Sports Update

Girls relay team wins national title again

Last spring, the St. Louis Express girls 4x800 relay team set a goal of winning another AAU national title. In 2005, the team won the relay title in the midget division.

The Express' 4x800 relay team: (front row, l to r) Courtney Powell and Natalie Pattin; (back row, l to r) Kendra White and Ausset Cuberson

Last month, the Express team fulfilled its goal. The girls won the 4x800 national title in the youth division at the meet at Hampton Roads, Va.

Members of the winning team were Natalie Pattin, Ausset Cuberson, Kendra White and Courtney Powell. All of the girls are from Florissant. Ausset replaced Jazmine Johnson, who had been on the 2005 team.

In both years, the Express team won in fine fashion. Both years they were unbeaten in preliminary meets and were ranked No. 1 going into the national meet. They upheld that ranking by finishing first both years.

Their winning time in the 2006 meet was 9 minutes, 49.34 seconds.

Twelve-year-old Courtney Powell ran the leadoff leg on the relay team. Thirteen-year-old Kendra White ran the second half-mile leg and 13-year-old Ausset ran the third leg. Then, 13-year-old Natalie Pattin anchored the team to victory.

Young Saint Louis.com first profiled the Express relay team in its April, 2006, edition. (To read that earlier story, click here.)

This year, the girls also ran as a 4x400 relay team and finished 12th. In individual events, Courtney was 6th and Natalie 8th in the 800-meter race.

The girls earned their way to the 2006 national meet by winning at the regional meet in Joplin, Mo. During the regular season, the relay team was unbeaten in 10 meets.