Park Hill race has little to do with education

The Park Hill School Board race has been an interesting one so far. Oddly enough, the things which have made it interesting have had absolutely nothing to do with the policies, taxes, curriculum or management of the School District. In fact, it’s actually had very little to do with education at all.

Even though his name will still appear on the ballot April 3, when Park Hill school board candidate Casey Beane ended his campaign by announcing he was dropping out of the race, it left more than a couple people scratching their heads. With support of his candidacy from a solid block of parent and teacher groups including several endorsements, it seemed untimely to end his bid just two weeks before Election Day. In the end, though, Beane’s stated reason for leaving the race in deciding to focus on his growing family is admirable. The remaining four candidates, Fred Cox, Chris Seufert, Edward Stephens and Allison Wurst, will contend for two open seats on the Board. The real issue though, doesn’t arise from Beane’s exit from the race, but the effects it leaves behind.

Those who have followed school board elections in the past know how difficult it is for candidates to reach out to voters. School board campaigns don’t tend to have the drama, excitement, or controversy that fuels more partisan races to grab voters’ attention. With that in mind, the local media has announced and made clear Beane’s decision to end his candidacy over the last week. Despite a week-long delay, as we go to press it has been realized the Park Hill School District has also finally noted this on their Web site. As a primary source of information for patrons and voters through the district’s web site, television channel, and email correspondence, news that a leading candidate on the ballot has withdrawn and will not serve if elected is fairly significant. This should have been more proactively communicated by the district. Though as the saying goes: better late than never.

A similar situation happened in 2011, when candidate Victor McCance dropped out of the school board race. Demonstrating the effects a withdrawn candidacy can have, on Election Day he still received 272 votes, a margin candidates Chris Seufert and Fred Sanchez know firsthand could affect their candidacies as both fell short by close margins that same year. Nonetheless, this year it still leaves open the possibility of a couple hundred votes being cast for Beane, a withdrawn candidate who had significantly more support prior to dropping out than McCance did in 2011. The thought of this making a difference in a close election result would be unfortunate.

Out of the four candidates remaining, three have remained fairly uncontroversial, but Edward Stephens has more than made up for it. On the surface, Stephens might appear as an ideal school board candidate: a district graduate, college educated, professional career, well-spoken and well-dressed. But as you may have read in several previous editions of The Citizen, his seemingly insensitive comments and opinions on a variety of subjects including diversity and special needs students have caused quite a stir. Not surprisingly, there’s something about the words ‘White’ and ‘History’ when placed together in a sentence that project a cultural and political disconnect with the average voter. Not understanding that continually using those words would draw negative attention to him reinforces that. Misjudging the negative attention as positive publicity, as Stephens had done, is another example.

While his candidacy deeply troubles some, gauging the level of support Stephens actually has is difficult. The same can be said for all the candidates’ support, as yard signs and social media don’t always prove to be the winning formula in school board contests. As is the case in many elections where candidates are not identified as Democrats or Republicans, it’s hard to tell what will eventually draw voters to a particular candidate.

Election night is shaping up to be the culmination of a fairly active time for the Park Hill School District. With the selection of a new superintendent, approval of new elementary school boundaries, and election of two new board members all in the last 60 days, things should slow down over the next couple months in terms of highly political and sensitive decisions, calmly reverting back to what Park Hill does best, a focus on education.

Park Hill South grad big part of Ohio's March Madness

While the basketball season has ended for most area high school and college players, Platte County still has one local player competing on the hardwood, and he’s doing it on college basketball’s biggest stage. Ohio University junior forward Ivo Baltic, a 2009 Park Hill South graduate, has been a key member of a Bobcat squad that has amassed a 29-7 record and Mid-America Conference (MAC) conference tournament championship this season. It earned them a trip to the NCAA Tournament where last week, as an underdog 13^th seed, the Bobcats fueled March Madness with not only an upset over the fourth seeded Michigan Wolverines 65-60, but two days later another win over 12^th seeded South Florida 62-56. The wins propel them towards an unlikely trip to the Sweet Sixteen and matchup against perennial power house, number one seeded North Carolina this Friday night in St. Louis.

“I don’t think seeding really means a lot. Our mindset was we just wanted to advance,” Baltic said of the upsets. “In the locker room, we have this board that says: graduate from Ohio University, win the MAC championship (regular season and tournament), make it to the NCAA Tournament, and advance in the tournament. These are our goals and we’ve been able to pretty much accomplish them so far.”

Averaging 8.9 points and 5 rebounds per game this season, it’s Baltic’s second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, as a freshman he played every game in a season where 14^th seeded Ohio upset the third seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the first round.

“We weren’t expected to do good things then, this year is a little different because we’ve been pretty successful the whole season,” Baltic said. “This year we’re in the Sweet Sixteen, which hasn’t been done since 1964 so it’s been a good year for us, but we just have to stay hungry and humble.”

It’s a scenario the Ohio University coaching staff painted for Baltic when he was recruited out of high school and one that stood out compared to other schools he was being pursued by at the time. Baltic says Ohio told him not just the positives, but also the potential negatives of college basketball life.

“The whole coaching staff, they pretty much told me we could do some special things with my time here,” Baltic said. “The difference was they told me the ups and downs of what could happen instead of just the positives.”

The former Park Hill South standout was nominated as a McDonald’s High School All-America his senior year when he averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds per game for the Panthers. His talent and ability is still visible around Park Hill South in the form of plaques and recognition as he remains the school’s all-time scoring and rebound leader. Long-time Athletic Director John Sedler says Baltic is the best he’s ever watched.

“In my opinion, he is the best player to graduate from the Park Hill School District,” Sedler said. “He is a multi-skilled (hybrid) player that is effective on the perimeter as well as in the post area.  Today’s game really fits his skills; with all of the spread sets and dribble penetration being used he is very comfortable.”

Baltic echoes the description by calling his playing persona as a ‘versatile big’ by being willing to play whatever role the team needs.

“I can be whatever my team needs me to be. I think that’s a sacrifice anyone on our team is willing to make.”

Sacrifice is something Baltic is very familiar with when it comes to basketball. ‘Basketball junkie’ and ‘gym rat’ are just two of the words used to describe his work ethic, both past and present. At a young age, Baltic knew basketball was his way to college.

“Growing up, my parents didn’t really have a lot of money. We came from overseas. Just getting into college was going to be pretty hard,” Baltic, who was born in Bosnia, but has lived in Kansas City since second grade, said. “I didn’t think I could just get in by academics or money by themselves. I just worked my butt off every day. Fridays and Saturday nights when kids were out going and stuff, I was in the gym.”

Rattling off nearly a half dozen of his former Park Hill South coaches, Baltic gave credit and appreciation (both big and small) for the support he’s received in the past and to this day.

“I just appreciate all the love I’ve gotten from my family, former teammates, former coaches, and all the people who really helped me get here,” Baltic said. “Even people like the janitors at my high school, who would sometimes turn on the lights for me just so I could shoot in the gym. It’s just the little things like that I’m real thankful for and blessed to have the opportunity to be doing what I’m doing.”

Even at 21 years old and a possible professional career ahead of him, he offers a lesson in discipline, as he commonly does with his ability to solve a Rubik’s cube in nearly a minute, mentioning his desire to continue playing the game after college before quickly returning to the immediate task in front of him.

“I just want to stay around the game after I’m done here (at school),” Baltic said. “To be honest, I’m just focused on this season and winning. Too many times people think too much about the future and they forget to live in the present.”

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Boys Tennis

With three consecutive district titles as evidence to backup Park Hill’s dominance as one of the metro areas top boys tennis programs over the years, until a couple weeks ago the 2012 season was looking like it would be the Trojans once again as local favorites. Even with Park Hill’s strong team approach, when junior Blake Barnard, a state qualifier last year, broke his arm and ending his season before it began, it changed the team’s perspective and two thoughts came to Coach Tim Kalis’s mind.

“It’s going to have an impact on our team and our guys, but most importantly my heart aches for him and I know he’s going to come back next season stronger and more appreciative of his talents to lead our team,” Kalis said.

With Barnard’s injury and loss of three varsity starters to graduation, Park Hill brings back two members of last year’s state qualifying team, seniors Michael Jones and Max Schoettger. Jones, who was the Trojans’ top singles player last season and just a few points shy of qualifying for state as an individual, is someone a young squad will lean on early for leadership.

“He’s such a hard worker, he’s pushed himself to be successful,” Kalis said. “It’s nice to have that kind of solid leader up there.”

 Chris To, Austin Keberlein, and Josh Nwanguzo return and hope to fill in varsity spots as upperclassmen, but Park Hill will also be a young team this year which has shifted the Trojans’ focus from confident title defender to more of an underdog-type mentality.

“I think we’re definitely the underdog this season. That’s our mentality and motto,” Kalis said.

“We lack experience and are young. It leaves all of these guys a great opportunity and its going to be exciting to see who steps up and who is hungry to play.”

Some of those new faces are showing promise with several who are no strangers to the game of tennis having come out of local youth tennis programs. Kalis is putting forward a sense of urgency for these young players as the top 5-8 spots are wide open for the taking. Some of those contenders Louis Reinmiller, Noah Higgins-Dunn, Andrew Carter, Sean Moise, Tom Klender, and Jett Mullendore.

“I think you’re going to see some younger guys step up into that mix,” Kalis said. “The kids have to realize they have to put in everything they’ve got.”

Park Hill will be participating in the Blue Valley Northwest tournament for the first time, a tournament which fields some of the best teams in the metro including Pembroke Hill, Rockhurst, Park Hill South, and Lee’s Summit West, teams the Trojans will also see during the regular season as some point or another.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Track

The Park Hill South boys track team returns just a handful of athletes from last year’s third place conference team, but with the nine letter winners they do return and more than 70 underclassmen coming out for this year’s team, the Panthers could be poised to be a surprise.

Senior Dedric Johnson is the only state qualifier returning from last year after he served as the anchor on the 4x400 relay team that finished sixth at state. Joining him will be Cody Kildow in the shot put and discus, Max Rodgers in the pole vault, Keith Loveless in the hurdles, Alex Augspurg in the high jump and sprints, and Abdi Sarbessa in the distance events.

Craig Scott and Marcus Harris will contribute in the sprinting events, but will also be joined by Nick Griffith in the triple and long jumps this year. Their speed and strength could allow them to compete with some of the metro’s top jumpers. Coach Clay Lenhert says the three provide each other with healthy and beneficial competition.

“The practice group of Harris, Scott and Griffith will be interesting in the long jump.  Often when you have 3 guys of this caliber the competition in practice each day turns into really nice performances at meets,” Lenhert said.

While at first glance the Panthers appear most strong in their field events, Lenhert sees a lot of promise in his younger runners as well. While the Panthers will lean on their returning letter winners, it won’t be enough if they want to compete at a high level as a team.

“Many athletes from the junior varsity and freshmen teams last year are expected to step up to the Varsity level and make an impact,” Lenhert said. “We have some young distance runners whom could perform well.  Last year's varsity sprinters have all departed but we have some younger guys whom will work diligently to keep the relays in the battle.”

With Park Hill South’s conference competition featuring some of the best in the metro, the Panthers know track isn’t a sport where they can affect how the other team performs, just themselves.

“Character development is what is in our realm of control and this is will be the key to our success this season and beyond,” Lenhert said. “We can’t control anything or anyone in the conference, we simply develop character, work hard and let the chips fall where they may.”

Park Hill South starts the season with a dual meet against Park Hill March 27^th.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Girls Track

Despite the loss of several of their top athletes towards the beginning of the 2011 season, the Park Hill girls track team was able to salvage what was shaping up to be an underperforming year with several unexpected sectional qualifications at last year’s district meet. Building off some of those late season successes, the Lady Trojans hope to come back strong in 2012.

“It seemed to be one thing after another (last year). We thought it was going to be a great season and (even with the absences) still ended up qualifying five events for sectionals,” Coach Tari Garner said. “I would’ve never guessed it, based on how things started out. It was shaping up to be one of our toughest seasons, but actually turned up being pretty good.”

Building on strong finishes at the freshmen and junior varsity levels, Park Hill has a good portion of their sectional qualifiers returning this year. At first glance, the Trojans’ top strength coming into the season appears to be their field events, but their runners are young and aim on building off early.

Stephanie Atkinson in the pole vault, Dominique Broadus in the shot put, and Bailey Cation in the high jump lead the way in their respective events with jumpers Taylor Houx, Eleanor Parrot, Riley Stoulil and thrower Stephanie Lane adding depth in those events.

A number of young runners return including members of the sectional qualifying 4x100, 4x200, and 4x800 relay teams. Maddie and Brook Bischof, Ryann Fahrenholz, Chelsey Lewis, Katie Ebbrecht, Jo Grauberger , Daisha Battles, Onjhana Davis, and Marche Belcher all hope to improve on solid freshman and sophomore years. Belcher will also compete in the 300 hurdles. Kim Rau, Park Hill’s top cross country runner, and Carly Moyer will contribute in a variety of running events.

While the Trojans finished fourth in conference and seventh in districts as a team in 2011, the season which seemed to be headed towards disaster created some valuable experience for many of the core members of this year’s squad, leaving plenty of optimism about the 2012 season ahead.

Park Hill starts the season off with a dual track meet against Park Hill South on March 27^th.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Tennis

Park Hill South proved their boy’s tennis program continued on the up and up last year. Starting where they left off the year before, the Panthers won all their dual matches on except one on their way to repeating as a conference champions, won the team district title, and advanced past sectionals into the state quarterfinals before falling to Rockhurst. The Panthers’ top doubles team of Griffin Smith and Zack Royle advanced as a pair to state, placing in the top five, which was the highest finish in the programs history.

With last year in the rear view mirror and Smith now playing at Truman State, Royle returns for his junior year to now serve as the Panthers top player and take over as a captain leading what Coach Ian Cunliff describes as a young team with high potential.

“This is a rebuilding year with a young team that will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience,” Cunliff said. “We look forward to learning as much as possible over the next few months and are excited about our chances.”

While Royle will likely play both singles and doubles, his partner or the other pairs have not completely been decided yet. Joining him on the varsity level will be Jim Geary, Josh Robaska, Brandon Courtney, Josh Boehm, and Garrison Ballam.

Despite new and old faces alike competing for the Panthers in 2012, their goals remain relatively unchanged including another trip to the playoffs and to beat rival Park Hill, which has traditionally come hand in hand.

“Our goals are to qualify for postseason play, beat Park Hill, qualify two players for state individual play, and to learn as much as possible,” Cunliff said.

Park Hill South starts the season off with two home matches against Park Hill and Fort Osage next week.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill Baseball

Last year’s 12-13 Park Hill baseball team featured a lot of underclassmen in key roles, part due to injuries and part due to necessity. Coming in 2012, this means the Trojans come back with a strength that could come in handy in a sport as strategic as baseball: depth. It also means there are several positions up for grabs among more than enough capable players.

“We played a lot of underclassmen last year and they ended up getting a lot of playing time. It was good for our lower levels in promoting competition,” Coach Greg Reynolds said. “We’re exciting for the kids that will be fighting for jobs, it gives us a little flexibility.”

One of the players thrown into the fire as a sophomore last year was pitcher Logan Sloniker who racked up 50 strikeouts in 38 innings, posting a 4.80 earned run average. It was a tough position to be in for a young player, but using it as a foundation should pay dividends this season.

“Sloniker was thrown in as a sophomore,” Reynolds said. “He’s one of our best when it comes to conditioning and coming in for weights, but it takes a toll. This year we’re hoping to get a lot more help for him in several different ways.”

Returning for the Trojans and providing a solid group to build around are shortstop Zach Thompson, outfielder Zach Anderson, and outfielder/pitcher Dalton Motts, who, with Sloniker, will represent the heart of the lineup with a combined 74 hits and 39 runs batted in. Third baseman Jake Jones, catcher Ryan Winters, and second baseman Austin Lewis return as starters from last year’s team. Marcus Cross, Chris Heustis, Adam Fosdick, Paul Safford, Brent Collins, and Jose Reyes will also contribute.

Park Hill’s depth is probably most evident in the outfield where they have several players who can cover ground and when not starting serve as potential base running threats including John Balsamo, Cooper Gardner, and Seth Ell. This will be key since Anderson’s lone home run last season serves as the only evidence of power returning offensively for a Park Hill team that will rely on line drives and speed to their advantage.

“I think our outfield strength in terms of depth is better than it is anywhere else. We look at this team and think that defense is going to make the difference, so that’s how we’re deciding who wins a position. With that said, speed in the outfield is important. Some of our best teams have had that.”

Pitching is an area Park Hill feels confident in with four solid options to choose from. Cross, Sloniker, and Motts will see significant innings on the mound. Jake Jones, who is recovering from an arm injury, and Nick Jones will see relief opportunities throughout the season.

Park Hill starts the season off at the KC Metro Tournament before hosting Oak Park and St. Joe Central next week.

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.

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Baseball

Park Hill South’s 13-13 record last season is deceptive for a team that went 10-2 on their way to a conference title. Even in the tough conference the Panthers play in, Coach Josh Walker couldn’t quite pin down the success they had in league play.

“We just played well when it came to conference time,” Walker said. “A lot of the teams we beat in conference were probably better than teams we lost to out of the conference. Hopefully our force has changed to where we do that against every team this year.”

Minus their top two pitchers, the Panthers return a good core of last year’s team including first baseman Alex Howe (.348 average, 12 RBI), infielder Nick Ferraro, third baseman Ty Elley, centerfielder Eddie Sola, catcher Avery Booth (.381 average, 24 hits), outfielder Luke Ravenscraft, and pitcher Luke Colvault (14 strikeouts, 3.71 ERA). As they approach the regular season, Park Hill South feels most comfortable about their defense.

“Our strength right now is our defense,” Walker said. “I’m somewhat impressed with our hitting, but defense is our strength.”

Joining the team this year is a pair of transfer students in Joel Burkhart and Michael Somerville, both of which could make an immediate impact playing in the infield or pitching. Planned contributions are also expected from pitcher Jordan Fitch (1.62 ERA, 11 strikeouts), outfielder Bryce Thompson, and outfielder Cody Shopper.

Defending their conference title won’t be an easy task in 2012 though as Fort Osage and Winnetonka feature strong programs that will contend. For Winnetonka, there will be the added motivation for redemption for last year’s crown.

“We won conference on their field last year, so I know they’re going to want to get us back,” Walker said.

Overall, Walker is comfortable with this year’s squad as he looks toward the start of the season and the balance it has at first glance.

“We’re a good mix of old and young right now, they impress me with how much they’re playing as a team right now,” Walker said. “We’ve got some good senior leadership and young talent right now.”

With a tough tournament trip scheduled to Bartlesville, Oklahoma for the opening week of the season, Park Hill South hopes to get off to a good start. One which they hope leads to some good momentum going forward.

“Getting off to a decent start,” Walker said. “If we do that, we can really get some stuff done.”

SPRING OUTLOOK: Park Hill South Boys Golf

The Park Hill South boys golf team brings back another strong group in 2012 to defend their Suburban Conference, White Division title. State qualifiers senior Nick Schleisman and junior Matt Barry return after strong district and sectional performances, hoping to improve on their state outings from a year ago. Their state appearance, which did not see the results they would have liked, was something to build on for 2012.

“I hope both learned that the State Tournament is great to qualify for, but they need to remember what happened last season prior to the State Tournament that actually got them there,” Coach Larry Torgerson said. “I am sure it was a great learning experience and I believe that experience will motivate them to get to the State Tournament and do well both days.

Sectional qualifiers Nick Sobba and Austin Dorrell also return after just missing out on earning a state appearance. Austin Berry will add to the mix and contribute as a newcomer to the varsity level this year.

All of those strong individual performances boded very well for the Panthers overall as a team last year as they placed second in districts and fourth in sectionals, just short of clinching a team state appearance. For Park Hill South, it looks like 2012 is shaping up to be another successful year as they are again favorites to repeat as conference champions and have improved in the offseason with practice and tournament success.

Even though they come into the season with high expectations, Torgerson knows golf has a huge mental aspect to it and continued progress throughout the course of the year is what will determine their success.

“If we improve day by day there is no limit to what we might accomplish,” Torgerson said.

The Panthers start the season against some top competition in March including matches against Liberty and Lee’s Summit West along with the Lee’s Summit North Invite.