Byrd, Strode, Vashon and freshman phenoms
Of the St. Louis American
With the 2004-05 school year coming to a close, it is time to look back at what was another exciting season of high school sports in the St. Louis metropolitan area. As we all head into our summer vacations to unwind, it is time to take a look back at the past year in the St. Louis American’s Annual Year in Review.
1.Byrd is the Word: The individual story of the year in high school football was the greatness of Clayton’s Jairus Byrd, who led the Greyhounds to their first state championship in football. The Greyhounds were big underdogs against perennial powerhouse Webb City, who was seeking its seventh state title. That mattered little to Byrd, who dominated the entire game with individual brilliance as the Hounds shocked Webb City 27-26 in an overtime heart-stopper. Byrd threw three touchdown passes, made several tackles and had a hand in the game-winning stop of a two-point conversion to clinch the state title for Clayton.
2.The Consummate Student-Athlete: It couldn’t get any better this year for Pattonville High senior Blake Strode. On Thursday night, May 27, Strode graduated from Pattonville with the No. 1 ranking in a senior class of 375 students. Two days later, Strode was in Springfield, putting the finishing touches on his first individual state championship in tennis and an undefeated season. Strode defeated Taylor St. Eve of Chaminade in straight sets to win the Missouri Class 2 state title and finish with a record of 27-0.
3.Freshman Phenoms: Freshman Alishea Usery of McCluer South-Berkeley and Jason Ford of Belleville Althoff enjoyed two of the most dominating debuts in the history of St. Louis area prep sports. Usery needed only one year to rewrite many of the track and field records in the state of Missouri. She was the Class 3 state champion in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes with state-record performances in each event. She is on pace to become the best that the state of Missouri’s ever produced….Althoff’s Ford turned in a freshman year for the ages for the Crusaders. A rock-solid 5’9″ 200-pounder with size and speed, Ford rushed for 1,702 yards and 16 touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a 10-2 record and a berth in the quarterfinals of the IHSA Class 5 state playoffs. He is currently ranked as one of the top running backs in the country in his class.
4.What Does It Take to be No. 1: For several weeks, the Vashon Wolverines boys’ basketball team reached the apex of high school basketball when they were ranked No. 1 in the country in the USA Today National High School polls. Not only did the Wolverines reach No. 1, they also embarked on a historic 60-game winning streak that stretched over two seasons. Only a season-ending loss to Poplar Bluff in the Class 5 state championship game kept the Wolverines from their first mythical national title.
5.Ram Tough: Three years of hard work and persistence paid off when the Ladue Rams won their first Class 3 girls state championship. Ladue scored 75 points while clobbering the rest of the field with their overall talent and depth. Seniors Orie Ibe and Azraa Rounds led the way with their individual excellence, and the Rams’ relay teams swept to titles in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400. Athletes such as Danielle Oliver, Elizabeth Prewitt-Allen, Camille Sheppard, Ysatis Williams and Tonya Jones were also big contributors to the Rams’ championship effort.
6.From the East Side: The IHSA boys track championships in Charleston turned out to be a Metro East party as East St. Louis won the state title and Cahokia finished third to take home its first team trophy. Despite not having an individual champion, the Flyers dominated the rest of the field with its depth and quality. Senior Tim Allen scored big in the sprints and finished his career with 11 state medals. Carlton Ward, Bernard Fowler, Kelvin Rodgers, Donald Dismukes were also key cogs in the attack as the Flyers swept all three sprint relays. Cahokia rode the talents of young jump Kali Jackson, who won the state title in the long jump and a talented crew of young sprinters who will be back in 2006.
7.Sonya Smooth: The brilliant career of Hancock girls’ basketball star Sonya Daugherty ended with her Tigers finishing fourth in the Class 3 state tournament. Daugherty finished her career with more than 2,700 points to finish ninth in the history of Missouri prep basketball. More important, she led the Tigers to their first two Final Four berths in the state tournament. She also led Hancock to victories over perennial powers St. Joseph’s, Jefferson City and Duchesne to win the prestigious Maryville Tournament.
8.The Undefeated: Cahokia’s Terron Williams was the only Metro East wrestler among 34 state qualifiers to bring home an individual state title. Williams concluded an undefeated (37-0) season by beating Cordero Hightower of Naperville Neaqua Valley for the 189-pound state championship…Whitfield’s Chris Upchurch became a two-time state champion in Missouri by winning the Class 2 title at 145 pounds. After missing the first part of the season with an injury, Upchurch came back to finish with a 20-0 record and second consecutive state championship.
9.A Championship Crusade: In January, the Lutheran North Crusaders were struggling along with a 7-7 record. Less than two months later, Lutheran North was in Columbia, celebrating its second Class 3 boys state basketball championship in four years. The Crusaders outworked and outhustled a bigger and more athletic Charleston team to win the state title. Sophomore point guard Larico Martin put on a show with 28 points in the state title game while classmate Rolandis Woodland provided high-flying athleticism inside.
10.Standing Tall with Paul: Junior Paul Chaney of SLUH earned the title of “Fastest Runner in the Show-Me State” in winning the 100- and 200-meter state titles at the Missouri Class 4 state meet in Jefferson City. Chaney gave a hint of what was to come in April with a spectacular performance at the Marion Freeman Clayton Invitational at Washington University. Chaney set new records in winning the 100 in 10.1 seconds and 200 in 21.1. He also finished third in the 400 and led the Junior Bills to a third place finish in the Class 4 team standings.
2005 St. Louis American Athletes of the Year
Baseball: Jeremy Rahman (Hazelwood Central)
Basketball (Boys): Johnny Hill (Vashon)
Basketball (Girls): Sonya Daugherty (Hancock)
Cross Country (Boys): Rufus Triggs (Kirkwood)
Cross Country (Girls): Kierra Handley (Pattonville)
Brittany Carpenter (East St. Louis)
Football: Jairus Byrd (Clayton)
Golf: Kortland Ware (Whitfield)
Soccer: La Tonya Davis (Hazelwood Central)
Softball: LaTosha Evans (Timberland)
Tennis (Boys): Blake Strode (Pattonville)
Tennis (Girls): Allison Scurry (McCluer North)
Track (Boys): Paul Chaney (SLUH)
Track (Girls): Alishea Usery (McCluer South-Berkeley)
Volleyball: Tamika Williams (Pattonville)
Wrestling: Terron Williams (Cahokia)
