The Jackie Joyner-Kersee Relays take place every year at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium in East St. Louis, Illinois, annually bringing together some of the top female track and field talent in Illinois and Missouri. As usual, numerous top ten national marks came in a variety of events. Read our meet summary to see what transpired.
JJK Relays Highlights - Alishea Usery (MO) blazes to victory at 100m in 11.55 - McCleur S.-Berkeley (MO) wins 4x4 in 3:49.43, 800m medley in 1:44.58 - Proviso East (IL) impressive: 1:40.24 (4x2), 47.84 (4x1), 3:50.88 (4x4) - Dani Bunch (IL) wins shot put with a throw of 47-07.50 - East St. Louis Sr. (IL) wins 4x100m relay in 47.46 - Brittney Brimmage (IL) wins triple jump with leap of 38-00Jackie Joyner-Kersee Relays (IL)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee Relays: Meet Page / Results
With a brand new track in place, the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Relays saw numerous national level results in a variety of races, including a handful of new meet records. Entered in this year's edition were the '07 Missouri State Champions (McCluer South-Berkeley) and five of the top ten teams from the '07 Illinois State Championships, including perennial powerhouse East St. Louis Senior. With so much talent on the track great performances were bound to happen.
Fans didn't have to wait long for a national caliber performance to take place. The meet's first event, the 800m medley relay, saw sprint star Alishea Usery (Sr., McCluer S. Berkeley, MO) (pictured left by Tracy Rollins) run a 53.3 400m anchor leg which helped lead her team to a five second win and meet record of 1:44.58. From there the action only became better, as the next two events saw new meet records established. In the 3200m relay, McCleur South-Berkeley ran 9:37.67 to beat runner-up Palatine (IL) who finished second in 9:40.03. From there, the 4x100m relay kept fans on their feet the entire way, as the host team East St. Louis Sr. beat in-state rival Proviso East (IL) 47.46-47.84, as East St. Louis Sr.'s Ronecia Nash outgunned Proviso East's Brittany Robbins.
In non-relay action, Ronecia Nash won the 100m hurdles rather easily in 14.81, outdistancing the field over the final two hurdles. Then came the head-to-head match-up of the day, which saw Nash take on Alishea Usery at 100m, in a clash of national-class sprinters. The UCLA-bound Nash is the defending Illinois State Champion for the 100m dash and 200m dash, while the Florida-bound Usery won the 100m, 200m and 400m dash events last year at the Missouri State Championships. While the clash was promoted all week long, from the gun it was apparent that Usery was the better sprinter on the day, as she cruised to a winning time of 11.55, while Nash finished second in 12.03.
After the conclusion of the 100m dash, the track stayed hot as Proviso East dominated a stacked 4x200m relay. The squad ran the same line-up in each sprint relay that went Nevada Morrison to Skye Morrison to Kindra Perkins to Brittany Robinson. With such a strong line-up in place, Proviso East ran a new meet record in the 4x2 with their winning mark of 1:40.24, which beat the rest of the field by nearly two and a half seconds.
The closing track event of the day was the 4x400m relay. From the gun fans in attendance knew it was going to be a battle to the finish. McCluer South-Berkeley and Proviso East battled the entire way, and like any good relay it came down to who had the better anchor leg. Despite her finest efforts, Proviso East's Brittany Robbins could not hold off MSB's Alishea Usery, who closed with a powerful kick to guider her team to an impressive finishing time of 3:49.43, another meet record. Proviso East closed out their incredible relay day with their runner-up time of 3:50.88, while Evanston Township (IL) placed third in 4:00.09.
While so much action was taking place on the track, the field events were equally as impressive. Leading the way were the performances of Brittney Brimmage (East St. Louis Sr.) and Dani Bunch (Jr., Mahomet-Seymour, IL). Brimmage captured the triple jump title with a leap of 38-00, easiliy beating the rest of the field by over a foot and a half. Meanwhile, Bunch threw one of the best shot put marks of the season nationally, taking home the top spot with a mark of 37-07.50. Bunch also placed third in the discus throw, as '07 Illinois discus champion Erin Wykoff (Sr., Triad, IL) won with a toss of 133-00.50.
Once again the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Relays inspired and impressed, With such great mid-season results from East St. Louis, Proviso East, McCluer South-Berkeley, Ronecia Nash, Alishea Usery, Dani Bunch and Brittney Brimmage, this season should be quite entertaining in Illinois and Missouri.