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Saturday, July 31, 2010

Greatest Clinton Athlete of 2000s?

While working on a Clinton wrestling story from the early 2000s, I began to wonder about who the greatest athletes in the town over the last decade have been.
That's why I listed it as the Clinton Journal's latest poll question. I started out by giving five suggestions. Four of the ones I suggested, along with another that was not mentioned, have received votes in the first week of the voting. The voting will be open thru August, and the winner will be announced in mid-September. Here are the five suggestions.

A) Tyrone Byrd (Wrestler, Class of 2001): Byrd won two individual IHSA state titles on the mat, and was a Big Ten runner up in 2006, while wrestling at the University of Illinois. He was named Central Illinois' Wrestling Athlete of the Decade.
B) Rachel Anderson (Track sprinter, Class of 2004): Anderson followed a stellar career at Clinton High School with leading Illinois Wesleyan University to indoor and outdoor NCAA Division III championships. She was named NCAA Division III Female Track Athlete of the Year in 2008.
C) Kamren Ferguson (Softball pitcher, Class of 2004): Ferguson was stellar on the mound, throwing 91 consecutive scoreless innings for the Lady Maroons in 2004. Kamren anchored a regional champion Clinton team that year. She went on to have a solid collegiate career at Western Illinois University, leading the Leathernecks to a second place finish in the Summit League in 2009 and 2010.
D) Ontario Sneed (Football player, Class of 2005): Sneed had a great career and later competed at Central Michigan University.
E) Kylie McCulley (Volleyball player, Class of 2006): McCulley was an all state-player for Clinton in 2005 and 2006 and was a two-year starter for the Fighting Illini volleyball team.

In addition to the five mentioned, Kameron Bell, a 2005 Clinton graduate and basketball player at Eureka College, received a vote.

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