STL track-and-field athletes fare well at state
Of the St. Louis American
Here are some of the highlights from what was a memorable 2005 State Track and Field Championship Meet in Jefferson City last weekend.
Incredible Usery
Fans of the sport in the Show-Me State witnessed greatness in Jeff City in the form of star freshman Alishea Usery of McCluer South-Berkeley. In just one year of varsity competition, Usery managed to rewrite the record books in the three sprints. Usery swept the Class 3, 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and set new state records in the process.
Her winning time of 11.79 in the 100 was a new Class 3 record. Her time in the 200 was 23.81, which broke the overall record set by former Kansas City Central superstar and Olympian Muna Lee. Usery also broke the overall record in the 400 with a winning time of 54.22. After breaking two of those records in Friday’s prelims, Usery broke three more on Saturday, giving her a total of five broken records on the weekend.
Her most impressive effort may have come in the 4×400-meter relay, when she took the baton for her anchor leg in sixth place, then proceeded to turn in one of the fastest legs in history to bring the Bulldogs back to second place, behind Ladue, with a season’s best time of 3 minutes 58.83 seconds.
Usery’s performance helped the Bulldogs to a second-place finish in the overall team standings. If she stays healthy, there’s no telling what this special athlete can accomplish in the next three years. Simply incredible.
Ladue does it
The Ladue girls put on a show in winning the Class 3 state title with a total of 75 points, which was 31 more than their nearest competitor. The Rams had quantity and quality in streaking to their first state crown. Their consistency throughout the season was just as impressive as their overall talent.
“This was the accumulation of three years of hard work and great effort,” said coach Keith Harder. “It was a total team effort from day one with this group of girls. We took a lot of people to state, and we scored in nearly every event.”
Senior Orie Ibe won the 300-meter low hurdles and finished third in the 100-meter high hurdles. Senior Azraa Rounds finished second in the 400 and fourth in the 200. Danielle Oliver finished second in the triple jump, Camille Sheppard was sixth in the discus and Elizabeth Prewitt-Allen was sixth in the 300-meter low hurdles.
The Rams dominated the sprint relays in sweeping all three events. The 4×100 team of Tonya Jones, Prewitt-Allen, Oliver and Ibe set a Class 3 state record in prelims on Friday then won the state title on Saturday. The 4×200 crew of Jones, Oliver, Ysatis Williams and Rounds won easily in 1:42.14 while the 4×400 team of Kiana Fleming, Prewitt-Allen, Oliver and Rounds finished first in 3:57.26.
Everybody loves Snoop
The feel-good story of the meet came in the Class 4 boys 4×400-meter relay, won by Normandy. The Vikings’ anchor on the team is senior Nathaniel Williams, who goes by the nickname “Snoop” because of his striking resemblance to rap star/actor Snoop Dog. From his 6’4″ 145-pound frame to his braided locks, Williams looks the part of Snoop all the way.
He was also one of the most popular athletes with the other kids and the parents and coaches. When Williams got the baton for his final leg on Saturday, most of the St. Louisans in the crowd cheered wildly for him to bring the baton home a victor. Regardless of school affiliation or age, everyone was behind “Snoop,” who raised his arms in exultation after finishing the victory in a season’s best of 3:19.1.
Chants of “Snoop!” rang out throughout Dwight T. Reed Stadium after the race, and kids from various schools went over to give Williams the glad-hand for a job well done. Williams was joined on the team by James Haynes, Chris Rainey and Reginald Sims.
“Everyone loves Nathaniel,” Normandy coach Preston Thomas said. “At every meet, he talking to other kids and shaking hands with everybody. That’s why he had such a reaction.”
State tidbits
The junior tandem of Paul Chaney and Stephan Simmons of SLUH was largely responsible for leading the Junior Billikens to a third-place finish in the Class 4 boys’ standings. Chaney won two gold medals in the 100 and 200 with impressive times of 10.52 and 21.25, respectively. He also finished third in the 400 for a total of 26 points. Chaney blasted out of the blocks and cruised to both of his victories. Simmons finished fourth in the 100, second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and seventh in the 200.
McCluer’s 4×400 relay team of Elegence Gray, Jerica Hamm, Candace Graves and NaTasha Blair won the Class 4 state title in a scintillating time of 3:53.81. It was the second fastest time in this history of the state meet. The state record stands at 3:51.48 by Normandy in 1986. The relay splits were Gray (59.2), Hamm (56.4), Graves (59.5) and Blair (57.7). The same group also finished second in the 4×200 relay.
Hazelwood Central senior Lauren Fisher closed out her career in style by winning the 200, 400 and finishing fourth in the 100. Fisher easily defended her title in the 400 in a time of 56.2.
Another repeat state champion was senior Tiffany Jackson of Gateway Tech, who demolished the rest of the field in the Class 4 girls 300-meter low hurdles. Her winning time was 44.22. Jackson also finished second in the 100-meter high hurdles.
Eureka High junior Meredith Snow made a little history last weekend by winning the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Add those three to the state cross country title in the fall and you may have the first athlete in the history of the state to win all four distance events in one year.
Sophomore LaJada Baldwin of Central Visual & Performing Arts had quite a productive day in helping her team take home a fourth-place team trophy in the Class 3 girls meet. Baldwin finished second in the 100, 200 and third in the 400. She actually set a new Class 3 state record in the 100 on Friday during prelims. She has quite a future ahead of her.
St. Louis area schools swept all four races in the 100, 4×200 and 4×100-meter relays. The 100-meter champions were Usery, Chaney, Shelinda Bracket of Riverview Gardens (Class 4 girls) and Mike Clark of Sumner (Class 3 boys). The 4×200 state champs were Ladue (Class 3 girls), Berkeley (Class 3 boys), Riverview Gardens (Class 4 girls) and Kirkwood (Class 4 boys).
The most exciting finish of the relays came in the Class 4 boys race when Rufus Triggs of Kirkwood out-sprinted a crowd of runners to the final tape for the victory.
The 4×100 relay champions were from Ladue (Class 3 girls), Affton (Class 3 boys), Hazelwood Central (Class 4 girls) and Hazelwood West (Class 4 boys).
Berkeley’s boys are also back on track to state success after finishing second in the Class 3 team standings to Ozark. The team title was not settled until the final race of the day when Ozark edged Berkeley in the 4×400 relay. The Bulldogs got state title performances from Terry Robinson in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the 4×200 relay team of Columbus Curry, Kevin Simmons, Jacquez Wilcox-Barnes and Greg Hooks. The Bulldogs won the race despite running out of Lane 8 on the extreme outside.
