Wes Buntenbach added a trio of notable accomplishments late this golf season.
The Park junior was named the American Midwest Conference newcomer of the year and he followed that up by winning the league championship.
The transfer from Iowa Central Community College carded a four-shot victory in the AMC championship held in Cadmenton, Mo., earlier this month.
The Kleeme, Iowa native finished the 54-hole event at 1-under par and shot a 2-under 69 to close out the event. He was named to the AMC second team and was on the AMC men’s golf Champions of Character Team. His winning performance gave him an automatic bid into the NAIA Natinal Championship.
Teammate Ryan Tattan tied for second, shooting a 1-over and shot 5-under on his last nine holes.
Park was second in the team standings, giving them eight top-three finishes out of nine events.
Tattan, a freshman from Essex, England, was on the second team pick with Buntenbach, while freshman Yannick Koehnen was an honorable mention selection.
School Record
Park shortstop Tim Schaareman broke a school record late in the season with his 37th double in his career.
The Nebraska-Omaha transfer helped the Pirates post a 9-3 win against Columbia College in the regular season finale. He broke the school record held by Kyle Clifton with a double down the right field line. Schaareman, a native of the Netherlands, broke the record in mark in three years and his 10 triples are second best in school history.
His 181 hits in three years was the second-best in school history as well. In addition, his 365 infield assists were the second-most in school history. He leaves fourth all-time in stolen bases with 48.
That helped him earned first-team All-American Midwest Conference accolades. He hit .406 with 12 doubles, two triples, a home run and 29 RBI during the regular season.
Will Long was a second-team all-conference pick in the outfield for the Pirates.
The East Nashville, Tenn., native hit .313 with 23 RBI and scored 44 runs, like Schaareman did, for the Pirates. Long had a team-high 30 stolen bases.
Park went 22-20 this season.
Softball honors
Three players from the greater Kansas City area earned all-American Midwest Conference honors for the Pirates softball team.
First baseman Katie Carr, from Oak Grove, was a first-team pick for Park. She had a team-high .357 average, while hitting 13 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 36 RBI. In the field, she had .990 fielding percentage with seven assists.
Shelby Bendure and Kaylin Brooks were second-team picks.
Bendure, from Liberty, went 7-10 on the mound and at the plate she had nine doubles, thre home runs and 24 RBI.
Brooks a transfer from Maple Woods Community College, who attended Winnetonka, hit .349 and scored 29 runs.
Another Wall honoree
The Park Athletics Wall of Honor’s latest inductee for 2018 is Simon Mulama, a three-time NIAA All-American.
He will be formally enshrined in September.
A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Mulama earned all-American honors in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
His coach, Efrem Shimlis, nominated him.
Basketball adds recruit
The men’s basketball team has added Skylar Smith from Belle Mo., to the recruiting class.
Smith averaged 23.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game at Belle High School, a Class 2 school. He was three times named first-team all-conference, and another three times named first-team all-district. As a senior, he was an all-state selection, finishing his career at BHS with 1,429 points.
The MVP of the Belle Tournament in 2018, Smith showed his ability to get to the rim as the Mid-Missouri All-Star Game Slam Dunk Champion in 2018. He also made the all-tournament team in Owensville.
“Skylar is athletic and has shown the ability in high school to score the basketball,” Park coach Jason Kline said. “We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in our program. He’s a guy who could be very active in what we want to run.”