The leaders of the Florissant Track Club changed the name of the organization to the St. Louis Express about 15 years ago to, well, express the image of a regional organization rather than a local one.
"A lot of people thought you had to live in Florissant to be on the club," Express coach Darrell Spencer said.
Thanks to the name change and a philosophy that stresses participants be good students and good citizens, too, athletes from all over the St. Louis area are now attracted to the program. There are 145 youngsters on this year's team, many of whom will have success at the AAU Nationals, which is set for July 30-Aug. 6 in New Orleans.
"We won 40-something medals last year," said Spencer, whose team practices at McCluer and McCluer North. "They know us at nationals."
A couple of the team's top athletes who live outside North County include Nerinx Hall's Peyton Chaney and John Burroughs' Ezekiel Elliott. They'll be leading the charge when the Express travels to Lawrence, Kan., July 1-3 for the National AAU Qualifier.
Chaney made some big noise at the Class 4 state meet recently when she knocked off Hazelwood East's Tianna Valentine in the final of the 200. She also finished second to Valentine in the 100 and placed seventh in the 400.
"She's really strong in the 200," Spencer said of Chaney, who will be a senior this fall. "She should win it (in Kansas). She's been improving each year, getting stronger. She's a joy to work with. She always has a smile on her face."
Elliott, who will be a junior this fall, was equally impressive at state in his events. He finished first in the 110-hurdles in Class 3, finished second in the 300-hurdles and was eighth in the 100.
"He should place at nationals," Spencer said. "He placed there before. So far, he's been dominant in this area in his age group."
Hazelwood Central's Marc Franks is another big name on this year's Express team. He is a big reason why the Hawks have won back-to-back Class 4 state team titles.
"He's still nursing (a leg injury)," Spencer said. "He ran the 100 when he ran at the district qualifier. He'll run the 200 and 400 at the national qualifier. Those are his stronger events."
Another standout from outside the North County area on the team is Brandon Miller, a nine-year-old from St. Charles. Miller won the gold medal in the 800 last year at nationals in a time of 2:38.62.
"He's another one of our athletes who is working hard and has the winning spirit," Spencer said. "He goes out fast and maintains that pace."
The Express has all of the girls back from the 400-relay team that set a national record in the sub bantam (7-8) age group last year with a time of 1:01.68. Those girls are Sidney Martin, Kaiya Adkisson, Chaya Dorsey and Evyn Edwards.
"We were excited about that," Spencer said. "We didn't expect to break a national record. That was a big one."
Three members of the intermediate boys (15-16) 3,200-relay team that won a gold medal last year at nationals in a time of 8:17.02 also are back with the Express. That includes Elvas Shelton (Soldan), Charles Jones (Cardinal Ritter) and Nicholas Stewart (McCluer North).
Spencer also is expecting big things from sprinter Paige Simmons, a 12-year-old girl, at the national qualifier along with a number of other competitors.
"I think, as I always tell our kids, we'll express ourselves," he said. "I think we'll do really well."
