as anybody else on the team. If they can stay healthy, they will be good.

George Barth, Alex Carpenter, Kendric Cook, Jake Crawford, Tyler Blyth, Daniel Long, Jon Holden, and Ron Anderson will also contribute towards Park Hill South’s success this season.

Their first big test will come in the Lee’s Summit Holiday Tournament over winter break, but they’ll also see a more competitive conference schedule as all schools look to be bringing back more experienced teams. All challenges Park Hill South will have to battle through in order to pick up where they left last year at the state tournament come this February.

Trojans squad will include five returning state qualifiers

Last year the Park Hill wrestling program opened up their season with several performances they weren’t satisfied with, but after recovering from some injuries and taking the right kind of lessons from those early obstacles, the Trojans went on to take first place in the district tournament, advancing nine wrestlers to the state tournament where they went on to take third place overall. For the 2011-2012 season, if it takes that kind of rough start to get where the Trojans did last year or better, they’re willing to roll with the punches.

“I considered it one of our better tournaments (state),” Park Hill coach Bill Erneste said. “I’d much rather struggle in the beginning than the end, the team peaked at the right time and I think we’re in similar territory again this year.”

Park Hill welcomes back state qualifiers Nolan Smith, Connor Shene, Russ Coleman, Paxton DiBlasi, and John Erneste this season along with junior Nick Harper who was one match away from a state appearance. Joining them will be Isaih Williams and Malik Coulding, two athletes who have moved up through the program and now hope to have their chance. The Trojans will feature three talented freshmen in the lower weight classes with Colston DiBlasi, Ke-Shawn Hayes, and Hunter Roberts. With the introduction of new expanded weight classes this year, many of the weights wrestlers will settle into have yet to be determined.

The Trojans will be tested early with three tough tournaments on their schedule including their own Park Hill Duals, the Walsh Jesuit Tournament, and the Kansas City Wrestling Classic. All three will give the Trojans steep competitive, but Erneste believes it gives them an advantage at the end of the season.

“The first three weeks are pretty brutal. I want to make sure our guns get tested before we get to state, so you have to make sure they’re there first,” Erneste said. “These national tournaments get them ready for state. I want the state tournament to feel to our guys as if it wasn’t the toughest tournament they wrestled in all year.”

Every Park Hill wrestler’s benchmark is a state championship and with their only state champ from last year Bricker Dixon graduating, there are several determined to step up to fulfill goals left unaccomplished last year. Smith finished fifth last year at state in the heavyweight division, Shene won a big match early at state but did not place, Erneste is looking to improve on his third place finish, and Coleman took second after battling through a knee injury before falling in the title match for the second year in a row.

“He (Coleman) hasn’t won it yet, that’s the number one thing for him, he wants his name on the wall, he’s not going to stop working, and not going to lose track of his goal,” Erneste said.

While the Trojans will be tested early against some of the region’s best, they know when it comes down to it the sport is often as much a battle waged against one’s self as it is their opponent.

“You’re going to see a lot of heart, that’s going to be the key to our season. I would say we are cautiously patient, but we think there is a bright light at the end,” Erneste said. “If they’re training the hardest they can and come into February with confidence, usually good things happen.”

PHS swimmers chasing 10th straight conference title

Relying on strong relay teams on their way to a tenth place finish at the state swim meet last season, the Park Hill South girls swim team looks to this year with many of the same swimmers returning, having only lost two seniors to graduation.

Returning are three strong seniors with Miranda Henderson, Rachael Norfleet, and Mariah Bryant along with sophomores Shannon Brouk and Olivia McLain, the five of which will form the main components of what is shaping up to be another strong group of relay competitors. Adding to the mix will be freshman Helen Yeader, a strong swimmer in the breast stroke and butterfly.

Coach Steve Busenhart hopes some of the improvements his swimmers make in individual events will propel them to a higher finish at state, where before they had finished just outside the top eight which rewards teams with higher point totals. Last year’s meet saw Rachael Norfleet finish ninth and Olivia McLain finish 14th in the 100 meter breast stroke along with Mariah Bryant’s 16th place finish in the 50 yard freestyle. Stronger performances in those events will likely have the added benefit of stronger relays, something Busenhart says is a result of flexibility and depth.

“We have a very strong team because we have depth that is consistent so we can move swimmers around and that benefits us in other competitions,” Busenhart said.

The Panthers travel to St. Louis to participate in the Flyer Invitational in December, an event they placed first in last year, their first appearance in the event.

“Since that is a period where we are training the hardest, we probably won’t hit our main stride until the first part of the new year,” Busenhart said.

While a positive early season result will be welcoming, Park Hill South will only use it as an early test on their way towards another commonplace conference championship and opportunity for a top five finish at state.

Young Trojan swimmers aim to get experience

The Park Hill girls swim team comes into the 2011-2012 season with a mostly untested group of swimmers after a 24th place finish at the state tournament in 2010-2011. Leading them are five seniors, headlined by two-time all-state swimmer Brynn Guardado who finished fifth in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle at state last year. Coach Karl Haley believes it will be another great season for Guardado and hopes it includes putting her name at the top of the wall lining the hall of swimming accomplishments at the Park Hill District Aquatic Center.

“She is looking to continue that along with setting a few new school records along the way,” Haley said.

Guardado will be joined by seniors Eleanor Parrott, Jordan Rowlett, Amanda Panich, and Lindsey Horstman. Junior Abigail Hill and sophomore Jasmine Jones also return after state qualifying seasons last year. Haley says the main thing for the Trojans this season is getting some of the more inexperienced swimmers exposed to the level of swimming they’ll face on the high school level.

“We have a fairly young team without a lot of experience in competition. So the key is getting them on board and teaching them how to compete,” Haley said.

Even with a young team, Park Hill still has their sights set on a conference title which they fell short of last year with a second place finish. In their way is a talented Lee’s Summit West program who hasn’t lost a suburban conference championship meet since the school opened in 2004.

“We would like to compete for a team conference championship. Lee’s Summit West has never lost a girls conference meet. They graduated a lot of talent last year, but they would still be the front runner,” Haley said.

Other swimmers looking to contribute this year include juniors Sarah Thompson and Madeline Hemphill along with sophomores Lynn Huynh, Braidey Howe, and Shannon Barry.

Trojans run into playoff roadblock

After battling through district play and eventually coming out on top as district champions despite being an underdog, the Park Hill boys soccer team fought rainy and windy conditions last week to hold on for a 1-0 victory over Liberty in the state sectionals. The win set the Trojans up for a quarterfinal matchup Saturday against Lee’s Summit West, a team they had split their conference season series with 1-1 and fell runner-up to in the final league standings. Both meetings between the Trojans and Titans this season were one-sided games for the victor, but their quarterfinal matchup would end up resembling parts of both.

“The first two games were really lopsided. They dominated us and were clearly the better team, then we really dominated them when we played here. So tonight was really a good combination of those two,” Park Hill coach Dustin Sollars said.

A trip to the Final Four at stake, the game was a naturally physical contest with the stands full at the Park Hill District Athletic Complex. While the Trojans held the time of possession through a good part of the game, a Lee’s Summit West shot from Alex Brown snuck through the grasp of Park Hill goalkeeper Mason Fannin with ten minutes left in the first half to put the Titans up 1-0 before halftime. Park Hill would again be on the offensive side in the second half, but despite a barrage of shots and opportunities, the Trojans could not convert. Two offsides penalties in the final minutes took away Park Hill scoring opportunities, one of which negated a goal.

“We were just pounding them with shots at the end and they just kept hanging out, but I mean they earned the right,” Sollars said.

In the end though their lone goal in the first half would be all the Titans would need to take a 1-0 victory and advance to St. Louis next weekend, ending the Trojans’ unlikely end of season run. Even with the disappointing loss, Park Hill’s presence as one of the lone teams still playing in the metro area is a testament to their success and an accomplishment few thought would occur back when the season started in August after losing a large part of last year’s quarterfinalist team.

“A lot of people thought we weren’t supposed to be good, no one thought we’d be here,” Sollars said. “We were supposed to be sub .500, but we were a late goal away from a conference championship, we won districts, advanced past sectionals. They accomplished everything last year’s phenomenal team accomplished. They represented themselves and their school well."

Trojan heading West(on)

The Park Hill Lady Trojans basketball team hasn’t even stepped on the floor for a regular season game in the 2011-2012 season yet, but one of their senior leaders and starting point guard Kyleesha Weston has already made one of the biggest moves of her senior year. Last week, Weston signed a letter of intent to play basketball next year at the University of Colorado where she’ll take her athleticism and love of defense to Boulder to battle against PAC-12 schools for the Buffaloes.

“Kyleesha’s love for the game and dedication to her sport has put her in a position to play at the next level,” Park Hill head coach Aaron Neeser said. “Colorado sees a young lady that is athletic and highly skilled with the ball.”

Being a division one basketball recruit described as ‘playing bigger than her listed height’ and being ‘the ultimate team player’, it may be hard to believe Weston has only been playing the game since eighth grade, but once she took to the game there was no looking back. She soon joined a club team, the MoKan Eclipse, to improve her skills and face tougher competition. As her mother Lisa says, Kyleesha wasn’t always one of the better players on the team.

“Kyleesha was behind most all the other players since they had all been playing basketball for years, but this didn’t stop her. She kept at it,” Lisa Weston said. “Practicing long hours, not being able to hang out with friends, missing out on proms and school functions, she was willing to do it all, in order to reach her goal.”

It was an offseason tournament in the fall before her junior season, which led her to meeting Colorado head women’s coach Linda Lappe, who had some solid advice to offer the young point guard.

“Colorado came into the picture my junior year. They told me they thought I was a great player, but that I should probably work on my dribbling. So I would go home and dribble for two hours a day,” Kyleesha said.

The words sparked motivation which produced for Park Hill last season as Weston put together an impressive resume of stats including game averages of 15.4 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals making her one of the top prospective recruits in the country.

“By June when AAU was in full force Coach Lappe came out to watch me and said she was impressed. That’s when our relationship really started to come along,” Kyleesha said. “It really just came down to having such good chemistry with the coaches and really the whole staff.”

What attracted Weston to Colorado to start with? While many who grow up watching Big 12 schools on television someday dream of playing for those same schools and despite interest from Kansas State and Missouri, Weston wanted to branch out to something different.

“Being in the different division with the PAC-12 and playing the different schools,” Weston said. “I watch basketball and the Big 12 all the time, so it was a chance to get out there and do something different.”

Getting ready to start her senior year at Park Hill, Weston says she is fortunate to have gotten her offer as early as did and have the chance to accept it before the season started.

“I wanted the decision to be less stressful during the season for me and my teammates because I didn’t want to be missing practices or games, and I just wanted to get it out of the way. I talked to my mom, dad, and coaches and they said if you’re ready to make that commitment then go for it,” Weston said.

With her decision behind her, she’ll have the chance to look forward to the future ahead while also spending time focusing on having a quality senior season with her teammates who she’s very close to

“We want to go out and play the best we can. We want to stay close as a family because we’re really tight as a team. This year we’re going to be strong and fast, just need to keep improving on that in practice. I think that would be great for this season,” Weston said.

Panthers take fourth at state swim meet

Park Hill and Park Hill South both competed in the state swim meet in St. Peters last weekend, but it was the Park Hill South coming home as the big winners with their fourth place finish, tying for the best finish in school history after racking up 173 total team points.

The Panthers placed high in most of the 12 events, but were led by second place performances in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay made up of swimmers Spencer On, Alex Heuton, Daniel Day, Jacob Fisher, and Liam Huffman. Huffman and Day added more to South’s points coffer when Day placed fifth in the final 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly races while Huffman placed fourth in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle. The 200 medley relay team added a sixth place finish. Spencer Moran placed 10th in the diving portion of the competition.

Park Hill did not perform as highly as they would have liked with a total of 14 team points, but did see quality performances from the 200 medley relay team which placed 15th while Matt Wagner placed 16th in the backstroke. Connor Shene placed ninth in diving.

Underdog Trojans win district title, third in a row

Coming into this season, Park Hill boys soccer coach Dustin Sollars knew his team would face some obstacles if they wanted to match what they had accomplished the previous two seasons. In 2009 and 2010, the Trojans won district titles and advanced to the quarterfinals both years, advancing to the state semifinals in 2009. After losing a good portion of that experienced and talented squad to graduation, it would have been easy to write 2011 as a rebuilding year, but a 2-1 victory over Oak Park last week in the district title game has given Park Hill its third consecutive district championship and sets them up with a meeting with Liberty this week in the state sectionals.

“Being back in the playoffs means a lot. Losing that group last year hurt and as a result no one expected anything out of us,” Sollars said. “I think this year’s group took that to heart and really played with a chip on their shoulder for a while. We had bouts of immaturity along the way where we let down and gave up games, but that's what happens when you go from a very senior laden team to a new bunch.”

Park Hill seeded third coming into district play with a 12-11 record was an underdog unlike previous years. Going to double overtime in their first round game against Park Hill South with each tied at 1-1, it was Neal Sampson scoring the game winning goal to advance the Trojans to the title game against Oak Park. The Northmen who had gone through an incredible regular season racking up a 21-3 record faced Park Hill in the first week of the season in two matchups where the Trojans pulled out one victory before Oak Park came back a couple days later to beat Park Hill in what began the Northmen’s tear through their schedule. In the end it would be the Trojans not just taking the season series with a 2-1 win, but also giving them their third straight district title on the heels of goals from Shane Belew and Chris Walker.

“We were the last team to beat Oak Park before their streak,” Sollars said. “Beat them on a Saturday, turned around and lost on Tuesday. We began and ended their streak.”

The Trojans will be in a similar position for redemption this week against Liberty as Park Hill fell to the Blue Jays in a close 2-1 match earlier in the season. Sollars thinks it was a game they should have won and hopes their improvement throughout the season will give them the added advantage they need to make their third trip to the quarterfinals.

“We hit the post a couple times but just had trouble finishing,” Sollars said. “We like to think we've gotten better at finishing, but I'm sure their defense has improved very much since that second week of the season.”

For this year’s team, who may not have come into the year considered a threat, their accomplishment comes in the form of securing a part of school history in being the first team to win three district titles in row since the program’s start in 1980.

“This year’s group figured it out along the way as opposed to when the season started. And that's fine,” Sollars said. “They set their own goals and one of them was to get back to the quarterfinal game. And the exciting part is that they’re not satisfied yet.”

Fall Roundup: Oct. 31 - Nov. 5

Park Hill Boys CC
Park Hill’s Joey Walton finished his senior season at the Missouri state cross country championship last week with a ninth place finish clocking in with a time of 16:25. Walton came in just 31 seconds behind first place finisher Caleb Wilfong of Columbia Rockbridge.

Park Hill South Boys CC
Park Hill South freshman Tucker Melles has set a solid foundation for which to base the next three years of his high school career this season. Melles was consistently the top Panthers’ cross country runner this fall and capped off his first year with a top 50 finish in last week’s state cross country championship coming in 43rd with a time of 17:05.

"Tucker ran a great race at state and was the highest finishing frosh at state. Our team this year was very young. We are graduating one senior from our varsity so the next couple years should be good."

Park Hill Girls CC
Park Hill sophomore Kim Rau place 55th at the Missouri state cross country championship meet last weekend capping off her season as the Lady Trojans’ most consistent runner.

“It’s always an honor to take a runner to the big show of the season. I cannot thank Kim Rau enough for her hard work and dedication throughout this season,” Coach Jason Parr said. “It makes coaching so much fun when you have runners that see light at the end of tunnel and decide that they must finish strong and stay the course. If you were to ask Kim if she ran well she would tell you ‘No’. This just goes to show what kind of competitor she is each day.”

Park Hill Swim and Dive
Park Hill swimming came in second at the suburban conference red division last week with a total of 500 team points. They trailed conference champion Lee’s Summit West who racked up 569 points. First place finishes included the 200 individual medley relay, Matt Wagner in the 200 yard free, Vinnie Tutorino in the 100 butterfly, Matt Johnson in the 100 break stroke, and Wagner in the 100 backstroke. Also contributing with second place finishes were Garrett Wooldridge in the 200 individual medley, Barry Chang in the 500 free, Kyle Allen in the 100 breakstroke, Jared Alderman in the 100 yard backstroke, the 200 freestyle relay, and the 400 free relay. The Trojans will compete in the state meet in the Columbia this weekend.

Park Hill South Swim and Dive
… took the Suburban White Division title last weekend in dominating fashion as they placed first in every event they completed (disqualified in the 200 yard medley relay), compiling an impressive 625 team points, almost doubling their nearly competitor in Raytown with their 377 points.

Daniel Day brought home first place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, Liam Huffman placed first in the 200 individual medley and 100 free. Spencer On took first in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 butterfly. Tom Prinslow placed first in the 500 freestyle and second in the 200 individual medley. Caleb Siebert took second in the 500 freestyle while Chase Riekhof took second in the 200 freestyle. Jacob Fisher and Aubrey Churchman took first and second in the 100 backstroke. Travis Colpitts and Joe Richey brought home first and second in the 100 breaststroke. The 200 and 400 yard free relay teams also place first.

They’ll next compete for another coveted top finish at the state swim meet in Columbia this weekend.