KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first look at real competition for the Park Hill South girls turned out victorious at the Staley Relays on Friday, March 30 at the North Kansas City District Activities Complex.
A razor-thin margin of victory saw the Panthers capture the girls title by .04 points over rival Park Hill. The Trojans scored 90.95 team points in the relay-style meet while Park Hill South captured 90.99. Platte County came in fourth in the girls standings with 81.97 points. Hosts Staley came in third with 89.95 points.
BRYCE MERENESS/Citizen photo
Platte County senior John Watts lands in the sand pit after a long jump attemp at the Staley Relays on Friday, March 30 at the North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City, Mo. Watts, a Missouri Southern signee, won the event with a leap of 21-feet, 3-inches.
The Panthers scored big points in the 4x800 meter relay and distance medley relay, which set a school record (13 minutes, 20.99 seconds), the foursome of Marti Heit, Emma Roth, Justine Aiello and Keely Danielsen ran on both winning foursomes.
“Our distance crew contributed a great deal,” Park Hill SOuth girls coach Andy Keefer said. “They set a new school record in the distance medley relay. We love the results. The sprinters ran well too. There is a lot of work to do to get better, but it’s early in the season.”
Park Hill missed some key team points in the short sprint medley relay after a lane violation on the exchange disqualified the top finishers. Platte County was the beneficiary in the race winning the 100-100-200-400 race in 1:57.39 (Karleigh Wise, Olivia Minter, Isabelle Geddes and Haley Luna). It was one of two event wins for the Platte County girls who also won the 100 meter shuttle hurdle relay (1:10.41) – Geddes, Minter Keji Jale and Mishell Sims.
The Trojans picked up wins in the 4x200 (Teresa Thomas, Iyanla Roberts, Taiya Shelby and Sephora Koudou) and 4x400 relays (Thomas, Shelby, Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck and Caleia Johnson). Freshman Hannah Graves won the 300-meter hurdles (50.65) but it was Park Hill South who won the team hurdle title, adding the fastest three times together De’Jaria Guillory (second, 50.68), Jordan Lenz (sixth, 53.07) and Mara Andrews (seventh, 54.15).
“If we could get some relays around we would be alright,” Trojans coach Rob Self said. It’s kind of a different meet to get your first look at things. There isn’t individual stuff. You have to do everything off of the split times in the relays.”
Park Hill also picked up an individual win in the Shot Put (sophomore LaShaunda Tapp, 38-feet, 1-inch), high jump (Kristen Birmingham, 5-4) and long jump (Thomas, 15-8.5).
On the boys side Staley took home the top spot (96.95) with Platte County finishing as runners up (77.97). Park Hill South was third (72.97) and Park Hill finished eighth (34).
Pirates senior John Watts provided two top finishes, besting the field in the long jump by more than a foot (21-3) he also ran the 400 meter leg of the top-placing sprint medley relay 200-200-400-800 version along with Blake Reynolds, Matthew Phillips, and Keegan Cordova. Reynolds, Phillips Watts and Chandler Utt wound up second in the short sprint medley relay.
Carleton Hall won the pole vault for the Pirates clearing 11-0. The other win for Platte County came to close out the night in the 4x400 relay (Brice Bartram, Mahki Hagen, Will Hay and Cordova).
Park Hill South won one event, the short sprint medley relay. Braeden Denney, Connor McCaukley, Melvin Walker and Chris DuPree finished in 1:33.37.
Park Hill had two wins, high jump (freshman Jaylin Noel (6-feet even) and Kolby Heinerikson in the javelin (165-7).
Pirate Flight Night
In the throwing-only event held at Platte County High School on Friday, March 30 the Pirates took one of the six events contested on the night.
Junior Peyton Stoner topped the field in the discus throw with a toss of 116-feet, 5-inches.
Discus proved to be the Pirates best event on the night as junior Shayla Kohler took home second in the girls discus (100-7.5). Van Horn’s Dasiah Tatum won the event with 113-7.5 effort, the only other thrower to eclipse the century mark.
Jaycie Stubbs was the only Pirates athlete to finish with two top-three finishes. The junior finished third in the shot put, 31-9, and second in the javelin, 111-7.
On the boys side Platte County finished with two 2-3 finishes in the other events. Senior Dakota Schmidt grabbed second in the javelin with a throw of 133-4. Senior Parker Lacina finished third, more than 10 feet behind with a heave of 122-8. Lexington’s Truman Harris smashed the field with a winning effort of 166-11, a personal best.
Senior Michael Smith was the top finisher in the boys shot put. Smith marked a 45-6½ as his best effort, nearly two feet behind Harris (47-4¼), who swept all three events. Sophomore Kevin Fagan grabbed third in the shot (42-4).
Park Hill South Quad
The Panthers boys and girls dominated the track meet with Park Hill, Winnetonka and Oak Park on Tuesday, March 27.
Park Hill South boys had 14 first-place finishes, while the girls added nine.
Chris DuPree, Melvin Walker and Addison Snowball each won two events each for Park Hill South.
Walker ran 11.0 to win the 100-meter dash and added a first in the long jump (19-7 ½), an event that the Panthers swept with Gaige Warren taking second and Anthony Bell placing third.
DuPree ran 22.7 in the 200 to win, while also winning the 800 (2:03), beating teammate Max Goertzen and Corwyn Gentry. Goertzen won the 1,600-meter run.
In the 3,200 run, Park Hill South took the top three spots with Ewan Frick won, followed by Eli Guzman and Quentin Worley followed.
Connor McCauley won the 400 dash for Park Hill South, while Jacob Wolfgeher won the 110-meter hurdles (20.1), with Jose Montoya and Brandon Nardi were right behind him. Wolfgeher and Montoya was second and third in the 300 hurdles.
Park Hill South swept the triple jump, with Benjamin Owere jumping 40 feet, followed by Anthony Bell and Xavier Jackson.
Snowball threw 126-8 to win the discus, while throwing 46-10 ½ to win the shot put, with Etinosa Reuben and Gage Gordon were second and third, respectively. Andrew Mikuls won the javelin to help the Panthers sweep the throwing events, with Andrew Beldo was third in the javelin.
In the pole vault and high jump, Park Hill South had the top three finishers.
Saadique Perkins won the high jump with a leap of 5-8, followed by Braden Smith and Dylan Brougham. In the pole vault, Isaac Lee went 11 feet to win, followed by Nardi and Jackson Minor in the next two spots.
Park Hill won the 4x100 and 4x400 relay, beating Oak Park in an event with only two teams.
Nicolas Koudou was on both teams for the Trojans, joining Anthony Reyes, Christopher Bizzle and Darion Neal in the 4x100 and Kieran Fane, Joseph Webb and Jameel Burns in the 4x400.
Burns was the champion in the 300-meter hurdles.
Koudou took third in the 100 dash as well and was the runner-up in the 200, a spot ahead of teammate Erwin Ordeus.
Webb and Fane finished second and third in the 400, while Dan Foster was third in the 1,600 for the Trojans.
Park Hill South girls swept the top three spots in the 400, 800, 1,600 and pole vault event.
DeQuaria Guillory won the 400, followed by Olivia Roth and Maryann Bell. In the 800 and 1,600, Emma Roth was first, followed by Marti Heit and Keely Danielsen. Roth won by a second in the 800.
In the pole vault, Taylor Young won, followed by Sydney Warren and Megan Ritchie.
The two other Guillorys won a title for the Panthers. Dymeria Guillory won the 100-meter hurdles, beating teammate Mara Andrews. De’Jaria Guillory won the 300 hurdles, where teammate Jordan Lenz was third. Lenz was the runner-up in the 200 dash.
Madalyn Kramer won the discus with a heave of 94-2, while Taylor Johnson was second. The duo finished second and third, respectively, in the shot put. Park Hill South swept the throwing events when Grace Dieleman won the javelin with a throw of 100-9.
Katherine Herrera was third in the 100 and long jump, while finishing second in the triple jump, a spot ahead of teammate Melody Sasser. Alecia Westbrook took second in the high jump
The Park Hill girls had seven first-place finishes — two by Kristen Birmingham.
The freshman won the 100 (12.95) and the high jump (5-2), while adding a third in the 100 hurdles.
The dominance of the ninth-graders for the Trojans continued. Hannah Graves won the 200 (27.7), where Ellie Simpson was third and Graves added second in the 300 hurdles.
Freshman Molly Fink won the 3,200, with teammate Derrienne Gaar taking second and Sydni Holcomb finishing third.
Freshman Lauren Miller won the long jump with a leap of 15-5 ½, while classmate Lauren Woelk was second. She added a third in the high jump.
Freshman Simone Smith leaped 32-2 to win the triple jump.
Sophomore LaShunda Tapp won the shot put with a throw of 36-6 and was third in the discus. In the javelin, Sabrina Lane was second and Rachel Pella was third.
