The boys and girls track teams from Park Hill and Park Hill South dominated the Mark Gourley Invitational on Thursday, May 1, at Park Hill High School.
Park Hill won first as a team in the boys division with 195 points and second in girls with 169.50 points. Park Hill South won first in the girls after accumulating 207 points as a team and finished second in boys with 189 points.
The Trojan boys were led by senior Owen Koski, who earned two first-place medals. Koski raced the 200-yard dash in 22.69 seconds before hitting the sandpit and leaping 6.22 meters for his second first-place finish of the day.
Junior Braylon Agee was the other track star for Park Hill, earning first in 110m hurdles with a time of 14.52 seconds, but settled for a second-place finish in the 300m hurdles after finishing 0.10 seconds behind Latayvian Woods-Smith of North Kansas City. In the field, senior Jacob Conway clinched a first-place finish with a 39.07m discus toss.
The lady Trojans had five division winners, led by freshmen Elliott Harris and Nikyah Chappell. Harris tossed the shot put 10.97m while Chappell leaped 11.3m on the triple jump.
They also experienced success on the track from senior Desi Holbrook, who earned first with a 400m dash time of 59.33 while the 4x100 relay team of Caroline Schaag, Madison West, Annalise Agbor and Jae Bell earned first with a 50.52 time. Lastly, Park Hill senior Grace Hodge earned first place in the pole vault, clearing 3.12m for a season-best.
Despite earning first as a team in the girls division, Park Hill South only had three first-place finishes. Freshman Ava Sakic-Conner set a career-best by completing the 100m hurdles in 15.83s, while senior LaNicia Parker also won first after racing the 300m hurdles in 46.64s. Junior 800m runner Madilynn Conklin was Park Hill South’s third first-place finisher in a time of 2 minutes, 21.63 seconds.
On the Panthers’ boys side, they dominated long-distance and field events. Junior Cole James ran 800m in 1:58.03 while Simon Ketter finished the 1600 run in 4:32.09 and senior Justin O’Brien ran 3200m in 10:28.68. Junior Logan Hild set a season record, pole vaulting 4.19m for first while junior Everett Gower cleared 1.8m on the high jump and senior Carter Zehr threw the javelin 46.2m.
The Panthers and Trojans will return to the familiar track that surrounds Preston Field at the Park Hill District Stadium, which will host the KC Red Suburban Conference Championship on Wednesday, May 7.