Despite some fickle weather, which was typical of the way it went during the spring sports season, we saw some magical moments at last weekend’s Missouri State Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City. There were three specific events that really stood out in my mind.
1. The individual star of the weekend was Normandy High’s Darwin Price, who has already established himself as somewhat of a unique star by being the state’s top distance runner and a national-level amateur boxer at the same time. Price closed out a stellar prep track career by making history last weekend in becoming the first athlete to win the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs at the Class 4 level. The feat has been accomplished before in the smaller classes, but Price became the first athlete to pull off the distance “triple crown” in the large school class in the history of the state meet. Price won the three races in three different ways. He won the 3,200-meter title on Friday by tracking down defending state champ Eric Fernandez of Parkway West in the last lap. Fernandez had opened up about a 40-meter lead on Price, but he reeled him in on the final lap and sprinted to the victory. On Saturday, Price won the 1,600 by making his final move in the final 300 meters, then had to hold off a late charge from an on-rushing Rick Elliott of Springfield Kickapoo to win the second leg. In the 800, Price averted potential disaster when a cluster of runners bumped into each other early in the race, causing one of them to fall. Price then went right to the front of the pack and sprinted his way to victory in 1 minute 54.6 seconds and his place in the history books. This young man has proven to be a special talent and wonderful competitor who has given boxing and track fans plenty to cheer about over the years. What is not known about him is that he wrestled for part of the season, compiling a 10-1 record for the Vikings. In winning the “triple crown,” he also broke down a stereotype about the ability of African Americans to excel in the distance events. Normally, we turn to our brothers in the Motherland when we want to see dominance in the distance, but young Darwin displayed a tenacity and an unquenchable will to be the best in order to make this unique kind of history.
2. Last weekend marked the final time that we would see the fabulous Alishea Usery run track in a McCluer South-Berkeley uniform. Usery closed her career as the most accomplished sprinter in the history of the Show-Me State. For the fourth consecutive year, Usery won 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, giving her a remarkable 12 individual state championships for her career. Throw in the three gold medals she won with the Bulldogs’ 4×400-meter relay team and you have a total of 15 gold medals won in state-championship competition. Usery also leaves the prep ranks with her name mentioned all through the Missouri track record books. Her name is right there alongside the greats of Missouri girls track and field with Angela Thacker (St. Louis Roosevelt) and Muna Lee (Kansas City Central). That’s great company to be in. especially since those two eventually competed in the Olympic Games. Usery will continue her career at the University of Florida, where she will be joined by her twin sister Ashley Usery, a standout middle-distance performer.
3. As I predicted, the best race of the state meet was the Class 3 girls 800-meter run. It was a spectacular battle to the finish, but it came with an unexpected twist. The two favorites were Villa Duchesne’s Cydney Ross and Festus’ Alyssa Allison, who both ran state-record level times heading into the big showdown. Both runners were stride for stride heading off the final curve when Ross began to pull away from Allison and head for certain victory. However, Ross was joined by another challenger, sophomore star Kianna Ruff of McCluer South Berkeley in an exquisite finish. Ruff actually pulled ahead of Ross with about 20 meters to go, but Ross regained her compusure and pulled back ahead of Ruff to claim the victory in a new Class 3 state record time of 2 minutes 09.88 seconds. Ruff’s second-place time was 2:09.89.