After placing third in state for discus on May 2, Pace High School’s Chris Clark easily provided one of the year’s top highlights for the school’s track program.
“It’s awesome, I definitely didn’t expect to move up as well as I did,” Clark said. “It didn’t throw anywhere near my (personal record), my PR is 164 (feet) and I threw a 158.”
Clark was just two feet shy of the school’s record of 166 feet and two and a half inches, set in 1983. Clark came close to beating the record in a track competition held in Mobile, Alabama earlier this year.
Clark’s track coach at Pace High School, Jules Pitts, said Clark serves as one of the boys track team’s top performers in his junior and senior years. Clark only began throwing discus in his junior year, the same year he placed eighth in discus at the state championship.
“He is a very hard working kid and he is self-disciplined, which is what you have to be when being a good thrower,” Pitts said. “For him to pick up discus as a junior and to be a two-year state qualifier is really big deal because it happened really quickly and it is a testament to his work ethic.”
Although Clark opted to take his football talents to Southeastern University in Lakeland, Clark hopes to continue throwing discus on the college’s track team. Southeastern, which recently started their college football program, is in the process of starting a track team, Clark said.
Clark also made second all state tackle in football and played on a all-star football squad in his final year.
With the talents of fellow track members including Andrew Parrish, Andrew Payne, Antonio Brooks, Nathan Andreo and the rest of his track teammates, Clark helped the PHS boys track team finish fifth in the district this year.
The PHS girls track team, coached by Greg Gill, also did well after placing as district runner up this season.
Haley Kling took first place in the girls 800 and 1600 meter runs in district. Rachel Kling placed second in the 1600 meter run, she also placed first in the 3200 meter run. Track members Maddy Bell, Katy DeKraii, Ceanna Martin, Darriana McCrary, were just a few members of the track to help the team place second in the April 15th District Championship.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Track: Pace senior places third in state with discus