Kali Day and Miranda LuMunyon both signed letters of intents to stay close to home and play softball for the NAIA school.
Day was a four-year starter behind the plate for the Trojans, while LaMunyon played all four years but started in multiple positions for coach Jackie Qualls.
That duo played a key role in Park Hill reaching the Class 4 playoffs this past fall.
“It is fun they will be five minutes from my house so I will get to watch them play next year,” Qualls said. “I have my spring open, so it will be a good time.”
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Park Hill’s Miranda LaMunyon (left) and Kali Day signed to play softball at nearby Park University.
LaMunyon was the first commit for coach Lindsey Derry out of the Class of 2020, who knew back in junior high that was where she wanted to go.
She started at shortstop and then moved to second base and played the last two years as the Trojans starting center fielder. Her speed is a noticeable skill and Qualls was able to bounce her throughout the batting order because of it.
Day didn’t start the first game her freshman year but moved into the starting lineup and never relinquished the starting spot the next four years. Her bat became her calling card later in high school, including hitting two scoreboards on her momentous home runs.
“She was the heart and soul of the team and she will hard to replace,” Qualls said. “We lived and died by her, especially at the plate.”
At the end of the year she started getting free passes instead of having pitches thrown to her. That was the case in the Class 4 playoff game against Liberty after she hit a then-go-ahead home run. She never got another pitch to swing at the remainder of the game.
She set a school record for career home runs. She will head to Park needing a new bat.
“I used my teammate, Shelby Sanders’ bat, so I gotta figure out what to do,” said Day, who drew interest from Rockhurst and St. Mary in the recruiting process. “I asked her and she put a heavy price on it, like $200 or $300 plus a homing fee and transportation fee. It wasn’t fair.”
The Pirates didn’t start recruiting Day until the summer before her senior season and the signings brought the class to five, joining two other local players in Park Hill South’s Meggen Keller and Platte County’s Gracie Erickson.
“There is a lot of good talent in the Kansas City metro and it is nice to see local kids interested in staying home,” Derry said. “They have a good support system and a fan base. It is exciting traveling down the road to watch a kid play on the home field.”
Bowerman Watch List
Chris Nilsen is back on the radar for The Bowerman.
The South Dakota senior and Park Hill graduate is one of 10 Division I athletes named to the preseason watch list for what is the ‘Heisman’ for track and field.
Nilsen is a two-time finalist and is one of only two returning semifinalists on the preseason list from last year. The other is LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison.
Nilsen, a standout pole vaulter, is on the Bowerman list for the third straight year and his 19 ‘watch list’ appearances over the past three years is tied for fifth all-time since the award debuted in 2009.
The former Trojan is a three-time NCAA pole vault champion and is a six-time All-American for the Coyotes.
He broke his own school record with a jump of 19 feet, ¾ inch to win at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, Neb., last month.
It was the 12th time Nilsen jumped higher than 19 feet.
He made it 13 times with a jump of 19-1 in the Dakota Realty Alumni Meet on Feb. 7 and was the 12th highest mark in NCAA indoor history. For his efforts he was named the Summit League indoor field athlete of the week.
He was named the Summit Athlete of the week for the week ending Jan. 19 for his third-place showing at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev., where he jumped 18-8 ½. The only vaulters to beat him were professional athletes Jacob Wooten and Matt Ludwig.
DiBlasi wins Gorarrian Award, 100th matc
Former Park Hill wrestler Colston DiBlasi recently took third place at the Southern Scuffle at the University of Tennessee.
Contributed photo
Park Hill graduate Colston DiBlasi won the Gorarrian Award at a tournament earlier this season for George Mason.
The redshirt senior at George Mason went 6-1 and finished third at the 149-pound class. He was pre-seeded seventh in the field but won four straight matches to open the tournament. He reached the semifinals before falling to Stanford’s Jaden Abas, 3-1. He got a medical forfeit and then pinned Jonathan Milner of Appalachian State in the third-place match.
He won the Gorarrian Award at the tournament, given to the wrestler with the most pins in the shortest amount of times. DiBlasi had four pins in his seven matches and needed 15 minutes, 59 seconds. The fastest was a takedown of Troy Nation of Campbell in 1:16 in the opening match.
Two weeks later, DiBlasi earned his 100th win for the Patriots in a 257-17 loss to Lock Haven. DiBlasi is only the sixth wrestler in George Mason history to do so and it took only 1 1/2 seasons after transferring from Iowa State.
All-American honors
Former Park Hill South player Carson Lindsey was named an NAIA All-American.
The freshman helped the Columbia Cougars reach the men’s soccer national championship semifinals and landed a spot on the honorable mention All-American team following that run.
Lindsey, a defender, started in 22 games and helped the Cougars post 11 shutouts this season.
Columbia College was 23-1 this season and finished No. 3 in the final coaches poll.
NOTES
The Northwest Missouri State women’s indoor track team is ranked No. 3 in the USTFCCAA top 10, the first top-10 ranking since 2009. Park Hill South product Jordan Hammond is ranked No. 7 in the 400-meter and No. 6 in the pentathlon at the national level. She is No. 10 in the Central Region in the 60-meter, fifth in 400 and third in the pentathlon. … Hammond was recently part of a 4x400-meter relay team that ran 3:49.04 at the Jayhawk Classic, the second fastest time in school history. …. Hammond was named the MIAA track athlete of the week on Feb. 18 for her performance at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kan., taking fourth in the 60-meter hurdles, fourth in the pentathlon and part of the 4x400-meter relay team that was fourth. … Hammond’s former teammate, Kevin Schultz, qualified for the 2020 USA Track and Field Indoor Championship in the high jump. The Platte County product jumped 7-feet, ½ inch at the Graduate Classic in Lincoln, Neb., to earn an automatic qualifying spot. He will compete Feb. 14-15 in Albuquerque, N.M. … The Don Hansen All-American football team came out on Jan. 27 and Northwest Missouri State’s Parker Sampson made the honorable mention team. It is the first All-American honor for the Park Hill product, who was also a All-MIAA and All-Region pick this past season. … Park Hill’s Trey Crawford was given the Wally Curtis Award, given to a senior wrestler each year named after the influential coach for the Trojans, who guided them to the state title in 1981. … Former Park Hill South product Richard Fullerton was hired as an assistant baseball coach at Carl Junction High School. He finished his playing career at Missouri Southern last year and was hired to be a varsity assistant last month. He played for current Panthers coach Jeff Walker.