Morgan Park Mustangs

Some of Morgan Park’s top athletes include (front row, from left) Melanie Milhouse, Nyala Eddings, Gia McKnight, Jackie Davis, Esther Ikoro and Antoinette Johnson; (back row) Francisco Morales, Everett Croom, Rotimi Omosheyin, Jasmine Winston, Pierre Nesbitt and Dominique Bell.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Morgan Park is the Sun-Times Spotlight School of the Week. The Mustangs have won eight state titles, including seven in girls track. Notable alumni include comedian Michael Collier and Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space.

1 In one of the most dramatic finishes in the 100-year history of the boys state basketball tournament, coach Bill Warden's team beat West Aurora 45-44 on Laird Smith's 17-footer at the buzzer. The Mustangs, led by Levi Cobb, rallied from a seven-point deficit in the last two minutes. Cobb was one of the few players in state history to finish his career with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

2 Girls track and field coach Derrick Calhoun has produced seven state championship teams and six second-place finishes. The 1994 squad, the first winner, set the tone for what was to come by beating perennial power East St. Louis Lincoln, as Alisha Gibson won the 400 and anchored the winning mile and 800 medley relays and Nicole Keus won the 100 hurdles and long jump.

3 In 2005, Alexandria Anderson set a record for the ages, surpassing future Olympic gold medalist and U.S.-record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee's 26-year-old record of 20-7½ in the long jump with a leap of 20-9. She also won the 100, 200 and 400 meters. But Morgan Park finished second. ''She had more skills than anyone I've coached,'' coach Derrick Calhoun said.

4 Coach Lexie Spurlock's 12-1 team reached the semifinals of the state football playoffs in 2004, then won the 72nd Prep Bowl in 2005 by beating Brother Rice in overtime. Demetrius Jones caught a pass from receiver-turned-quarterback Chris James and Ramone Johnson's first-ever PAT won it. Led by Jones, James and Corbin Bryant, the Mustangs had 11 Division I scholarship players.

5 Gia McKnight was fifth in the 2007 state tennis meet, the highest finish by a Public League player since Young's Katrina Adams won singles in 1984. An Illinois State Scholar who ranks No. 3 in a class of 430, she won two Public League singles titles and led Morgan Park to four city team titles. The USTA's Chicago District player of the year, she will attend DePaul.

By Alexandria Anderson: A 2005 graduate, she won 16 gold medals in four state track and field meets. She currently is a junior at the University of Texas.

When I was 6, I started running and competing at Jesse Owens Park. I loved running. It was something I was good at. I would race boys in the streets from light pole to light pole. And I always won. Running was fun, and it still is fun.

So it was a given that I would attend Morgan Park. I knew about coach Derrick Calhoun. And I knew that the school had a good academic program and a good tradition in sports, especially in women's track and field. I wanted to train with the best.

Coach Calhoun taught me a lot. He taught me techniques in the long jump and running. He was the one who was always thinking about taking care of business first. He was a pusher. He would get the best out of you, no matter how you felt. He wanted all of his girls to do well.

Three other teachers who taught me a lot off the track were Asma Shakir, who taught psychology; Mr. McGhee, who taught African-American history; and Mr. Fitzgerald, who taught social science.

They taught me that school wasn't always about me. It was important to help others because others helped you and you have to give back. Also, they told me I should be proud to be an African-American woman, that I should always be the best I can be.

I wanted to be a student-athlete, a complete student, not just an athlete. That's what I learned at Morgan Park -- to be diversified and not one-dimensional. I was involved in several clubs. I didn't want athletics to be my only focus.

At Texas, I'm majoring in corporate communications and public relations. I want to be a plastic surgeon. But I try to touch different aspects of life. I want to be a doctor or nutritionist or publicist or consultant for a major corporation. No person should limit themselves to doing one thing.

* Lee Bernet: Former AFL player.

* Levi Cobb: Former professional basketball player.

* Michael Collier: Comedian.

* Fred Evans: NFL player.

* Hugh Gallarneau: Member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

* Philip Hawkins: Former NFL player.

* Frisman Jackson: NFL player.

* Mae Jemison: Former NASA astronaut, first African-American woman in space.

* Trezelle Jenkins: Former NFL player.

* Corey Mays: NFL player.

* Karlton Neal: NFL player.

* Robbyn Preacely: 1994 Sun-Times girls basketball player of the year.

* Mel Reddick: Chief lawyer, CBS Sports, director of business sports.

* Jeremy Rifkin: Economist, writer and public speaker.

* Langston Wesley: First African-American valedictorian in 29 years.

* Robert Wooten: Founder, Wooten Ensemble.