Anchorage Daily News

When Bartlett behemoth Jordan Clarke steps into the shot put ring this morning on his home track, local track fans will be able to witness the kind of athlete who shows up once a generation.

Clarke, the 6-foot-4 and 280-pound manchild, is leading the nation in shot put at the high school level after his 67-foot, 10 3/4-inch toss a week ago.

The Web site Dyestat.com, which tracks high school sports nationwide, has posted it as the top toss in the U.S.

Alaska hasn't had a track and field athlete leading the nation since Bartlett grad Doug Herron was the top 800-meter runner in 1985.

With the state track and field championship to be settled next weekend in Fairbanks, today and Saturday marks the last time Clarke, the 2007 Daily News Boys High School Athlete of the Year, will throw at a championship event in Anchorage.

And if the 23-year gap between Herron's performance and Clarke's is repeated, don't expect a national track leader in town again until 2031.

"It's a phenomenal feat," Bartlett track and field coach John Schmitz said. "Shot put is one of those events up in Alaska where you don't get to train year around. If he'd been at a school Outside, who knows how far he'd be throwing."

Especially with Clarke's work ethic. The senior estimates that he works on throwing at least 90 minutes a day and lifts weights for up to two hours.

The result?

He's added more than 20 feet to his freshman year best of 47 feet, 9.5 inches in the shot.

Clarke remembers those days well. For as big as he is, Clarke wasn't the big man on campus back then. Not even close.

That mantle was firmly entrusted to senior Bobby Dunbar, the all-state football player who won his second consecutive state shot put title in 2005 with a 55-4 1/2 throw; freshman teammate Clarke took fourth at 47-9 1/2.

"Bobby was just a beast," Clarke recalled. "He was like a god, nobody could take him down. He was in his own world and I used to idolize him.

"I never beat Bobby my freshman year, but he was never a jerk. He was always there to help me."

Four years later, Clarke has assumed that role with Bartlett's three freshmen throwers as well as fellow competitors. He's far and away the class of any Alaska field.

Clarke's best shot put throw is more than 14 feet ahead of Soldotna senior Ryan Shelton's runner-up effort. His best discus toss of 192 feet, 2 inches is more than 41 feet ahead of Gabriel Holland of South. That puts him just out of the top-10 nationally.

"The last couple of years especially, his fellow competitors are in awe," Schmitz said. "They know they're not going to beat him."

But that ends soon. Clarke is headed to warm and sunny Arizona State on a track and field scholarship next season. He plans to redshirt his freshman year while adjusting to the heavier shot -- 16 pounds instead of 12 in high school -- and discus.

"You have to find your rhythm," Kyle Lucey, the Bartlett assistant who's tutored Clarke the last four years, said of the heavier shot. "It's like driving a new car. You know how to drive but the new car feels different.

"At the college level, kids will drop about 10 feet, adjust to it and then start to climb."

For now, though, Clarke can enjoy the distinction of being the best in the country. It's a feeling Herron remembers well.

"It's funny how it happened," said Herron, the former West Valley track coach now teaching in Fairbanks. "One day you're winning races, setting state records and stuff. You wake up the next day and you're the best in the country.

"It really changed my life instantaneously. All of a sudden you're not just No. 1 in Alaska but No. 1 in the U.S."

Before he ran his scintillating 800 meters in 1:49.2 for Bartlett, Herron was considering walking on to a college track team. Suddenly, he was fielding recruitment offers.

Like Clarke, he ended up going to college in Arizona, but in Tucson instead of Tempe, home of Arizona State. Herron went on to run at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Clarke has Olympic aspirations too. Clearly, his next four years won't see anything like the 20-foot improvement of his last four years -- after all, the shot put world record is 74 feet, 4 inches. First, he just wants to throw well at Arizona State, a powerhouse program that swept the men's and women's NCAA indoor track titles this season.

And Clarke can keep in mind that the greatest high school shot putter of all time, Michael Carter, tossed it 81 feet, 3 1/2 inches. Carter went on to win an Olympic silver medal.

2008 SEASON BESTS

Boys

Shot put -- Jordan Clarke, Bartlett, 67-10 3/4.

Discus -- Jordan Clarke, Bartlett, 192-9.

High jump -- Ben Jackson, Service, 6-4.

Long jump -- Ben Jackson, Service, 21-2.

Triple jump -- Ben Jackson, Service, 43-2 1/4.

100 -- Ethan Hewitt, Chugiak, 10.99.

200 -- Raymond Reid, Bartlett, 23.14.

400 -- Travis Price, Seward, 51.39.

800 -- Trevor Dunbar, Kodiak, 1:56.26.

1,600 -- Trevor Dunbar, Kodiak, 4:17.92.

3,200 -- Trevor Dunbar, Kodiak, 9:11.90.

110 hurdles -- Ceylon Mitchell, East, 15.63.

300 hurdles -- Michael Odell, Kodiak,, 40.48.

400 relay -- Bartlett (Mendez, Hale, Chenault, Reid) 44.23.

800 relay -- Not available.

1,600 relay -- Bartlett (Janssen, Rollins, Reid, Crook), 3:31.24.

3,200 relay -- Not available.

Girls

Shot put -- Paige Blackburn, Soldotna, 41-10.

Discus -- Paige Blackburn, Soldotna, 132-6.

High jump -- Gabby Todd, Bartlett, 5-0; Anna Johnson, Hutchison, 5-0; Linzee Burcham, Kodiak, 5-0.

Long jump -- Kelsea Johnson, Sitka, 18-0 1/4.

Triple jump -- Sylvia Bullock, South, 36-2.

100 -- Lierin Flanagan, Kenai, 12.87.

200 -- Andrea Crook, Bartlett, 26.28.

400 -- Andrea Crook, Bartlett, 59.53.

800 -- Leah Francis, Juneau-Douglas, 2:22.25.

1,600 -- Leah Francis, Juneau-Douglas, 5:10.11.

3,200 -- Leah Francis, Juneau-Douglas, 11:02.23.

100 hurdles -- Lauren Liachak, Dimond, 15.74.

300 hurdles -- Lauren Liachak, Dimond, 47.29.

400 relay -- Bartlett (Tillmon, Young, Todd, Crook), 51.23.

800 relay -- Not available.

1,600 relay -- Dimond (Bagsby, Engel, Todd, Jackson) 4:09.41.

3,200 relay -- Not available.

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CIC REGIONAL MEET

At Bartlett High

TODAY

10 a.m. -- Field finals

2:30 p.m. -- 3,200-meter final

3 p.m. -- Running prelims

SATURDAY

9 a.m. -- Field finals

11 a.m. -- Running finals Best throw each season

• FRESH.: 47 feet, 91/2 inches

• SOPH.: 59 feet, 93/4 inches

• JUNIOR: 61 feet, 7 inches

• SENIOR: 67 feet, 103/4 inches Jordan Clarke

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