Parkway Central High School
Cheer
The PCH Cheer Team kickstarted the season at NCA Cheer Camp starting with several celebrations. Throughout cheer camp, the cheer team earned top blue and red ribbons on evaluations and also earned a Technical Excellence Award for Props during their Game Day Evaluation. Throughout camp, the team worked hard and earned 1st Place Top Team Band Chant on the final day competitions and two new All-American Cheerleaders, Elaina Malt and Brooke Williams, with an amazing performance that wowed the crowd and fellow PCH Alumni.
Shortly after camp, the cheer team began preparing for football season by welcoming families back to school at Shenandoah Valley Elementary School and hosting the annual Junior Colts Clinic. During football season, all the girls had a lot of fun making banners and arranging candy for the other team’s senior cheerleaders. In October, we celebrated seniors Elaina Malt, Julia Engelhardt, Sara Ellen, and April Zhang on senior night and started to make plans for the playoff games.
Currently, the PCH Cheerleaders are gearing up for basketball season and will also be entering the Game Day State competition for the first time this year. Let’s go Colts!
SaraEllen,ElainaMalt,JuliaEngelhardt,andAprilZhang
Girls Cross-Country
The Parkway Central Girls Cross Country season was a huge step forward for the program. The team placed in the top three in almost every meet they competed in and all but one invitational. Central won their conference division both in varsity and JV. We had our highest finish “county-wide” since the first all-suburban meet was run.
Individual four girls qualified for the state championship. Some of the best times in our school history were recorded by our top two seniors. Sarah Williams and Lila Solomon are now ranked eighth and ninth all-time, respectively. The freshmen also made their presence known, with Gabby Moresi and Penny Hinkle nearly setting the freshman record in the 5k. They now stand second and third all-time for rookies. It’s truly a great time to be a Colt! The future is bright for our program! In the Picture: Coach Burgess, Lila Solomon, Penny Hinkle, Gabby Moresi, Sarah Williams, and Coach Banta
Boys Cross-Country
The boys cross country team had a successful season of continual growth and improvement of individual personal bests. The senior captains were Ajay Eisenberg and Colin Recar. The team started the season off strong with a win at the Fleet Feet Classic Invitational. In regular season meets, they continued to perform well and improve on race tactics. Some mid-season highlights include 2nd place at the Lutheran North Invitational, a 2nd place finish for the JV squad at the Forest Park XC Festival, and a 2nd place finish at the Border War Invitational with personal best times run by almost everyone on the team at that meet. At the Suburban Central conference meet, all squads (varsity, JV, and freshmen) were conference champions! Individual conference champions include Brendan Alfonso (varsity), Caden Asbach (JV), and Noam Buch (freshmen).
Entering the post-season, the team knew it had quite the challenge ahead by being assigned to the toughest district in the state. At the district meet, the team had their best performance of the season. All seven runners competed extremely well and ran personal best times or tied their lifetime bests. Even though the team executed the race as planned and to their potential, they still finished in 5th place and missed qualifying to the state championship as a team by 12 points. Alex Moresi placed 4th, and Brendan Alfonso placed 9th, which qualified them to the state championship meet individually.
At the state championship meet, both boys competed extremely well and ran personal best times. Brendan Alfonso broke 16 minutes for the first time and earned all-state honors by placing 20th place in a time of 15:57. Alex Moresi also earned all-state by placing 7th, with a new school record time of 15:42!
Dance
The Parkway Central Dance Team welcomed a new coach this year, Brittney Korte, as we began our second year as a strictly Varsity team. The fall season was a success for PCDT as the team’s upperclassmen choreographed dances for the home football games and the pep rally!
The team is preparing for a winter season full of basketball games and competitions. Basketball season will include our Junior Colts Dance clinic and game, as well as our Annual Guy-Girl Dance. We will be competing at three local competitions, including the MDTA State Championships in Kansas City, Missouri in February.
Our ONE AND ONLY senior this year is Zoe Snitzer. She is such a great leader, and we are enjoying our last year with her! Zoe is also our captain this year. Co-captains are juniors Amanda Gubernik and Ande McNew.
Field Hockey
Field hockey welcomed 14 new players to the program for a total of 39 athletes, as well as a new assistant coach, Sherraiah Garcia. The Junior Varsity team had its most successful season so far, and the Varsity team was able to win games over close rivals as well as schools never beaten before. Varsity lost their state tournament game in overtime to new rival Whitfield. The players said it was a season in which they had more fun than all previous years, including a dance pit after a game at Parkway South (below).
Football
The Parkway Central Colts football team started off the season 3-1. Trevion Taylor stepped in for an injured DJ Burgess in the season opener versus Parkway South where Taylor had a Post Dispatch Athlete of the Week performance by rushing for 302 yards on 28 carries and scoring five touchdowns. Throughout the second half of the season, the Colts were up and down with their success, losing to Hazelwood Central, beating McCluer North and Northwest Cedar Hills, and losing the final three games of the season to Parkway North and West. Parkway Central football finished their season 5-5.
The Colts were led on offense by DJ Burgess at running back, Sam Sailors at quarterback, and Aamir Banks at wide receiver. Defensively, the Colts were anchored by Caleb Mues at defensive end, Chance Washington at cornerback, and Marvell Vails at linebacker. Connor Lander led our special teams as one of the best kickers and punters in the area.
Conference Awards:
First Team Offense
● DJ Burgess- Running Back
● Weston Schaeffer – Offensive Line
Second Team Offense
● Aamir Banks – Wide receiver
● Ryan Franey – Offensive Line
Honorable Mention Offense
● Sam Sailors – Quarterback
● Jacob Padratzik – Tight End
First Team Defense
● Caleb Mues – Defensive Line
● Chance Washington – Defensive Back
Second Team Defense
● Max Sailors – Defensive Line
● Marvell Vails – Linebacker
First Team Special Teams
● Connor Lander – Kicker
● Connor Lander – Punter
● Chance Washington – Returner
Suburban Sportsmanship Award: Logan Applebaum
Girls Golf
The PCH Varsity Girls Golf Team ended with a season record of 6-7, placing 6th in Conference and tied for 8th in Districts. Grace Gettemeier (11) placed 10th overall at Conference, and missed the cut line for state by four strokes! Anaiya Sewer (11) & Grace Gettemeier (11) were both named 2nd Team All-Conference. We can’t wait to see what they can do next year!
The PCH JV Girls Golf Team ended with a season record of 5-5-1. Sophia Lundry and Sophie Satterfield medaled in the JV Webster Scramble coming in 12th. This season JV had three girls that came out and were brand new to golf. The varsity Coach is Terri O’Leary, and the JV Coach is Kristin Ream.
Pictured: Anaiya Sewer, Angel Ahn, Melia Linhardt, Grace Gettemeier, and Coach Terri O’Leary
Boys Soccer
The PCH Boys Soccer team gained much-needed experience in a very tough schedule. There was tremendous growth among many players, and the team looks to return a great deal more experience next year.
In a year where the Missouri State Athletic Association put a great emphasis on sportsmanship, the team went the entire season without a yellow card for dissent (disrespect). In fact, numerous refs spoke highly of the team and of specific individuals after many of our games. One player, captain Tommy Sasfai, even received a special write-up by an official after the game as well as a letter from a rival principal commending him on his sportsmanship.
All-Conference honors were earned by Tommy Sasfai for 1st Team. 2nd Team All-Conference honors were earned by Levi Markwell, Devin Johnston, and Josh Joseph. Ben Lake earned the Sportsmanship All-Conference Award. Honorable Mention All-Conference was earned by Jacob Holthaus, Sam McNeil, Esam Mohamed, and Ryan Sligo.
Softball
The Parkway Central Softball Team had one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. The team finished 18-7-1, finished first in their conference, and at one point had a 10-game winning streak. The team was led by captains Kyndall Jesse (12) and Kiera Gravely (11). The Colts were coached by Janie Sumner, Rylie Perry, and Andrew Parks.
The Colts were well-represented on post-season teams:
Olivia Magruder (10) – 1st Team All-Region, 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-District. Kyndall Jesse (12) – 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-District.
Prisha Nigam (12) – 1st Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-District.
Audrey Dean (12) – 2nd Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-District.
Kiera Gravely (11) – 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-District.
Kate Reynolds (11) – 1st Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-District.
Gracie Maiden (11) – 2nd Team All-Conference, 2nd Team All-District.
The future looks very bright for the Parkway Central Softball Program.
In the Picture:Seniors Prisha Nigam, Audrey Dean, Kyndall Jesse, Sadie Rosenberg
Boys Swimming & Diving
Parkway Central swim and dive finished the 2023 season as back-to-back State champions. At the state meet, Parkway Central stood at the top of the podium in dominant fashion as the 2nd place team was 142 points behind the Colts. Central finished in first place in all three relays, including setting state records in the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Freestyle Relay. Senior Will Jost broke his own school records with his 1st-place finishes in the 50 and 100 Freestyle and set an overall state record in the 100 Freestyle. He will be attending Purdue University next year. There were quite a few Colts that earned All-State honors with top 8 finishes in their individual events: Brody Blatt (2nd in both the 200 and 500 Freestyle), Connor Muran (2nd in 200 Individual Medley, 3rd in 100 Breaststroke), Cole Smith (4th in 200 Individual Medley, 6th in 100 Backstroke), Daniel Richmann (7th in both the 100 Backstroke and 100 Butterfly), Tyler Bryant (5th in 100 Freestyle, 8th in 50 Freestyle), and Matthew Averbukh (7th in Diving). Other point scorers were Zeidan Reza, Georgiy Khalilov, and Hunter Deutschmann.
The Colts also won conference over Kirkwood by a half of a point. Their head coach (Andrew Schonhoff) is on an unprecedented streak of state championships, with four in a row (two in guys swimming and diving, one in water polo, and one girls swimming and diving). He is assisted by Natalie Kirner and Abigail Vermeer.
Girls Tennis
The Girls Tennis team had a tough schedule and the toughest District in the Class 2 State assignments. Ladue as a team was our District Champion and ended up also the State Champion. Individually, our District Champion and District Runner-up was also the State Champion and State Runner-up in BOTH Singles and Doubles.
The varsity team finished with a winning regular season at 7-6. The team was led by captains Evie Huff (11) and Emily Heller (11). The Colts were coached by Lee Hays and Heather Jafari.
This was a very challenging year with the injuries, illness, tough schedule and the assigned District. To sum it up. Through adversity and challenge we learn a lot. We are all smarter after this season.
All-Conference honors were earned by Emily Heller(11) for 1st Team Singles. 2nd Team Doubles All-Conference honors were earned by Evie Huff(11) and Rachel Bivens(11). Evie Huff(11) earned the Sportsmanship All-Conference Award.
Girls Volleyball
The Parkway Central Varsity Girls Volleyball team had an exciting and successful season. The girls placed 2nd in the Pattonville tournament and finished the season with a 19-12-1 record with exciting 5 set victories over Nerinx Hall, Oakville, Ladue, Summit and Holt. The girls played tough, but lost in districts to the eventual champ Lutheran St. Charles. The team was led by captains Brooke Hemmen, Keri Piepho, Jocelyn Schaefer and senior Morgan Isaak.
First Team All Conference awards went to Brooke Hemmen and Keri Piepho, Second Team All Conference to Riley Fogarty, and All Conference Honorable Mention to Taylor Jesse, Jocelyn Schaefer and Madelyn Schaefer. All Conference Sportswoman of the Year for Parkway Central went to Kaitlyn Katz.
First Team All District Honors went to Brooke Hemmen and Keri Piepho, Second Team All District went to Riley Fogarty, Taylor Jesse and Jocelyn Schaefer, and All District Honorable Mention to Madelyn Schaefer.
