Park Hill South senior Briggs Bartosh was one of the four Panthers on the record-breaking 4x200-meter relay team that crossed the finish line in 1:28.03 at the Park Hill Invitational on April 27.
Eight teams competed in the Park Hill Track and Field Invitational with the Park Hill South boys breaking the school record – and claiming the fastest time in all of Class 5 this spring – in the 4x200-meter relay on April 27.
Darrien Jones, Briggs Bartosh, Troy Mosby and Shane Smith crossed the finish line in 1:28.03 and currently stand alone on the top of Missouri rankings in the event. That wasn’t the only relay that the Panthers won as they also took first place in the 100-meter relay with a time of 42.86 seconds.
The sprinters on the relay teams also had success in the individual events, especially Bartosh who won the open 100 and 200-meter dashes. The senior finished the races with times of 10.86 seconds and 22.47 seconds, respectively.
Mosby took fourth place in both, crossing the finish line in 11.25 seconds in the 100 and 23.25 seconds in the 200. Smith took third place in the 100 with a time of 11.19 seconds and Charles Noland ended in fifth place in the 200 with a time of 23.79 seconds.
In the long-distance events, Thomas Garrett claimed fourth place in the 1,600-meter run and Benjamin Brogan earned third place in the 3,200-meter run. In the 300-meter hurdles, Kavon Ridgell and Eric Irving ran in under 47 seconds in third and fourth places, while Kyle Dunaway took ninth place.
Park Hill South had a pair of gold medalists in the field events with Zeshaun Balance-Gray winning the triple jump with a hop of 40-09 feet and T.J. McGhee won the pole vault when he cleared 13-07.5 feet. Roman Lewis and Drew Franklin finished in second and fourth places in the pole vault.
Park Hill had most of its success in the field events, with only five top-3 finishes in running events. The Trojans had four individual second-place finishes – James Noel in the 100-meter, Jordan Smith in the 110-meter hurdles and August Jones in both the 200 and 400-meters – with Landen Julson bringing home a bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles.
The Trojans had the top-3 performers in the high jump, led by Desire Tonye-Nyemeck with a leap of 5-11.75 feet. Legend Freelon cleared the same height and Landen Julson had a leap of 5-09.75 feet.
Smith won the long jump with a hop of 21-06.25 feet and claimed second place in the javelin with a chuck of 170-11.5 feet. Jordan Rider just beat Smith with a throw of 182-11.75 feet, bringing home the gold.
For the girls, Park Hill South won the 4x800-meter relay and took second place in the 4x400-meter relay. Judy Elful had the best outing among the Lady Panthers, winning the 100 and 300-meter hurdles in 15.27 seconds and 46.8 seconds, respectively.
Ella Conklin won the 800-meter run in 2:28.27, followed by teammates Lucy Shrawder in third place and Macy Strobel in sixth place. Addison Bjorn earned a bronze medal in the long jump, Reagan Kelley took third place in the javelin and Tatum Kells had the third-best shot put throw.
Park Hill had two relay teams – the 4x100 and 4x400 – come away with first-place finishes. Alyssa Ball impressed in the sprints, winning the 200-meter dash in 26.3 seconds and finishing in second place in the 100-meter dash in 12.66 seconds. Jamari Ervin ended in fourth place in the 100-meter dash in 13.2 seconds and Desi Holbrook was the second-place finisher in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.22 seconds.
Natalie Gerdes won the 1,600-meter run when the junior crossed the finish line in 5:43.24 and Ava Sullivan earned a bronze medal in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:31.29. Mackenzie Moretina had a nice day in the hurdles, taking second place in the 100-meter in 15.84 seconds and third place in the 300-meter in 49.9 seconds.
In the field events, Brooke Boehm took first place in the long jump and second place in the high jumps with leaps of 17-09.5 feet and 4-11.75 feet, respectively. Grace Hodge won the pole vault after clearing the 8-08-foot bar and Emily Woelk was the runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 107-11 feet.
Park Hill and Park Hill South will have one more regular season meet, conference at Lee’s Summit on May 4, ahead of the postseason. Districts will be at Staley High School on May 13, followed by sectionals, then state.