The track and field season is off and running in the St. Louis metro area, and several top athletes are showing they have the mettle to win medals.
On the girls’ side, senior Kyndall Spain of four-time state champion Cardinal Ritter returns to the lanes as the top hurdler in the state. She is also a standout sprinter, and leader of a young team looking for a fifth consecutive state championship. She has already committed to South Carolina.
Other top girls’ athletes include:
Bailey Hensgens (Incarnate Word Academy): A sophomore jumper who led the Red Knights to the Class 3 state championship last season.
Johmeisha Patterson (Festus): A talented young sprinter from Jefferson County who earned All-State honors in the sprints and hurdles as a freshman last season.
Chloe Tabb (Marquette): A talented jumper who set a school record in the triple jump at 40 feet 8 ¼ inches at last week’s Henle Holmes Invitational
Uyoyoghene Omunu (Parkway North): A basketball standout with Vikings who was also a state-champion triple jumper last season.
The top boys to watch include:
Michael Clark (Lutheran North): A standout football player on the Crusaders state championship football team who also excels on the track as a state-champion sprinter in the 400-meter dash.
Henry Rohan (MICDS): An excellent junior sprinter who has already turned in some of the area’s fastest times this season.
Cameron Cason (Francis Howell): A talented jumper who finished second in the triple jump at the Class 5 state meet last season.
Earl’s WorldNew Mizzou women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper went into the transfer portal and came away with a couple of top players from the St. Louis metro area as part of her first recruiting class…Former Incarnate Word Academy star Saniah Tyler gave a commitment to Mizzou. The 5’6” Tyler spent the past three seasons at the University of Kentucky. Tyler was the St. Louis American Player of the Year in 2022…Also headed to Columbia is former O’Fallon (IL) High Shannon Dowell, who transferred from Illinois State. A 5’10” guard, Dowell led the Panthers to the IHSA Class 4A state championship as a senior. Last season at Illinois State, Dowell averaged 17.6 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 49% from the field in leading the Redbirds to a 24-13 record…In more portal news, former Incarnate Word girls’ standout Zoe Best has committed to Charlotte after an excellent freshman season at SEMO, where she was the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. She averaged 14.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game… After losing to TCU in the second round NCAA Women’s Basketball, Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey got busy making her team better. The St. Louis native has added Wake Forest 6-3 forward Milaya Cowles, Kansas State 6-4 forward Gisela Sanchez and Duke 5-8 guard Vanessa de Jesus through the transfer portal…St. Louis’ Jayson Tatum landed on his wrist after a hard foul from Orlando Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in Game 1 of the teams’ first-round playoff series. His x-ray was “clean” and he finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds in the Celtics 103-86 win…Boston coach Joe Mazzulla, a no-nonsense guy, yelled “get up” to Tatum as he writhed in pain on the court…Another St. Louis product, Bradley Beal, is watching the NBA playoffs with Kevin Durant and his teammates after a dismal 36-win season. Beal is under fire this offseason for quashing trade deals and perceived lack of desire by many Suns fans…Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, who is still facing unbridled scorn for trading Luca Doncic to the L.A. Lakers for Anthony Davis, may have been on to something when he said, “Defense wins championships.” In Doncic’s first playoff game, the Lakers were riddled on defense and lost to the underdog Minnesota Timberwolves 117-95.