Park Hill/Park Hill South Mid-Season Track Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spring Roundup: Apr. 9-14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Track

Coach Mark Gourley is entering his 33^rd and final year as a teacher and track coach and he still says each season, each team is different.

“It’s different every year. You never really know what you have coming into a season, sometimes you might not even know until the end of the season,” Gourley said. “There’s always someone that comes from out of nowhere and you didn’t expect them to do as good. Then there’s always someone who falls off, from injuries or a number of reasons.”

For 2012 though, Gourley knows he has a few key pieces to build around from last year’s team, which seemed to fall just short of several first place placements down the stretch. The Trojans, as a team, finished second three consecutive weeks in a row starting with conference, and then districts, and finally sectionals before finishing towards the bottom of the field at the state meet. They plan on avoiding that stigma this year by picking up where they left off in several events.

The state qualifying 4x200 relay returns two in Jon Saucedo and Anthony Arens while the 4x800 relay team brings back three in Riley Fahrenholz, Cain Winebrenner, and Joey Walton. Walton, who had a standout cross country season, is someone the Trojans hope can see success in several different positions.

“We’re really excited about him after his cross country season. He can run on a lot of things,” Gourley said. “Cain (Winebrenner) is the same way; he has a lot of determination.”

In sprints, Dondrell Hardiman and Devon Belew will be strong competitors in the 300 hurdles and 400 yard dash. John Harris and Levonte Hickman bring added spring as well. Artis Norfleet will be a solid performer in the triple and long jumps. Overall, the Trojans have a fairly balanced team with reasons to be optimistic in 2012. In terms of getting the chance for a top finish at conference, it now comes down to adding depth.

“We’re well rounded, but not terribly deep at some spots. We can always work the relays out as long as we’re strong in other events. They’re always a surprise,” Gourley said. “In conference it’s about having three entries, being deeper always helps.”

Park Hill sees Lee’s Summit West as their likeliest competitor for the conference title. They will jump start the season against Park Hill South March 27^th in a dual track meet at Park Hill.

Park Hill track filled with multi-sport athletes

Park Hill’s boys track team has picked up where they finished last year and come back even stronger than before. The Trojans won their conference in 2010 before placing second in districts and advancing to sectionals. Their sixth place finish in sectionals sent several athletes to the state meet, but acted as somewhat of a glass ceiling for the team based on their expectations coming in. This year they hope to increase the amount of events they qualify for on the heels of some seniors who know a little about winning and have an even larger desire to go out in top form.

Senior Trace Norfleet lit opposing defenses up for the Trojans football team the last two seasons as a running back, but it was two years when he took home the state championship in the long-jump before being unable to defend his title last year due to injury. Senior Burt Taylor is also familiar with the gridiron along with the role he and his class played in a resurgence of the Park Hill basketball program. Quinton Noble was a leading figure on the Trojan soccer team as they went deep into the state playoffs the previous two years, runs not seen since the early 1990’s. These are just a few of the profiles you’ll find at Trojan track and field events this spring.

What may be considered success to the average athlete, has actually turned out heartbreaking at times when compared to the athletes’ own expectations. Both the football and soccer teams saw earlier than they would have like exits from this year’s playoff after teams they had beat in the regular season were able to come back around and best them when it counted most. You can only imagine what kind of motivation last year’s fifth place finish in sectionals for the 4x100 relay team now consisting of Taylor, Norfleet, Anthony Arens, and Noble, which left them short of qualifying for the state meet, has provided them with as they head into the consequential weeks of conference, districts, and sectional track meets ahead of them.

“I know they were a little disappointed in missing out on state last year,” assistant coach John Millholland said. “They’re a little more hungry this year and working a lot harder. I think we’re going to be able to break through.”

While there’s the emotional sources of motivation, participating in different sports throughout the year is something many track coaches see as a positive physically.

“Year-round training is key,” Millholland said. “They take it real seriously and that’s what it takes. It’s the same in football or basketball; you’ve got to have someone who’s willing to work.”

They’ll also be showing a threat in the 4x200 event as well when Dondrell Hardiman replaces Norfleet in the lineup. This was shown last week in the Park Hill Invitational when the 4x200 placed first with a time of 1:30, which was one of many finishes leading to a narrow first place finish for Park Hill as a team. A number of high placing events included Noble’s second place finishes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, Joseph Walton and Nathan Koehler’s first and second place finishes in the 800 meter dash, Hardiman’s first place finish in the 300 hurdles, Luke Bossert’s first place finish in the pole vault, and Nick Shepherd’s third place finish in the high jump. Not to mention the presence of shot-putter Nick Smith, who was absent from last week’s invite, but already holds the school record in the event.

Not only are the Trojans showing speed in the short distance events, but sophomore Cain Winebrenner is dominating the 1600 meter run where he finished seven seconds ahead of his closest competition, along with contributing to the 4x800 relay team of Joseph Walton, Riley Farenholz, and Nathan Koehler. Although just a sophomore, Winebrenner hasn’t exactly snuck up on anyone this year after bursting onto the track scene last year.

“He knows he’s going to be a guy that is targeted to run real well. A kid with that much talent and the kind of work ethic he has; he knew he was going to be a front-runner,” assistant coach Jason Parr said. “I think if we put the pieces together, Cain has a chance to place in the top five at the state meet.”

Parr says Winebrenner is currently running the times he finished the season at last year and is hoping for even more improvement in the season’s final weeks and that his determination has a lot to do with his drive to improve.

“Cain knows when he needs to make moves,” Parr said. “There’ll be times where I tell him to back off a bit, but he says I’m going to go out there and win it.”

In the midst of hosting the invitational last week, head coach Mark Gourley voiced satisfaction with the brief moments he had to discuss his team, but indicating that there are faster teams out there right now, he knows his athletes’ best performances must be ahead of them in order to win it when it counts.

Boys sweep first, Girls runner-up at Conference meet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boys Track will compete with mix of talented athletes

Park Hill’s Boys Track team will soon be off to the races as they focus on building upon their 2nd place conference finish last year. Although they return several talented athletes from last year’s team, not all necessarily seniors, they’ll look to both young and old in their pursuit of taking the top spot at conference this year.

“We are still a pretty young team, although we have some seniors that will also contribute,” Gourley said about the makeup of his group.

State champion long jumper Trace Norfleet will defend his title as a junior, but won’t be able to compete until mid-season as he fights a bulging disk injury. Nick Smith also returns as a junior in the shot put. He was a state qualifier and finished 8th in last year’s championship. In addition to Norfleet and Smith, the Trojans will look to some other key areas of their team for support. Junior Luke Bossert has looked sharp so far in the pole vault. Senior Jack Pearl will take the lead in the discus. James Leach and Ricardo Garcis will be strong distance runners for the Trojans while you can expect to see some speed from De’Rion Rambo in sprints. Gourley was particularly excited about his 4x100 relay team which advanced to sectionals last year.

With track focused so much on individual performances, you might find it unusual for both the teams to take an overall team approach to the season.

“Believe it or not, we’re very team oriented,” Gourley said. “We really focus on conference as the biggest meet of the season, with the concept that we rely on individuals to get that team score.”

The team concept has promoted competition, and therefore leadership, within each individual event.

“For instance, Ricardo is a distance guy so they kind of look up to him, De’Rion is a sprints guy so they look up to him,” Gourley said. “You have leaders by events and you really have to perform well by event in order to be a leader.”

Gourley emphasized the importance of getting ready and hopes his team can build momentum as the year goes on.

“It’s a three part season: getting ready to get ready, getting ready, and then the championship part when conference starts,” Gourley said.

As far as when a coach can tell whether his team is towards the top of the competition, Gourley left the book open on this year’s team by saying, “You get about three big meets under your belt and you can tell if you have a shot or not.”