Hot times on cold tracks
Ladue girls relay team, Aleshia Usery of Berkeley set records
Of the St. Louis American
Neither the rain, the cold nor the blustery winds could keep the area’s top track and field athletes from competing at a high level over the past weekend.
Ladue High ventured to Lawrence, Kan. to participate in the Kansas Relays, and it was the Rams’ girls who shined. The 4×100- and 4×200-meter relay teams won both races and set meet records in the process against other talented teams.
The 4×100 team of Danielle Oliver, Azraa Rounds, Elizabeth Prewitt-Allen and Ysatis Williams finished first in 48.43 seconds. The 4×200 crew of Rounds, Prewitt-Allen, Williams and Orie Ibie posted an impressive time of 1 minute 42.23 seconds.
On the boys’ side, Ladue standout J.C. Butler tried to extend his excellent run of races in the 400-meter dash, but Butler felt a slight pull of the hamstring after 300 meters and coasted in to finish in fourth place. Butler’s status for this weekend’s Clayton Invitational is uncertain. If Butler is not at full strength, it would negate some great potential match-ups with East St. Louis’ Timothy Allen in the sprints.
Another athlete who did not seem to be affected by the cold temperatures was freshman phenom Aleshia Usery of Berkeley. At the Dale Collier Invitational at Kirkwood, Usery set a new mark in the 400-meter dash with a wining time of 55.7. The old record was held by former East St. Louis Lincoln great Carmelita Williams, who was a seven-time individual state champion in Illinois during her storied career. Usery also captured the 100 in 11.9.
Usery is the younger sister of former Berkeley High standout Mike Rodgers, who is now competing for NAIA national champion Lindenwood University. Keep you fingers crossed for good health and continued motivation because we could be watching one of the great ones, and this area has produced a few.
The Rockwood Summit boys have been impressive all season under the direction of coach Roland Garrison. The Falcons won the Phil Brusca Invitational at Ladue last Friday. Leading the way for Summit has been versatile junior Edward Calvin, who won the high jump (6 feet 6 inches), 110-meter high hurdles (15.23) and 300-meter intermediate hurdles (39.27). Calvin was a state finalist in the 110-meter high hurdles as a sophomore.
Marcus Washington finished first in the triple jump and Jeremy Helwig won the pole vault. The Falcons also won the 4×400 and finished second in the 4×200. Summit will battle for the team title at today’s Patriot Classic at Parkway South against strong squads from Eureka and Marquette.
The East St. Louis Flyers’ boys went back-to-back in winning the Al Joyner Classic title on Friday in East St. Louis, then came back to win the Dale Collier Invitational at Kirkwood on Saturday.
Metro East stars Timothy Allen of East Side and Kali Jackson of Cahokia took home individual award honors from the Al Joyner meet. Allen was the Most Outstanding Performer on the track after winning the 100, 200 and 400 and anchoring the 4×100 relay to a victory. Jackson was the Most Outstanding Performer in the field after winning the long jump, triple jump and high jump.
The East St. Louis Flyerettes’ girls also won the team title at Kirkwood. Junior April Anderson won the long jump and joined Kristen Chism, Brittany Harris and Samylia Nixon on the victorious 4×100 relay team that turned in a time of 48.8.
Fort Zumwalt North sophomore Channell Lloyd swept both hurdles races at the Fort Zumwalt North Invitational. Lloyd was the Class 3 state runner-up in both hurdles events at the 2004 state meet.
She is the younger sister of North football and track standout Darrell Lloyd, who won the 100 and anchored the Panthers’ 4×100 to a victory. Lloyd is back running back after battling injuries for the past two years. He was a Class 4 state finalist in the 100 as a freshman in 2002.
