Spring Roundup: May 24-28

Park Hill Boys Tennis
Coach Ryan Kalis said last week that he felt his players would fair well at the state tournament this past weekend based on their experience, but also depending on their draw of competition. The latter didn’t play to their advantage as both Sam Barth in singles along with Mike Merchant and Brian Hillix in doubles faced stiff competition in their initial matches. Barth started off against eventual sixth place finisher Andrew Edmonds of Rockhurst and fell in consecutive sets 6-4 and 6-3. He went on to loss in the next round Greg Marifian of SLUH which resulted in his early exit from the tournament. Although also facing a first round loss to Rockbridge 5-7, 7-5, and 6-2, Merchant and Hillix battled back in the consolation bracket by winning consecutive matches by scores of 6-1, 6-1 and then came from behind to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-1. The opportunity to play for fifth place fell short as they lost to Lafayette 6-3, 6-3. As a team, Park Hill finished the season with conference, district, and sectional titles before falling to eventual state champion Rockhurst in the quarterfinals.

Park Hill Boys Track
Park Hill’s throwers performed well at the state track meet this past weekend, helping the Trojans accumulate 13 points for a 21st place finish out of 55 teams. Jack Pearl placed fourth in the discus and Nick Smith finished third in the shot put. Adrien Esaw who has performed well in the 300 hurdles all season concluded his year with a seventh place finish. The 4x800 relay team of Fernando Garcia, Nathan Koehler, James Leach, and Ricardo Garcia finished 12th with a time of 8:05. Park Hill concludes a season which featured a conference championship along with as district runners-up.