It is very rare that I begin a St. Louis area notebook by featuring an athlete from outside our area. The only time I’ve done it was several years ago when future Olympian Muna Lee was burning up the track and Kansas City Central. Once again, I have made that exception in the case of a young man from the Kansas City area named James White.
A junior at Grandview High, White is establishing himself as one of the greatest all-time prep performers in the high jump. Last month, White put himself a top the national high school list by clearing 7 feet 3 inches at the Jayhawk Invitatonal in Lawrence, Kan.
Just two weeks later, White outdid himself by clearing an amazing 7-5 ¾ at the Winnetonka Invitational. Not only is this the top mark in the country this year, but it is also a National Federation High School record as well as the No. 3 jump of all-time in regular season competition. That mark would have placed him in eighth place at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
What is even more impressive is that White stands only 5 feet 10 inches tall, so he is jumping well over a foot-and-a-half over his own height.
For all you good folks who will be heading to Jefferson City later this month for the state track championships, make sure to take your binoculars and watch this young man in action.
This is truly incredible stuff.
*Two of the area’s top girls athletes put on a show at last week’s Jefferson County Meet in Perryville. Seniors Precious Selmon Crystal City and Alyssa Allison of Festus won four events each as they displayed their dominance in their respective events.
Selmon, a four year varsity star, finished first in the 100-meter dash, 100-meter high hurdles, 300-meter low hurdles and long jump. Allison swept the 400-meter dash and the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs in leading the Tigers to the team championship.
*The 75th annual Marion Freeman Clayton Invitational was the top boys meet over the weekend. SLUH won the Orange Division title while University City won the Blue Division championship. The Jr. Billikens rode the talents of sprinter Ronnie Wingo and a excellent team of distance runners to the title. Wingo swept the 100 and 200 while Austin Cookson won the 800 and 1,600. SLUH also won the 4×800-meter relay. University City won four events, led by Keland’s Smith victory in the 400. Kenneth Williams won the pole vault, Darion Bourne won the triple jump and Tom Kenyon was first in the 3,200.
The top event of the day was the Orange Divison 3,200 where Nick Happe of Howell North won an exciting duel against Matt Estland of Chaminade. Happe set a new meet record with a winning time of 9 minutes 02.03 seconds while Estland was second in 9:06.3. What a race.
North County Tech displayed some impressive speed in the Blue Division. Aaron Smith finished first in the 110-meter high hurdles while Marquis White was second in the 100. North County Tech also won the 4×100 and 4×200-meter relays.