Having the best athlete in all of Kansas City in any sport is impressive enough as it is, but Park Hill seniors Shaye Koski and Kendrick Bell earned that feat in both football and volleyball this season.
Every year, there is one athlete that shines above and beyond the rest of their peers and Park Hill doubled down this past fall. Koski won the Evelyn Gates Award and Bell won the Thomas A. Simone Award.
With the Evelyn Gates Award being named after a former high school girls’ sport advocate starting in 2004, Koski is the first Trojan to earn that honor. Koski has left quite a legacy at Park Hill, finishing her career with more than 1,000 career kills to be one of the best volleyball players to ever walk those very halls.
Park Hill senior quarterback Kendrick Bell had 3,812 yards from scrimmage and 45 total touchdowns this past season as the future University of Michigan football player won the Thomas A. Simone Award.
Koski started all four years at Park Hill, leading the squad to two district titles with a 64-46-4 record and is set to continue her volleyball career at the University of Texas at Tyler next fall. She finished her senior campaign with 403 kills, 284 receptions, 280 digs, 19 blocks and 17 aces.
From her freshman to senior years, the Evelyn Gates Award winner earned three first-team all-conference selections and three first-team all-district selections. Koski was also a two-time Trojan MVP in her four-year tenure.
Bell also made huge strides in his Park Hill career, joining his older brother as a Thomas A. Simone Award winner. Park Hill 2017 graduate Ronnie Bell – who is wrapping up his collegiate career at the University of Michigan in the 2023 College Football Playoffs – was the last Trojan to win the award and this is the first time brothers have ever won the award.
Leading the Trojan offense as quarterback in each of the last two years, the younger Bell brother shattered the former Park Hill passing records in his senior campaign. The 2022 Thomas A. Simone Award winner posted 3,165 passing yards by completing 247 of his 339 passes on a 72 percent rate for 35 passing touchdowns.
Bell also rushed for 670 rushing yards and 10 scores to finish with 3,812 yards from scrimmage and 45 total touchdowns. In his two years as the Park Hill starting quarterback, Bell had a 2-2 postseason record.
Bell was Class 6 All-State First Team, Kansas City Suburban Conference Silver Division First Team and Class 6 District 4 First Team selections. He is set to follow his older brothers’ footsteps and continue his football career at the University of Michigan.
Dating back to 1983, the Bell brothers are two of only three Park Hill athletes to win the Thomas A. Simone Award as Jeff Kelso also won the first one in 1983. The award was originally established in 1932 by the name of Dr. D.M. Nigro and continued until Dr. Nigro’s death in 1976, but Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Simone reinstated the award in April of 1983 as a tribute to their 12-year-old-son Tommy, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident.