Hi there, Johnson County! Twice a month, we share a collection of some of the happy news that came into our inboxes and across our social media feeds.
How to tell us your good news
If you have good news too, we’d like you to share that with us. You can do so in a number of ways. You can:
- Email us at stories@johnsoncountypost.com.
- Send us messages on Facebook or on X (formerly Twitter).
- Or comment at the bottom of this post.
And now, onto our latest roundup of good news!
Olathe spring sports teams win state titles
This past spring, high school student athletes at Olathe Public Schools snagged several spring team sports 6A state championships and individual state titles. Here’s the list of winners:
Team Championships:
- Softball – Olathe West High School
- Boys Track – Olathe West High School
Girls Swimming & Diving:
- 1M Diving – Irene Gettya – Olathe East High School
- 200M Freestyle – Kira Jacobs – Olathe South High School
- 100M Backstroke – Kira Jacobs – Olathe South High School
Boys Track:
- 200M – Tevyn Gasaway – Olathe West High School
- 800M – Dylan Plath – Olathe South High School
- 4×100 – Brayden Johnson, Bryce Austin, Caden Richardson, Tevyn Gasaway – Olathe West High School
- 4×800 – Carson Madsen, Benjamin Herbst, Tyler Palangi, Dexter Favreau – Olathe Northwest High School
- Triple Jump – Jaalan Watson – Olathe North High School
- Discus – Peter Mac Swaney – Olathe South High School
- Javelin – Cade Zimmerman – Olathe West High School
- Shot Put – Jeremy Gracia – Olathe South High School
Girls Track:
- 100M Hurdles – Michenainda Aritus – Olathe Northwest High School
- 4×800 – McKenna Taldo, Liz Browning, Laynie Clements, Jasmine Stiede – Olathe West High School
- Long Jump – Michenainda Aritus – Olathe Northwest High School
Shawnee native joins Youth Villages’ internship program
Makenna Kacsir, a Shawnee native, was chosen as a summer intern to work for Youth Villages, a national nonprofit that helps young adults with behavioral and emotional challenges and their families live successfully.
Kacsir is one of 92 interns for the summer program. Kacsir attends Kansas State University and is majoring in human development and family science. She is working for Youth Villages’ residential program in Memphis.
GBA welcomes a familiar face to lead site development
GBA, an architecture and engineering firm based in Lenexa, announced in late June that seasoned veteran Sterling Cramer, PE, is the company’s new vice president of site development.
Cramer rejoins GBA after starting his engineering journey over two decades ago.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sterling back to GBA,” said Jim Jarrett, President of GBA. “His passion for community development, combined with his proven leadership in site design and operational excellence, makes him the right person to help drive the future of our Site Development team. He brings a rare blend of strategic insight and technical depth.”
GBA headlines many local projects, including the newly renovated Sar-Ko-Par Aquatic Center in Lenexa and Wilder Bluff Park in Shawnee.
Overland Park hospital and women’s clinic earn award
Overland Park Regional Medical Center and Kansas City Women’s Clinic recently received the Health Partnership Clinic’s prestigious Leadership Impact Award.
“The Leadership Impact Award is a tremendous honor that reflects our shared vision for equitable, accessible healthcare, and we are committed to our collaboration with Health Partnership Clinic as a community united for health,” said Jeff Teply, a doctor at Kansas City Women’s Clinic, via a news release.
MidAmerica Nazarene picks Todd Garrett to lead advancement and athletics
MidAmerica Nazarene, a private, faith-based university in Olathe, announced earlier this month that G. Todd Garrett as vice president for University Advancement and Athletics, effective immediately. Garrett has served as the director of athletics at MNU since 2017.
Athletic department successes during Garrett’s tenure include MNU teams winning national championships, developing numerous all-American athletes, achieving scholar-athlete recognitions, and winning multiple conference championships, according to a news release.
Overland Park named best city to rent
In a recent WalletHub analysis, Overland Park turned out to be the top city to rent in the United States.
Overland Park boasts “the highest average home square footage in the country” at over 2,800 square feet, according to WalletHub. It ranked eighth-best in rental affordability, with the average person only paying about 17% of their annual income on rent.
The analysis also mentioned Overland Park’s schools, both in Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley school districts, noting that 55% of public schools in the city get a rating of at least 7 out of 10 from Greatschools.org.
Read more about the results here.
JoCo’s EMS system nationally recognized for its quality care for heart attacks and strokes
Johnson County’s EMS system announced on Wednesday that it received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold achievement award “for its commitment to offering rapid and research-based care to people experiencing the most severe form of heart attacks and strokes, ultimately saving lives,” according to a news release.
“The Johnson County EMS System is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Melody Morales, program manager, Office of the Medical Director, via the news release. “The Mission: Lifeline program puts proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, so patients have the best possible chance of survival.”
