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Jamaican sprinter flourishes at Kansas
BY RICK PLUMLEE
The Wichita Eagle
LAWRENCE - As recently as a year ago, Kansas sprinter Nickesha Anderson was training on a rented high-school track and doing indoor workouts on a basketball court.
Today, she is one of the world's fastest sprinters.
But then, she's Jamaican. And just about every Jamaican girl or boy who likes to run at all knows about the country's Queen of Track, Merlene Ottey.
"You look at Merlene and you know anything is possible," Anderson said.
Ottey is a 14-time world champion, seven-time Olympian. She's still competing at age 47, though it's now for her adopted country of Slovenia.
Anderson knows Ottey's accomplishments by heart, and not just because they're from the same Jamaican town of Hanover.
"I've never met her in person or seen her run in person," Anderson said. "She is old, but she is someone I've looked up to for a very long time. I give her props, because if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't experience Jamaican track to the fullest."
Going into the Kansas Relays, which opens in full swing today and continues through Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Anderson is coming off one of the world's top indoor performances.
She clocked a 200 meters in 22.62 seconds at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships, the world's second fastest indoor time in 2008. And she finished second in the race. Texas freshman Bianca Knight won at 22.4 for the world's best time, and then turned pro shortly after that.
No one will be in Anderson's league at the Relays, even though she's stepping away from her preferred distance -- the 200 -- this weekend to compete in the 100, 400 and 400-meter relay.
"This weekend, Nickesha's biggest competition is the clock," KU sprint coach Elisha Brewer said. "The sky is the limit for her. Her range of races is what makes her hard to beat.
"When you can do really well in whatever event you step on the track to do, that makes a statement. It makes her an intimidating athlete to others."
A petite 5-foot-4 and with a smile that won't stop, Anderson hardly looks intimidating. But she's been running very fast for a very long time. It just took her a while to find her way to the big stage.
She was a childhood star in Jamaica, where track is serious business.
"When it's our national championship, something like 117 schools compete," Anderson said. "We have fun in Jamaica with track. It's a huge celebration. There are all these chants and the competition is just really great."
Anderson was headed for Iowa, where former Jamaican track standout James Grant was the women's track coach. But Grant died of cancer, leaving her searching for another college home.
She eventually wound up at Missouri Baptist, an NAIA school in the St. Louis area. She won 12 national titles despite training on the basketball court and on the rented prep track.
"There was no environment for track," Anderson said.
Her coach suggested she go to a school where she could be trained properly. It didn't take long for KU to answer the call, particularly since Brewer had seen Anderson win the 100 at the Relays the past two years.
"She is the kind of sprinter every coach dreams of having," Brewer said. "When she steps on the track, you know she's going to give it all she's got."
Even at KU, Anderson is following in Ottey's footsteps in a roundabout way. While attending Nebraska, Ottey used to run in the Kansas Relays and still holds the meet's mark in the 100 that she set at 11.18 in 1982.
Anderson won the 100 at the Relays last year in 11.29.
"On a really good day, well, maybe I could get Merlene's record," Anderson said.
This summer, Anderson will also attempt to follow Ottey's legacy by making the Jamaican team for the Olympic Games.
"That's the definite plan," Anderson said. "Merlene set the standard. It's the standard I also want to reach."
Notes -- Finals for Anderson's open events will be Saturday at 3:35 p.m. (100) and 4 p.m. (400).... The Relays have greatly reduced their "elite" competitors. From dozens only a few years ago, only four are scheduled to compete this weekend: sprinter Muna Lee, 400-meter hurdle world champ Bershawn Jackson, world shot put champ Christian Cantwell and sprinter Wallace Spearmon.
BY RICK PLUMLEE
The Wichita Eagle
LAWRENCE - As recently as a year ago, Kansas sprinter Nickesha Anderson was training on a rented high-school track and doing indoor workouts on a basketball court.
Today, she is one of the world's fastest sprinters.
But then, she's Jamaican. And just about every Jamaican girl or boy who likes to run at all knows about the country's Queen of Track, Merlene Ottey.
"You look at Merlene and you know anything is possible," Anderson said.
Ottey is a 14-time world champion, seven-time Olympian. She's still competing at age 47, though it's now for her adopted country of Slovenia.
Anderson knows Ottey's accomplishments by heart, and not just because they're from the same Jamaican town of Hanover.
"I've never met her in person or seen her run in person," Anderson said. "She is old, but she is someone I've looked up to for a very long time. I give her props, because if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't experience Jamaican track to the fullest."
Going into the Kansas Relays, which opens in full swing today and continues through Saturday at Memorial Stadium, Anderson is coming off one of the world's top indoor performances.
She clocked a 200 meters in 22.62 seconds at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships, the world's second fastest indoor time in 2008. And she finished second in the race. Texas freshman Bianca Knight won at 22.4 for the world's best time, and then turned pro shortly after that.
No one will be in Anderson's league at the Relays, even though she's stepping away from her preferred distance -- the 200 -- this weekend to compete in the 100, 400 and 400-meter relay.
"This weekend, Nickesha's biggest competition is the clock," KU sprint coach Elisha Brewer said. "The sky is the limit for her. Her range of races is what makes her hard to beat.
"When you can do really well in whatever event you step on the track to do, that makes a statement. It makes her an intimidating athlete to others."
A petite 5-foot-4 and with a smile that won't stop, Anderson hardly looks intimidating. But she's been running very fast for a very long time. It just took her a while to find her way to the big stage.
She was a childhood star in Jamaica, where track is serious business.
"When it's our national championship, something like 117 schools compete," Anderson said. "We have fun in Jamaica with track. It's a huge celebration. There are all these chants and the competition is just really great."
Anderson was headed for Iowa, where former Jamaican track standout James Grant was the women's track coach. But Grant died of cancer, leaving her searching for another college home.
She eventually wound up at Missouri Baptist, an NAIA school in the St. Louis area. She won 12 national titles despite training on the basketball court and on the rented prep track.
"There was no environment for track," Anderson said.
Her coach suggested she go to a school where she could be trained properly. It didn't take long for KU to answer the call, particularly since Brewer had seen Anderson win the 100 at the Relays the past two years.
"She is the kind of sprinter every coach dreams of having," Brewer said. "When she steps on the track, you know she's going to give it all she's got."
Even at KU, Anderson is following in Ottey's footsteps in a roundabout way. While attending Nebraska, Ottey used to run in the Kansas Relays and still holds the meet's mark in the 100 that she set at 11.18 in 1982.
Anderson won the 100 at the Relays last year in 11.29.
"On a really good day, well, maybe I could get Merlene's record," Anderson said.
This summer, Anderson will also attempt to follow Ottey's legacy by making the Jamaican team for the Olympic Games.
"That's the definite plan," Anderson said. "Merlene set the standard. It's the standard I also want to reach."
Notes -- Finals for Anderson's open events will be Saturday at 3:35 p.m. (100) and 4 p.m. (400).... The Relays have greatly reduced their "elite" competitors. From dozens only a few years ago, only four are scheduled to compete this weekend: sprinter Muna Lee, 400-meter hurdle world champ Bershawn Jackson, world shot put champ Christian Cantwell and sprinter Wallace Spearmon.
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