Alexandria Anderson’s first races were all about fun, running against boys on neighborhood streets just to prove she could win.
Or so she thought. Recognizing an opportunity, her younger brother, Alexander, started betting his friends that his sister could outrun them.
“I asked him, `Are you sharing your winnings with her,'” said their mother, Cynthia Anderson, “and he said, `No.’ I said, `That’s not very fair.’ And he said, `But Mom, she was just supposed to perform. I was supposed to win.'”
When Anderson performs now the awards are hers to keep. The Morgan Park senior finished her career with 20 IHSA medals. Her total includes a record 13 individual state titles and top-two team finishes all four years.
For dominating track and field in Illinois as few before her have, Tribune writers and editors selected Anderson as the 2004-05 Chicago Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 High School Athlete of the Year.
Anderson secured the honor with one phenomenal May weekend on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. At the IHSA Class AA state meet, the Texas recruit won four events for the second straight year and broke three state records, including the long jump record held by Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee since 1979.
“To be able to say I’m where she was in high school as far as her jumping, then I know that the sky’s the limit,” said Anderson, who openly covets a spot on the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Beijing in 2008. “If I continue to do well like I’ve been doing in training and whatnot, I will be able to be in the Olympics one day.”
Texas coach Beverly Kearney said Anderson definitely has the potential.
“If she ain’t talking about it, then we’re gonna talk about it,” Kearney said of Anderson’s Olympic aspirations. “Her ability to be an Olympian will be based on her desire.”
Anderson didn’t waste any time assaulting the record books in this year’s state meet. On her first attempt in Friday’s preliminaries, she leapt 20 feet 9 inches, topping Joyner-Kersee’s mark of 20-7 1/2.
After crushing the field in the 400 meters–her record-setting time of 52.63 seconds won by almost 2 1/2 seconds–Anderson held off Evanston’s Shalina Clarke, herself a nationally recognized talent, to win the 200 in 23.32.
“They (records) were attainable,” said Anderson, who also holds the 100-meter mark. “It wasn’t a focus, but I knew by the training I’d done that I would be able to do it.”
“That says that she’s a rare athlete,” said Morgan Park coach Derrick Calhoun, who has coached Anderson since she was in 7th grade. “When you can do four different events, it leaves the possibilities for her future wide open.”
Anderson’s success has continued after the high school season. She won the 100 and 200 at last weekend’s Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. And in the 800 relay, Anderson ran with her Morgan Park teammates one final time, helping them finish fourth as she earned All-America status.
At Morgan Park, Anderson was a member of student council and Amnesty International and starred on the city championship volleyball team. She also serves as the Sunday school secretary at the Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. She speaks freely of her faith, and in postrace interviews often attributes her success to being “blessed.”
“She was a good all-around friend and a good influence on the team,” Morgan Park junior Aja Evans said. “She doesn’t change after she wins a race. She’s still Alex.”
Thanks in part to the influence of her parents–Cynthia teaches at Gillespie Elementary and her father, Alonzo, coaches at Bowen–Anderson has never put athletics above academics. She graduated with a 4.01 grade-point average and plans to major in communications and business, while also taking the required classes for medical school.
Despite being a fierce competitor on the track, Anderson exudes humility and a bubbly personality. She jokes that her boyfriend, Walther Lutheran graduate and Cubs minor-leaguer Bo Flowers, gives her too much advice. And she’s eager to show off her new tattoo–a track shoe with wings on her right shoulder.
In a ceremony at the Thompson Center, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn proclaimed Monday Alexandria Marie Anderson Day in Illinois, and Joyner-Kersee was a surprise guest. On Tuesday, Anderson was named the Gatorade Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year for Illinois for the third straight year.
All of this explains why Texas, despite having just won the national title with no seniors, is so excited about Anderson’s impending arrival.
“She’s definitely world-class, not just national caliber,” Kearney said. “Which event is yet to be seen. She could be world-class in any of the four.”
Although she was 2,000 miles away, Anderson shared in the Longhorns’ NCAA triumph. All-American sprinter and long jumper Marshevet Hooker, who hosted Anderson on her official visit, called her the night Texas won the title.
“I’m grateful that they thought about me, to call me and include me in some way in their championship,” Anderson said.
“I can’t wait to go down there. I’ll be ready.”
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nbaird@tribune.com
