The fabulous Usery twin sisters, Alishea and Ashley, have taken the girls track and field program at McCluer-South Berkeley back to being the best in the state of Missouri.
The talented twin sisters will head to the Sunshine state together next fall as both gave commitments to the University of Florida last weekend. The Usery sisters chose Florida over schools such as South Carolina, Texas Tech and Kansas.
Alishea Usery has established herself as one of the top sprinters in the history of Missouri prep girls track and field while Ashley has emerged as one of the top middle-distance runners in the state. They will spend their senior year trying to lead the Bulldogs to another Class 3 state championship.
Entering her senior year, Usery has already won nine individual state championships as a three-peat state-champion in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes. She also anchored MSB’s 4×400-meter relay team to a new state record at the 2006 state meet. Also a member of that relay team was Ashley, who earned All-State honors in the 800-meter run while leading off the Bulldogs’ state-championship 4×800-meter relay team.
During the summer season, the Usery sisters formed one-half of the Blues Track Club’s 4×400-meter relay team that set a new national record at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn. in July.
The Usery sisters are also stars in the classroom as well. Both are ranked in the top five in the senior class academically.
Tigers will be back
The University of Missouri’s bid for a berth in the national championship game came to an abrupt halt at the hands of a talented and very motivated Oklahoma team, which defeated the Tigers 38-17 for the Big XII Conference title.
Despite the great disappointment of not being able to hold on to its No. 1 ranking and play in the BCS title game, the historic 2007 season should serve as a jumping off point for the program and not the end-all. The Tigers won a school-record 11 games this season, and they have the opportunity to win a 12th game in a New Year’s Day bowl game (probably the Cotton Bowl). They won their first Big XII North title and a strong nucleus will be back to defend that title next season. The program received more national publicity than ever before, which should prove dividends on the recruiting trail.
In quarterback Chase Daniel and local multi-purpose phenom Jeremy Maclin, the Tigers have two players that will keep the program in the national headlines next season as well.
Showdown Shootout
Here are some of the top players to watch at Saturday’s Rameybasketball.com Midwest Showdown Shootout, which will be held at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Top local players include 6’8” Jesse Perry of Gateway Tech, 6’1” Anthony James and 6’2” Isaac Moore of Normandy, 6’7” shot-blocking phenom Abel Tillman, 5’7” Antonio “Chicken” Campbell and 5’10” Doug Wallace of McCluer South-Berkeley, 6’7” B.J. Stevenson and 6’5” Ladon Champagne of Hancock. A pair of local players who are now playing with national prep schools are 6’7” Jared Swopshire of IMG Academy and 6’8” Richard Anderson of Milestone Christian Academy. Swopshire, formerly of Fort Zumwalt West, is headed to Louisville, while Anderson is a junior at Milestone after spending his first two years at Beaumont.
Some of the national talent on hand will be 6’11” Kenny Kadji of IMG Academy, who is headed to Florida, 6’11” Willie Reid of Milestone Academy, who signed with Saint Louis University. Guard Cashmere Wright of Urban Christian Academy (GA.) is headed to Cincinnati.
You will find the schedule of games in the Schedule of Events section in sports.
Buy Earl
If you are fan of high school basketball, you can pick up a free copy of my 16-page preview basketball tabloid, “Earl Austin Jr.’s 2008 Basketball Preview.” You can pick up a free copy at Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods (Florissant, Sunset Hills, St. Charles, Ballwin and Swansea, Ill. locations; Sportsprint in Ferguson and AfroWorld (7276 Natural Bridge).
STL Bearcats
Former Hazelwood East football standout Kyle Dunn is a starting offensive lineman for the Northwest Missouri State team that is in the NCAA Division Il semifinals. The Bearcats will play Grand Valley State on Saturday night in a game that will be televised on ESPN-2.
The Bearcats have several players from the St. Louis area on the team, including Abe Qaoud and Brandon Clayton (Hazelwood Central) and quarterback Josh Mathews (Lafayette). Former Cahokia standout Byron Gettis caught a 69-yard touchdown pass for Southern Illinois in the Salukis’ 34-27 victory over Massachusetts in the NCAA Division I-AA quarterfinals. SIU will host Delaware in the national semifinals this weekend.