If Alli Cherry had the choice between a good night’s sleep or sports, she would pick sports every time. Cherry, a recent St. Mary’s High School graduate, didn’t sleep much because she consistently played five sports inside and outside of school for all four years.
The Grasonville resident would always be tired because she went to bed every night at 1 or 2 a.m., and got up at 6 a.m. But she had a stop-gap solution to the problem. “Wherever I could before practice I’d take a nap,” she says with a laugh. “In my car or the classroom. And my friend lived in Annapolis. So, I would stay over there and sleep until I had hockey practice in Laurel.”
The 5-foot-7-inch Cherry, now a freshman at Paul Smith’s College in New York, wanted to play every sport for the Saints. She limited herself to five. She stuck with volleyball, indoor and outdoor track, and played for the Navy Youth Ice Hockey Club and the Bigbie Blacksox softball program in Denton.
“I just loved playing sports and it always gave me something to do,” Cherry explains. “I like to try new things. People would ask, ‘How could you do all this?’ It made me happy. It was hard to figure out which sport I liked the most. I like hockey a lot, but I love softball, volleyball, and track.”
Nothing is going to stop Cherry from being active in sports at Paul Smith’s College. She plays both volleyball and women’s ice hockey. Volleyball runs from August to late October—the same time the hockey season starts.
“It is definitely demanding playing two college sports,” says Cherry, who carried a 3.5 grade-point-average in high school and is majoring in baking arts and service management in college. “But I felt, ‘Why not?’ I have classes all the time until 3 o’clock. Time-management is important, and I have to be more organized than high school.”
Hockey has become Cherry’s favorite sport. The defenseman played four years for the Navy Club team before joining the Laurel-based TriCity 19-U team last year. She wanted to play against the highest-level competition possible before heading to college, so she competed in the regional Chesapeake Bay Hockey League and participated in tournaments in New York and Michigan.
Cherry also played for the St. Mary’s boys ice hockey team as a senior, thus playing for six different teams that school year.
“She is a very steady, fast, and smart player,” Paul Smith’s College Women’s Ice Coach Casey Gerrish says. “She has the physical attributes to move people from out in front of the net and work the corners. She really knows what to do and where to be on the ice. That is what really stands out about her.”
Cherry brought some great credentials in volleyball to Paul Smith’s College. The four-year starter led the Saints in kills from her outside hitter position during her junior and senior seasons and was named team MVP last fall. She helped St. Mary’s to three appearances in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference championships game with the Saints winning it all in 2019.
“I really think she will have a phenomenal career in college,” St. Mary’s Volleyball Coach Rebekah Kruder says. “She is very versatile player. I wouldn’t be surprised if her role changes over the years. She is so willing to fill any role. I am excited to see what she does.”
Jackson also dominated in track in high school, winning a B Conference title in the 55-meter dash in February and setting school records in the 300, long jump, and 55.
Outside of sports, Jackson served as a youth ministry eucharist for St. Mary’s Church, was president of the school’s cooking club, and led a week-long retreat to Malvern, Pennsylvania. But Cherry will continue to focus on sports while at Paul Smith’s College.
“She is extremely athletic, and I think that comes from continuing to do all of her sports,” Kruder says. “People would always ask me, ‘How could she do all that?’ It’s incredible. She really has the talent and gift to do everything. She does it with a great attitude and is always willing to learn.”
