All Park Hill Board is guilty of: lack of communication

Being so close to an incompetent and chaotic Kansas City Missouri School District, it’s easy to understand the pride southern Platte County has in the quality and reputation of the Park Hill School District. As a Park Hill graduate myself, I’m very supportive of the district and know the value it represents to our community. At times it can seem the educational priorities and culture established here over a long period of time can be fragile and gone in an instant. With something important to so many, it’s easy to get emotional and jump to conclusions if someone causes us to believe the district may be in jeopardy. The recent controversy over the Park Hill School Board’s handling of their selection of the replacement for retiring Superintendent Dr. Dennis Fisher is a good example.

There are a few things which seem pretty clear to me. First, the board took their responsibility of picking a superintendent very seriously, putting countless hours into the selection process. Second, many Park Hill patrons wanted the job to go to Deputy Superintendent Mark Miles, who by most accounts is a stand-up guy and has done many good things for the district. Third, when the field was narrowed, the board did not solicit public input as it had at the beginning of the process nor did it effectively communicate updates to patrons on their progress. This was not in an effort to be disingenuous. Fourth, Dr. Scott Springston was selected as the final candidate and will be the next Superintendent, not the internal candidate Dr. Miles. This resulted in a social media frenzy fueled by an upset contingent of parents, former board members and a handful of elected officials.

Having participated in my share of interviews both as the interviewee or the interviewer, including a recent public appointment, I understand conducting such a search process can have limitless formats. It can be a very difficult task to narrow the field to one candidate in the end. Ultimately, any process chosen can be scrutinized. The difficult job Park Hill had at hand in this case was keeping candidates’ consideration private in respect to their current employment. The delicate legal aspects in regards to personnel matters like this can only be explained by their potential for lawsuits, another area we don’t want to be like Kansas City. Nonetheless, maintaining private considerations for the candidates while keeping patrons updated on the progress could have been achieved.

With that said, the process was not illegal, unethical, immoral or rushed. It was simply a political mistake: a failure to communicate. The board wholly admits it. So, as many people have asked me over recent days, why are some so upset? Aren’t there worse things by far that happen in our county and municipal governments where no one even cares to notice? Yes, but it really comes down to the intricate world of school board politics — those who participate in it, and those who unknowingly become a pawn in it.

There may be parents who were disappointed in the lack of communication and involvement. This expectation was set by regular examples of district outreach on things ranging from simply naming a new school to the input solicited on targets for tough budget cuts. When you ask what color the drapes should be, be prepared to be told how the whole room should look. There are also parents who’ve developed a close relationship with Dr. Miles and truly see him as the best choice, despite not knowing the alternatives. This is all understandable to a certain degree, but this was hardly the coup d’état of the school district some may infer. In fact, many administrators have worked in the district since Dr. Fisher’s predecessor and will continue to. A new superintendent is rarely the dramatic house cleaning we commonly see with a new President or Governor.

Either way, there were an influential few who wanted to fight this battle. Whether it was current or former board members, or other elected officials, claiming the process was done in “secret” and with “closed doors” was like yelling fire in a theater to Park Hill patrons. The process, started in October, had never been questioned until word spread Dr. Miles was not selected two weeks ago. Had their preferred choice been selected, there likely would not have been any scrutiny.

In a country where education scores are falling compared to the rest of the world, Park Hill must continue to expect more than being the best according to state standards, because they are just that, standard. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson once said, “All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.” In their decision, that’s what board members did in this case. They knew their decision would be unpopular, but still thought it best. At every level of government we ask our leaders to have backbone and do the same. In this situation, we’re seeing why it doesn’t happen often. It’s not easy to do, especially when you listen to the emotional disapproval. Threats of redemption in April’s school board elections were sharp, but hollow, as the two seats on the ballot are held by members not seeking re-election.

Board members selected for what is not likely Dr. Springton's resume, but his intangibles. In other words, it is not on where he’s been, but where he wants to take us. It’s now up to him, not the Board, to prove to us he was the right selection. One thing not in doubt, even from those most critical, is the support he’ll receive towards his success once he arrives. Park Hill patrons can’t afford anything different.

Winter Weekly Recap: Dec. 13-18

Park Hill South Girls Basketball
The Park Hill South girls basketball team reached and surpassed their win total from last year last week as they improve to 4-4 after going 2-1 with wins against Raytown South and Grandview. And the two wins weren't squekers either as they defeated Raytown South 50-19, with 12 points coming from Jessica Lee, and Grandview 47-24, as Stephanie Griffith scored 16 with 7-10 shooting from the field. The Panthers feel to William Chrisman 49-37 in their final game of the week. South came into the fourth quarter only down by two. Coach Jenny Orlowski said the loss was in part due to fatigue and mental mistakes late in the game. She says they are making great improvements and are beginning to gel as a team.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
After a second place finish in the Blue Springs South tournament two weekends ago, South continued to play well last week as they added two more wins to improve their overall record to 6-1 on the year. A 63-29 thumping of William Chrisman featured three players scoring in double digits with Christian Hildebrandt's 15, Adam Schemenauer's 14, and Rocky Benson's 10. Chrisman did not score more than nine points in any of the four quarters. Their Friday night showdown with Northland neighbor Winnetonka was more of a game, but the Panthers pulled out a 54-48 win as South's Hildebrandt put in 19 along with Benson's 11. They'll compete in the Cardinal Division of the William Jewell Holiday Classic next week and start things with Kansas City Central followed by a likely match-up with O'Hara.

Park Hill Boys Basketball
Park Hill is now 5-1 after a victory against Kearney last week. Nathan Wilson's 11 points along with Chris Nsenki's 10 led the Trojans to a 48-45 victory over Kearney. They'll begin competition in the William Jewell Holiday Classic next week as they play start play in the Patterson Division against William Chrisman to set-up a likely second round game with Liberty.

Park Hill Girls Basketball
The Lady Trojans basketball team is now 2-3 after a poor performance against North Kansas City 58-20 and a win against Belton last week 43-32. Micalla Rettinger has emerged as threat for the Trojans on the scoring front as she led Park Hill in both games with five and 12 points, respectively. Dominique Broadus also added 12 points and 13 rebounds in their victory against Winnetonka.

Park Hill South Wrestling
Park Hill South Wrestling fell to Kearney last week 56-18. South won three matches, but two were by forfeit. The quality showing by Jimmy Carpenter in the 125-pound division resulted in a pin of Kearney's Joe Disciacca. They were back in action over the weekend at the Kansas City Wrestling Classic at Hale Arena. The Panthers finished 27th with a total of 143.5 team points. The Panthers' next action will be the first of January when they host Fort Osage and then visit Platte County.

Park Hill Wrestling
Despite neighbor Oak Park's impressive third place performance and five individual titles, Park Hill had a quality showing as they placed seventh with a team score of 391.5 at the Kansas City Wrestling Classic and took two of the individual titles. After winning his division last year, Bricker Dixon won again, this time in the 125-pound division with his 11-0 victory. At the 145-pound division, Preston Crouse took home the title. Nolan Smith came up just shy in the heavyweight championship match as he fell 3-2 in seven overtimes to Oak Park's John Cervantes. Park Hill and Oak Park were two of the three teams in the entire tournament to win more than one weight class. Collins Hill out of Georgia took home the team title with 472.2 team points without any first place finishes. John Erneste finished fifth at 103 and Russ Coleman placed fourth at 130. Park Hill is off from competition until the beginning of the year when they host Lee's Summit West and Staley.

Park Hill Girls Swim/Dive
Park Hill defeated North Kansas City last week 147-33 in an early week meet. They traveled to the Independence Invitational over the weekend.

Park Hill South Girls Swim/Dive
Park HIll South Swimming's week couldn't get much better last week as they racked up wins over five different teams including Oak Park, Staley, Liberty North, MICDS ( St. Louis) and Springfield Kickapoo. Over the weekend, they continued their dominance with a Top performances in the invitational included first place medals for the 200 Medley Relay's team of Lyndsay Ryan, Olivia McLain, Mary Cate Reinert, Mariah Bryant; the 200 Free Relay of Rachael Norfleet, Shannon Brouk, Miranda Henderson, and Bryant; and Ryan in the 100 backstroke. Other Medal winners included Norfleet in the 200 Free, Brouk and Reinert in 200 IM, Bryant, Ryan and Henderson in the 50 Free, Kelsey Sadler in Diving, Reinert in 100 Fly, McLain and Norfleet in the 100 Free, Shannon Brouk, Taylor Brouk, and Dannie Burdiss in the 500 Free, Bryant in 100 Back, McLain and Abbie Moyes in the 100 Breast and the 400 Free Relay of Ryan, Shannon Brouk, McLain and Norfleet.

The Panthers will have one meet over the holiday break which is Thursday, December 3th at Lee's Summit North.

Winter Recap: Dec. 6-10

Park Hill South Girls Basketball
For the second week in a row the Lady Panthers played North Kansas City and Winnetonka last week. It was also the second week in a row where they fell to North Kansas City and beat Winnetonka. North Kansas City jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they outscored the Panthers in every quarter of the 69-35 defeat for Park Hill South. Jessica Lee, Shannon Keith, and Stephanie Griffith led in scoring with six points a piece in what was a disapointing 30% shooting percentage from the field. A 44-21 victory over Winnetonka improved the Panthers record to 2-3 on the year, as Haley Shelton's four rebound, eight point performance led Park Hill South. Mallory Ross also had eight points. The Panthers play Grandview and William Chrisman this week before a meeting with rival Park Hill on Monday.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
Park Hill South traveled an exciting path to the Blue Springs South Tournament Championship game last week. After a 55-47 victory over Columbia Hickman behind Rocky Benson's 18 and Christian Hildebrandt's 16 points, the Panthers faced off against host school Blue Springs South. The battle wasn't settled after four quarters, so it went into overtime. In fact, it took three overtime periods to decide the game and in the end it was the Panthers with a 84-80 victory.

"Our guys stayed focused and discipline throughout the entire game. Adam Schemenauer controlled the boards with 15 rebounds to go along with his 17 points. And Christian (Hildebrandt) was tough as nails down the stretch. He had eight points midway through the third quarter and finished with 33 points. Our guys never gave up and fought hard until the end," head coach Anthony Perry said.

In the championship game, Park Hill South fell to Rockhurst despite a hard-fought fourth quarter comeback 62-59. Hildebrandt scored 23 points. The Panthers are now 4-1 with a game at Winnetonka Friday night.

Park HIll Boys Basketball
Park Hill lost their first game of the season in the Blue Springs South tournament last week against Rockhurst. After holding a one point lead going into the second quarter, Rockhurst held Park Hill to only seven points the rest of the half, giving the Hawklets a 34-29 lead. Going neck and neck the rest of the way, Rockhurst was able to hold their lead in the end with a 71-61 defeat of the Trojans. Park Hill won their next two games in the tournament against Staley 63-40 and Lincoln Prep 70-62. Chris Nsenki led the Trojans in all three games with 24, 22, and 28 points respectively. Anthony Walter added 19 points in their victory against Lincoln Prep. Park Hill is now 4-1 with games against Belton and Kearney this week.

Park Hill Wrestling
After finishing second to Kearney in the Park Hill Invitational, Park Hill got a chance for redemption as the two faced off in dual competition last week at Kearney. Despite pins from John Erneste, Preston Crouse, Travis Marcum, and Nolan Smith, Park Hill fell once again to Kearney by a score of 38-32. The Trojans participated in the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament over the weekend in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. One of the most notorious high school tournaments in the country, top teams from around the country have traveled far to compete in over the years. The Trojans finished 24th out of over 60 schools with 52 team points. They'll participate in the Midwest Wrestling Classic this weekend.

Park Hill South Wrestling
Park Hill South earned two team dual victories last week against Ray-Pec and Platte County. Bret Rounkles, Jimmy Carpenter, Alex Weatherly, Nick Gillespie, and Grant Kirschbaum pinned their opponents as the Panthers defeated Platte County 42-27. They went on defeat Ray-Pec 44-23 later in the week. Over the weekend, the Panthers placed sixth out of 16 teams in the Lee's Summit North Invitational with 177.5 team points. Just Haughenberry placed third in the 140 pound division, Rene Jiminez placed fourth in the 160 pound division, Nick Gillespie second in the 171 pound division, and Sam Eickhoff fourth in the heavyweight division.

Park Hill South Swim/Dive
Park Hill South bested Park Hill last week 123-57. The Panthers made state cuts in the medley and 200 Free Relays. Rachael Norfleet made state cuts in the 200 Free and 100 Free. Lyndsay Ryan made state cuts in the 50 Free and 100 Back along with Olivia McLain's state qualifying cut in the 200 Individual Medley.

Despite no team scores being kept in the Blue Springs Holiday Relay meet Park Hill South won 13 of the 16 relays. Shannon Brouk swam a state cut in the 200 Free, Mary Cate Reinert in the 100 Fly and Olivia McLain in the 100 Breaststroke. They qualified the 400 free relay team while also seeing improved times in the Medley and 200 Free Relays. They'll travel to St. Louis over the weekend to compete against the Mary Institute and Saint Louis Day School.

Winter Round-up: Nov. 29 - Dec. 3

Park Hill South Boys Basketball
Park Hill South started their season with two wins last week against North Kansas City and William Chrisman. Leading throughout the game, the Panthers prevented a NKC comeback in the fourth quarter as they pulled out the victory 59-52. Christian Hildebrandt and Rocky Benson led with 20 and 11 points. Friday night against William Chrisman, the Panthers got out to a 23-16 first quarter lead and never looked back as they defeated the Bears 69-50. Hildebrant put in 27 points while Adam Schemenauer and Kendrick White both posted 12 points. Park Hill South will be playing in the Blue Springs South McDonald's Tournament this week.

Park Hill Girls Basketball
Park Hill girls coach Aaron Neeser started the Trojans off on the right foot in his first season as they defeated Fort Osage in the opening game of the Fort Osage tournament last week by a score of 39-36. Kyleesha Weston's 17 points led the Trojans. After their encouraging start, Park Hill lost their next two games to St. Joe Central and William Chrisman. Tied with 22 points a piece at the half, Central extended their lead to seven going into the fourth quarter before winning 56-47. Weston and Helena Hudson led the Trojans with 17 and 12 points. Later in the week, the Trojans found themselves in another close game going into the second half only down 22-21. That margin would hold true at the end of the game as the Bears took advantage of their 33 free throw attempts, compared to the Trojans' 11, and pull out a close one 42-41. Park Hill's Weston scored 13 points along with Marche Belcher's 10 points. The Lady Trojans are now 1-2 with games against North Kansas City and Belton next week.

Park Hill Boys Basketball

In a rematch of last year's district semi-final game, Park Hill was able to claim a little bit of redemption as they used an explosive second quarter to propel them to a 63-58 win over Oak Park. After falling behind 17-9 in the first quarter, the Trojans' 26-8 second quarter put them up enough to still give up a late Northmen run and maintain the victory. Brady Kreitzer's 26 points along with Chris Nsenki's 24 lit it up for Park Hill to account for 50 of the Trojans' 63 total team points. Park Hill will be competing in the Blue Springs South McDonald's Tournament this week.

Park Hill Wrestling

In their first competition since winning the state championship last February, the 2010-2011 Park Hill wrestling team returned to the mat to host the Park Hill Duals with 16 teams participating. Park Hill cruised through the round-robin format with wins over Fort Osage (61-11), Liberty (52-18), and Park Hill South (43-21). In the championship round, they defeated Lewis Central 44-25 to advance to the championship against Kearney. Even behind quality match wins from Bricker Dixon, Russ Coleman, Preston Crouse, Eddie McDonald and Nolan Smith, Kearney edged out a 37-29 victory for first place. The Trojans will be back in action as they compete in the Walsh Jesuit Tournament this Friday.

Park Hill South Wrestling
Park Hill South wrestling defeated North Kansas City last week before placing third in the Park Hill Duals this past weekend. Behind pins from Jimmy Carpenter, George Barth, Alex Weatherly, Justin Haughenberry, DJ Dewitt, Brock St. Louis, Chase Gray, Grant Kirschbaum, and Sam Eickhoff, South was able to build a huge lead before going onto claim victory 65-9. After two wins over Liberty (37-32) and Fort Osage (51-21) in the day-long Park Hill Duals, the Panthers fell to Park Hill (43-21). In the semi-finals, Kearney beat Park Hill South (44-27) before going on to place first which led the Panthers to a 42-32 third place win over Lewis Central. Park Hill South's next action comes when they travel to Lee's Summit North Friday night.
 
Park Hill South Girls Basketball
The Park Hill South girls basketball team started their season off 1-2 last week as they competed in the Winnetonka Invitational. The Panthers fell 50-34 to North Kansas City before rebounding against Winnetonka mid-week for a 48-31 victory. In the tournament finale, South went down by 13 early in the game and would maintain that margin throughout the rest of the game despite an improved quality of play the remaining three quarters. Coach Jenny Orlowski said she was pleased the effort in the tournament and that her team is growing up a little each day.

Fall Roundup: Oct. 25-30

Park Hill Boys Soccer
Park Hill Soccer earned their second consecutive conference title last week as they completed an undefeated conference schedule by beating St. Joe Central 6-1 with two goals a piece from David Zdvorak and Nick Shephered along with goals from Ray Lee and Kevin Madera. They followed it up with a 2-0 win over North Kansas City with both goals coming from Zdvorak. Park Hill completed their regular season 21-2-1. They'll play Tuesday night against the winner of the Staley/St. Joe Central game in hopes of playing for the district title Thursday night at Staley High.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country
After placing first in the district meet two week's ago, Kim Rau again led the Trojans at the sectional meet this past weekend as she finished 16th overall. As a team, Park Hill finished last in eighth place with 166 team points. The state meet will be held this Saturday, November 6, in Jefferson City at the Oak Hills Golf Center.
 
Park Hill Boys Swim and Dive
Park Hill Swim and Dive pulled away with their second consecutive conference championship this past weekend as they racked up 598 points to land in front of Lee's Summit West followed by St. Joe Central. First place finishes came from Chris Greger in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle, Toby Parker in the one meter dive, Ben Svoboda in the 100 yard butterfly, Bryce Kober in the 100 yard breaststroke, and the 200 yard freestyle relay. The state swim meet is next weekend at the St. Peters Rec-Plex

Fall Roundup: Oct. 18-23

Park Hill Cross Country
Freshman Kim Rau ran away with the Class 4 District 8 meet last weekend at Scottsdale Park in Liberty as she placed first, a whole 18 seconds in front of the meet's second place finisher. Other runners included Brooke Bischof (12th), Maggie Lanham (21st), Chelsey Lewis (24th), Joanna Grauberger (26th), Maddie Bischof (30th), and Maddie Hemphill (31). As a team, Park Hill finished fourth, just a single second on average behind third place finisher St. Joe Central.

The Park Hill Boys finished seventh with top runners including Nathan Huffer (19th), Kainen Utt (31st), and Andy Iverson (39th).

Park Hill Boys Soccer
The Trojan soccer team defeated their most serious threat to the conference title in Lee's Summit West last week 3-0 with goals from Ray Lee, David Zdvorak and Cole Walker. The shutout is credited to Shane VanHooser. Park Hill is 19-2-1 on the season and can wrap up an undefeated conference season against North Kansas City this week. District play begins next week with the Trojans as the top seed. On Tuesday, November 2nd they will face the winner of the #4 Staley/#5 St. Joe Central game from the previous night. A win will match Park Hill against the winner of the #2 Park Hill South/#3 Oak Park game for the district championship Thursday, November 4th at Staley.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Park Hill's exciting team run to the final four of the state playoffs ended just short of a chance to play for a state title last week as the team fell to Columbia Rock Bridge 5-2 in the semi-finals. Suzanne Barth and Kate Skorija won their singles matches, but Rock Bridge claimed four straight matches to need only one doubles win to clinch the victory. For third place against Parkway Central, Park Hill came out hot winning five of the six singles matches to claim victory at 5-1.

Individually, junior Suzanne Barth's dream of a state title fell short as she saw an early round exit when eventual state champion Lindsey Whitehead of Ladue Horton Watkins won in straight sets at 6-2, 6-3. Kate Skorija and Brooke Barnard also were eliminated by a Ladue team in the doubles tournament as they lost 6-3, 6-2 to Camden Newton and Annie Kopp.
 
Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball's season came to an end on Monday night with a loss to Oak Park in the first round of the district tournament. They fell 2-1. After winning a close second game to force a third 25-23, the Trojans couldn't keep up with Northmen as they fell 25-17 in the final game. They finish the season 14-16-1.

Park Hill Girls Golf
Stephanie Atkinson and Bailey Warlen competed in the State Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks in Springfield October 17th – 19th. Atkinson finished ranked 40th and Warlen ranked 83rd. Atkinson shot a 91 on day one and a 88 on day two for a combined score of 179. Warlen shot a 102 on day one and a 104 on day two for a combined score of 206.

Fall Roundup: Oct. 11-16

Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball went 1-2 last week with their sole victory coming against North Kansas City in a three game series (25-23, 22-25, 25-21). The Trojans fell to Kearney (21-25, 18-25) and Winnetonka (16-25, 19-15). They wrap up the regular season this week and head into district play next Monday as a five seed with a rematch against four seeded Oak Park who they faced in the second game of the season. Coach Lindsey Hood believes it will be a much closer match this time around. A win would mean a matchup with first seeded Kearney. They are 13-15-1 on the year.

"We feel like we are much better than what we were then and I'm sure Oak Park is the same way. Oak Park's Candy McCall and I are great friends and I hope we play them better than we did the first time," Hood said. "At this point it's survive and advance and that's what we hope to do for as long as we can."

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Although Lee's Summit West ended the Park Hill girls tennis team's streak of conference championships this season with a 7-2 victory earlier this year, the Trojans knew there was a chance they'd have an opportunity at redemption if they did their part in making their way to the state playoffs. Redemption was putting it lightly last weekend as Park Hill not only beat rival Park Hill South in the sectional round, but also went on to pull off what many consider an upset of Lee's Summit West in the quarterfinal round to advance to the Final Four of the Missouri Class 2 playoffs. Against Park Hill South, Suzanne Barth battled Michelle Royle to a 7-6, 6-3 victory while Kate Skorija and Brooke Barnard defeated Marie Gehrke and Mary Kate Reinhart 6-1, 7-6 to advance Park Hill past the Panthers 5-3.

In the quarterfinal round over the weekend as Barth cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Titans' number one singles player along with wins from Skorija, Barnard, and Sammy Young to lead Park Hill to a 5-2 victory over Lee's Summit West. Park Hill will travel to the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield this Thursday morning to take on Columbia Rock Bridge in the semi-final round at 9 a.m. where a win will put Park Hill in its first state team tennis title match in school history against either Parkway Central or Ladue Horton Watkins at 1 p.m.

Park Hill Boys Soccer
When the Park Hill soccer team upset traditional powerhouse Rockhurst, both teams knew the rematch this year would be something neither would took for granted. Their victory last week represented another test passed for what has been an unstoppable Trojan soccer team this year as Park Hill beat Rockhurst 3-1 on the backs of goals from Matt Russell, Ray Lee, and Joel Gordon. A weekend road trip to St. Louis resulted in much the same way with two wins against Parkway Central (4-0) and Parkway West (1-0) with goals from Lee, Parker Melott, David Zdovrak (2), and Sam Shepherd. Shane Van Hooser earned the shutout in both games. Park Hill is now an impressive 16-2-1 with only a handful of conference games remaining before district play begins on November 1. Although recently ranked sixth in the state, the defeat of fourth ranked Rockhurst should move the Trojans up the polls most likely behind three strong St. Louis schools.

Fall Roundup: October 4-8

Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball had a tough last week going winless in three games to Lee's Summit North (25-9, 25-15), Lee's Summit West (25-15, 25-14), and Truman (25-18, 25-17). Alyssa Moran and Lindsey Grace led Park Hill in kills against Lee's Summit West with six and five respectively. Moran added on seven against Truman while Halley Knudson led the defense with ten digs. This week they'll play Kearney and North Kansas City. Park Hill is 12-13-1 on the season with district play on the horizon.

Park Hill Girls Golf
The sectional state golf tournament at Paradise Point produced two state qualifiers for Park Hill last week. Bailey Warlen led the Trojans with a 93 followed by Stephanie Atkinson's 94. Park Hill finished fourth in the eight team field with a score of 395. Warlen and Atkinson will compete in the state tournament at Sedalia Country Club on October 18th and 19th.

Park Hill Softball
For the second year in a row, the Park Hill Softball team came into district play as a lower seed, but peaked at an opportune time to reach the championship game. A convincing 13-4 win against number five seed Staley sent Park Hill into a semifinal matchup with top seeded Kearney. The Trojans eeked out a close 3-2 victory to set them up for a chance at the district title last weekend against second seeded Liberty. Unfortunately for Park Hill, that's where they ran out of steam as Liberty went on to take the title by shutting out the Trojans 9-0. Park Hill finishes the season just a shade under .500 at 13-14.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Park Hill played some dominating tennis last week while winning the team portion of the District 16 title earlier in the week, then going on to have their top players win the individual singles and doubles portion over the weekend. Park Hill's Suzanne Barth defeated Kearney's Kayla Dysart in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 to lead Park Hill over Kearney 5-0 in the district semifinals. In the title match, it was Barth again winning 6-1, 6-1 against St. Joe Central's Logan Taylor to propel the Trojans to a 5-0 team victory to clinch another district title. In the individual portion, Barth won 6-0, 6-1 again to claim the individual title while teammate Ashleigh Bos placed third. Kate Skorija and Brooke Barnard won in consecutive sets 6-4 and 6-7 to win the doubles title. Barth along with the duo of Skorija and Barnard competed in the sectional round at Park Hill on Tuesday evening. Details on whether they advanced to the state tournament next week.

Fall Roundup: September 26 - October 2

Park Hill Softball
Park Hill softball has seen a busy stretch of games over the final two weeks of the season as they've gone 3-3 to improve to 10-13 on the year before heading into district play. During that time, Park Hill lost a close 1-0 game against conference member Lee's Summit West. They then traveled to Columbia for the Hickman Kewpie Classic where they defeated the host school 5-3 with some clutch hitting from Bethany Sullinger, Samantha Snodgrass, and Paige Downs along with Mackenzie Porter retired nine of the last ten batters. Falling in the next game 11-2 to Blue Springs South, the Trojans came back to beat Blair Oaks in extra innings 3-2 before falling in their final Classic game to St. Dominick's 12-4. Late last week, Park Hill thumped North Kansas City 20-4 as the bats came alive and Porter added her ninth win of the season. Park Hill starts district play this week as the four seeded playing Staley, a rematch of last year's district championship game. If the Trojans win they'll go on to play top seeded Kearney in the semi final round.

Park Hill Soccer
Park Hill defeated Lee's Summit West with penalty kicks last week 1-1. Matt Russell scored the only goal in regulation. After no scoring took place in overtime, the Trojans won 4-3 in the penalty kick round. Traveling to St. Joe Central, the Trojans came home with a 3-1 win with two goals from Cole Walker and another from David Zdvorak. They'll participate in the Park Hill South Panther Classic all this week before facing Ruskin and Rockhurst next week. The game against Rockhurst will be a rematch of the upset Park Hill pulled when they beat soccer powerhouse Rockhurst on their home field. Park Hill is now 11-2-1 on the season.
Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball pulled out two conference wins last week as they went 2-1. After starting off the week with a tough loss at Blue Springs (25-14, 25-10), the Trojans handedly beat Rusking 25-16, 25-16 and St. Joe Central 25-21, 25-13 to improve to 12-10-1. Jenny Riddle and Ashlea Williams had 7 kills a piece against Ruskin while Alyssa Moran's 10 kills and Halley Knudson's 8 digs led Park Hill past St. Joe Central. This week they'll play Lee's Summit West and Truman.

Park Hill Girls Golf
The Park Hill Girl’s Golf Team placed third out of 11 teams in the district tournament with a team score of 396. Four of their five golfers advanced to the sectional competition to be held this week. Anna Kloeppel placed third overall with an 86. Kloeppel was All-District First Team. The other sectional qualifiers were Stephanie Atkinson, Samantha Brunker, and Bailey Warlen.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country
The Trojan cross country team continues to make strides as they placed ninth out of 26 teams at the KC Metro Classic at Ray-Pec last weekend. Kim Rau placed eleventh individually with a time of 19:29 in the 5k race. Brook Bischof (36th), Maggie Lanham (56th), Joanna Grauberger (67th) and Maddie Bischoff (97th) finished off the Park Hill team. Over 180 runners participated in the race.

Fall Roundup: September 13-17

Park Hill Softball
Trojan Softball started the week off with a victory against North Kansas City by a score of 9-0, but fell to conference power Truman 4-0 before participating in the Platte County Tournament over the weekend.

Park Hill Girls Golf
Stephanie Atkinson's 85 and Anna Kloeppel's 86 led the Trojans to an eighth place finish at the Truman/Chrisman Invitational last week. Those scores were good enough for top 20 individual honors with 23 teams and over 100 golfers participating. As a team, Park Hill shot a 402. In a match against Staley last Thursday, Kloeppel and Atkinson led the team again with scores of 44 and 47 respectively on holes.

Park Hill Boys Soccer
Park Hill Boys Soccer improved to 6-2-1 last week with two weeks against Truman (4-0) and North Kansas City (4-0). Two goals from David Ddvorak along with goals from Neal Sampson and Cole Walker led the Trojans to victory against Truman. A hat trick of three goals from Matt Russell and another from Zdvorak helped Park Hill past NKC. Goalie Shane Van Hooser was credited with shutouts in both games. They'll play at Blue Springs this week in their only scheduled game.

Park Hill Volleyball
Park Hill Volleyball fell in two games to rival Park Hill South 25-19 and 25-13 early in last week, but came back to win two matches against Truman and North Kansas City to extend their record to 7-6. Over the weekend they played in the Lee's Summit North tournament where they 3-2-1 and lost in the finals of the consolation bracket. The Trojans are now 10-8-1.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Park Hill Girls Tennis defeated Oak Park early last week 8-1 with top singles player Suzanne Barth winning 10-0 along with Kate Skorija and Sammy Young's victories. Barth teamed up with Brooke Barnard in the top doubles match to defeat their opposition 10-4. Against St. Joe Central, Barth, Skorija, Barnard, Anna Karsiewicz, Ashlei Bos, and Kelsey Midtbo sweep all six singles matches. After winning two doubles matches the final score was 8-1. They traveled back to St. Joe last Friday for Central's Invitational Tournament where they won two of the four flights and the team title. Barth and Bos won their singles flights while Skorija and Barnard finished third in their doubles flight. Park Hill is 6-1 in match play this season.

Fall Roundup: September 6-10

Park Hill Girls Golf
The Park Hill girls continue to perform towards the top of their competition as they turned out two quality showings last week at the Blue Springs South Invitational and St. Joseph Tournament. In the best ball format at Lakewood Oaks in Blue Springs, the Trojans placed third with an overall score of 274. Anna Kloeppel placed sixth overall with a medaling score of 87. Later in the week at Fairview in St. Joseph, they shot a 379 which was good enough for sixth among the 18 teams in the field with all Trojans shooting below 100. They'll play a team match on Thursday before going into their final week of regular season play.

Park Hill Boys Soccer
Park Hill Soccer racked up a 4-1 record by beating local teams Oak Park and Liberty last week before disappointingly losing at home against Springfield Kickapoo and tying Springfield Glendale. Against Oak Park (3-0) david Zdvorak had two goals while Ray Lee added another. Zdvorak and Lee led against against Liberty with the two sole goals as they won 2-0. Assists were from Neal Sampson and Matt Russell. The Trojans fell 1-0 to Kickapoo before going scoreless in a 0-0 tie against Glendale. They are now 4-2-1.

Park Hill Softball
Park Hill softball went through a rough last week as they lost three games to Lee's Summit West, Park Hill South, and Liberty. After jumping out to a 6-2 lead, Park Hill South scored four runs in the top of the third and wouldn't look back. A valient comeback for the Trojans came up short as they fell 11-10. Bethany Sullinger contributed with a three-run homer along with Meghan Nelsen, Michele Rupard, and Liza Hill. On Thursday, the Trojans were stuck in a 3-3 tie with Liberty until the final two innings when Liberty added seven runs to complete a 10-3 victory over Park Hill. A Nikki Moss RBI triple to left in the first scored the only three runs for the Trojans. They're now 4-7 overall with a 1-2 conference record. This week's games will include road trips to Truman and Ruskin.

Spring Roundup: April 19 - 23

Park Hill Boys Golf
Before placing third at the Conference tournament, Park Hill boys golfers appeared to be peaking at the right time last week as they shot their best team score of the season with an overall 328 at the Liberty Invitational. Unfortunately for the Trojans, other area teams are also improving as the Trojans’ top performance only placed them in tenth out of 20 teams. Austin Dorward led Park Hill along with Victor Sodenholm who both shot 78.

Park Hill Girls Soccer
After rattling off three straight victories improving their record to 6-5, the Trojans hoped a showdown with the 9-1 Liberty Blue Jays would show some of the strides they had taken in this year and that they were ready to take the next step. It wasn’t so, as the impressive offense displayed over recent games for the Trojans was shut-out as they were defeated 10-0. Three games this week include a home game against Truman along with games at Winnetonka and Platte County. Park Hill is 6-6 on the year.

Park Hill Boys Tennis
The Park Hill Boys Tennis team turned out an impressive performance last week in their only match as they defeated Oak Park 9-0. Top singles player Sam Barth defeated his counterpart in consecutive sets 6-2 and 6-0. Mike Merchant and Brian Hillix have surfaced as the Trojans’ top doubles combination. They also won in consecutive sets by scores of 6-1 and 6-0. This week they’ll travel to Columbia to compete against Rockbridge.

Park Hill Boys Track
Last Friday the Park Hill Boys Track team competed in the Gary Parker Invitational at Blue Springs High. Liberty, Lee’s Summit West, and host school Blue Springs were just the start of a field featuring some of the city’s top athletes. Finishing eighth overall out of ten teams with just 48 team points compared to Blue Springs’ 111, the Trojans performed well in several areas. They leaned on what have been their strengths up to this point in the season including the distance relays, shot put, and discus. Adrien Esaw placed second in the 300 meter hurdles with time of 40 seconds, James Leach placed second in the 800 meter run at 2:00, Nick Smith placed 2nd in the shot put and 4th in the discus. The 4x800 meter relay placed third with a time of 8:18. They’ll prepare for the Park Hill Invitational featuring a number of area teams this Thursday afternoon at Park Hill District Stadium.

Spring presents a variety of challenges, weather only one

Each high school sports season seems to have its own particular attitude and feeling that comes with it. Fall sports bring the excitement of a new school year with cool autumn afternoons and homecoming on the horizon while winter sports bring the competition indoors away from the cold and ice along with transitioning into the second half of the year. Heading into this spring’s athletic schedule, warm weather and an approaching summer is just one of the things on the minds of local student athletes, administrators, and fans as they head outdoors again.

After one of the hardest winters to hit the Midwest in quite some time, as if on que, the first week of March brought us long-awaited clear skies and sunshine with temperatures in the 50’s just in time for spring sports to get under way. But with the ground soaked from the winter’s continuous snow, it could be awhile until playing surfaces return to their ideal condition. Weather is just one factor that makes the spring unique for athletic directors and coaches.

“This year in particular it’s going to be awful because we don’t know when we’re going to dry out,” Park Hill Athletic Director Bill Sobbe said of the playing surfaces. “We’re probably not going to play our first couple games.”

Even before the first rounds of games come around, coaches have to make roster decisions, possibly before even stepping outdoors, which can be a difficult task when practices are held indoors or on non-playing surfaces. While the weather may delay the start of some teams’ seasons, Sobbe says they’ll make up almost every game at the varsity levels.

Although spring brings a number of things to look forward to for students and athletes, it can also bring potential headaches in the form of distractions for players and teams.

“It’s a different atmosphere because you’re coming to the end of a period. When you have the end of school, the end of seniors’ year, there’s all the excitement about finishing up,” Park Hill Athletic Director Bill Sobbe said.

Graduation and the events surrounding it, Prom, and standardized testing are just a few of the activities thrown in on top of the unpredictable weather that can throw out of sync some of the routines coaches strive to keep consistent.

“All of those things change the way kids look at spring sports,” Sobbe said. “The kids that are spring athletes they have to be able to focus through all those distractions. If they’re a true spring athlete and they want to pursue it in college, they’ve got the added pressure.”

This causes coaches to be creative and mindful when arranging practice schedules and the emphasis they place on each area of the game. Some may vary the length of practices and amount of time balanced between fundamentals and strategy or game situations in order to maintain focus.

“I think the way you go about practice is a key component of keeping them on task,” Sobbe said. “You try to keep them fresh in what they’re doing for games.”

A spring sports season can be particularly difficult for seniors going into their final weeks of high school. Their ability to stay committed throughout the season can sometimes be the difference maker for a team in a conference or district title race.

“The hardest thing to do with seniors is to get them to stay focused on the main goal, to stay together and win,” Sobbe said. “You hope you don’t have distractions in conference and districts, those couple games can swing things a different way.”

There were positive signs last week as teams hoped to at least limit one distraction in the weather, as conditions improved enough to practice outside. Although the baseball team was limited to the outfield grass and the soccer team utilized the turf football field while sharing with the track and field team, it’s better than inside.

As Sobbe noted, “You have to get out when you can because we might be the best team in the gym, but it doesn’t matter if we’re not while on grass.”