story by Cassie Florido

photos by Menley Brennan, Emma Wheatley and Caroline Fiss

As the 2012 fall sports season nears its end, many STA varsity sports teams are competing in postseason tournaments. The postseason tournaments take place in many different ways. All of the fall sports participate in the postseason as a team. However, tennis, golf and cross country also compete in individual competitions as well as team competition. For many sports, one of the first competitions in the postseason is the District tournament. If a team wins Districts, they advance onto Sectionals and then State.

Softball

The STA softball team received the three seed in this year’s District tournament. On Oct. 3, the team faced Ruskin High School in the first round of the tournament. Ruskin was unable to win a game during the regular season, resulting in an 0-12 season. The Stars defeated the Eagles 15-0, advancing into the semi-finals. The following day the team faced Raymore-Peculiar High School. The Panthers defeated the Stars 11-1, forcing the team to fall one game short of the District championships.

“There is definitely something we could have done differently [during Districts],” junior Erin Farmer said. “But I was pretty pleased overall.”

The team finished the season with a record of 12-15, improving from last season’s final record of 7-18. The majority of the team will return next season with only three seniors graduating.

Farmer says that going into next year the team will continue to get better and learn how to work with each other and the coaching staff.

Tennis

This year, the STA tennis team received a bye for the first round of the District tournament as a result of their 9-3 record. On Oct. 2, the team faced an 8-9 Park Hill High School team. However, the Stars lost 5-4 to Park Hill.

“We expected to go to state,” junior tennis player Grace Wells said.

Wells said the team underestimated the other teams in their District. Wells says the team did not mentally prepare for Districts because they did not think the competition would be hard.

The team had several players compete as doubles in Districts. The doubles team of junior Grace Wells and sophomore Hannah Bredar finished first in Districts. The team of junior Kathleen Conner and senior Mickey Redlingshafer placed second in the District tournament.

On Oct. 9, the two doubles teams competed in Sectionals. The teams finished tied for second with a doubles team from Liberty High School. With only the top two teams advancing to State, the team’s season came to an end.

For their performance, several players and doubles teams were named to the All-District team. Freshman Meghan King received First-Team honors. Junior Gabby Ferro was named Second-Team All-District. The doubles teams of Wells and Bredar and Connor and Redlingshafer earned First-Team honors.

 Golf

On Oct. 3, the STA golf team competed in the District tournament. The team finished fourth overall with a score of 381. Even though the team did not qualify for Sectionals, three golfers qualified individually for Sectionals.

Senior Emily McCann placed first in the District tournament with a +9 score. Senior Jacqueline McGee and sophomore Ellie Shorter also qualified individually with the scores of +26.

At Sectionals, the team had two golfers qualify for the State tournament. McCann placed seventh in Sectionals with a score of +18. McGee tied for 16th with a score of +23.

On Oct. 15, the two golfers competed in the first round of the State tournament. McCann finished the first day of competition with a score of 89. McGee finished the round with a score of 103.

The next day, the two participated in the final day of the State tournament. McCann ended the day with a score of 90, resulting in a total score or 177. McGee ended with a total score of 196 after a second round score of 93. McCann finished the state competition tied for 15th place, while McGee finished in 52nd place.

Even though McCann earned All-State honors due to her top 15 finish, she was unhappy with her performance.

“I was disappointed with how I played personally,” McCann said. “I made All-State, but I definitely did not have very good rounds considering how the rest of my season has been.”

Volleyball

On Oct. 22, the STA volleyball team began their postseason play in the District tournament. The Stars faced Fort Osage High School in the first round of the tournament. The Stars defeated the Indians in two sets with the scores of 25-11 and 25-12. On Oct. 24, the team competed in the final day of Districts. After defeating Oak Park High School in the second round, the Stars competed in the District championship game. The Stars held on to defeat Park Hill South in three sets in order to advance to Sectionals.

On Oct. 27, the team competed in Sectionals hosted by STA. In the first round the Stars faced Liberty High School. The Stars defeated the Blue Jays 2-0. In the final round of Sectionals, STA competed against Lee’s Summit West High School. The Titans defeated the Stars in two sets, ending the team’s season.

“Overall as a team, I thought we had our moments [in Districts and Sectionals],” junior Miranda Schultz said. “We made silly mistakes, but we didn’t let that get us down, even if the result wasn’t what we initially intended.”

The team finished the season with a record of 19-17. Juniors Anna Kropf and Emily Wemhoff and Senior Holli Hogge were named First-Team All-District.

Cross Country

On Oct. 20, the STA cross country team competed in Districts at Blue Springs High School. The team finished second behind Lee’s Summit West High School. The second place finish guaranteed the team a spot in Sectionals. Courtney Coppinger was the top finisher for the Stars, finishing in fourth place. Sophomores Ann Campbell and Hayden Lee finished the race as two of the top ten runners.

Cross country coach Karen Moran said that after not racing for a week, she knew the team would be rusty in Districts. However, she felt like they ran well.

On Oct. 27, the team ran in Sectionals at Raymore-Peculiar High School. The team completed the race with a second place finish. Courtney Coppinger placed second in the race with a time of 18:54:20, one second behind the first place finisher. Senior Lane Maguire and sophomores Ann Campbell and Hayden Lee also finished in the top ten runners.

“I told them going into [Sectionals] that they had not run their best race,” Moran said. “[The team] proved it [at Sectionals].”

On Nov. 3, the team concluded their season at the State race in Jefferson City. The team finished the race in third place. Two Stars, Coppinger and Campbell, received All-State honors due to their efforts at State. Coppinger was the highest finisher for the Stars, placing 16th overall. Campbell was the second highest finisher for the Stars, finishing in 23rd place.

The team has received praise from other coaches and bystanders for their sportsmanship following their race at Sectionals. On a mo.milesplit online forum, several STA runners received recognition for cheering on opposing team’s runners and for their camaraderie while on the podium with Lee’s Summit West.

According to Athletic Director Mark Hough, he says that being able to compete at a high level and still wanting to see opposing runners compete at their best is exactly what he wants to see in an STA program.