Long before Jimmy Clark was tearing up cross country courses he was terrorizing soccer fields. At age 13, he switched sports and little did he know how well that decision would paid off for him! The Creekside senior, who set the state's fastest 5k time of 14:53.29 at the FLRunners.com Invitational, announced this weekend that he's made a verbal pledge to join the Florida Gators next fall.
He will be joined by some incredible young talent in Gainesville (most of it homegrown) with the likes of Matt Mizereck, Tyler Davidson, Erick Montoya, and Mark Parrish signing last year. Clark, currently ranked in the top twenty distance runners in the nation, is the newest member of this year's class that already includes Boone stars Phil Duncan and JL Hines.
Clark says he couldn't be more content with his decision to run for the University of Florida and coach Todd Morgan. “My junior year right after Bale-n-Trail is when I started getting some letters. My first letter was actually from Florida, it was a hand written letter from Coach Morgan and a media guide. I had an in home visit that went real well, then went on my official visit and that’s what sealed it. I had a lot of fun and clicked with the guys.”
Despite interest from Georgetown, Butler, Lousiana-Monroe, Louisville and in state rival Florida State, there was something special about the Gators.
“Coach Morgan reminds me a lot of my high school coach, both are young and very excited about the sport, me and the guys just clicked, I could just tell from day one that Florida was the college for me.”
While Jimmy's departure will leave big shoes to fill in the Creekside team, don't feel too bad for Creekside Coach Eric Frank. Luckilly for him there are two more Clarks waiting in the cross country wings. "It’s awesome running with my brother. He’s stepping right into my shoes. He’s second behind me (16:51) right now. It’s a Clark-Clark combo at Creekside. I have another little brother in 6th grade and he’s going to be a good cross country runner as well. I always tell my coach he’s going to have a good amount of years with the Clarks.”
In a sport where individuals usually make the headlines, it is the Creekside Knights team success that has Clark the most proud. “The team has come along way. We were really looking to advance to the state meet, we have a good shot and that was really nice to see,” he explained.
With the state meet less than two weeks away at Little Everglades Ranch, he knows the training and preparation during this final stretch of the season can separate the good from the great. For Clark, it’s nothing specific, a simple case of ask and you shall receive, “I’m just doing whatever my coach (Eric Frank) tells me. It’s worked so far. He’s a great coach and he’s prepared me well enough in the past. I’m still hitting it hard right now peaking for states.”
Clark isn’t one to look at times though. He knows who is out there but he knows anything can happen on any given day. “Times to me don’t really mean much it’s all about who you’re racing. My coach reiterates it’s not about time. There are different courses and different weather conditions. I don’t want to get my head caught up in rankings but rather the competition or who I’m racing next weekend.”
After finishing last season as the 3A runner up to Matt Mizereck, now at Florida, Clark has his eyes set on the top prize, but he knows it won’t be a walk in the park. “Definitely Tyler (Cardillo, 10th last year) and Elliot (Clemente, 3rd last year) will be up there, they’ll be looking to win states along with me. Other than that I haven’t done too much homework. Whoever is going to be up there is going to be up there, it’ll be a good race.”
Following the regular season, Clark plans to compete in the Foot Locker South Regionals in Charlotte, where he has lofty goals. “Hopefully, if we get enough elite runners up there we can bring home a Florida team medal. We came in second last year, it’d be cool if we could bring home a medal and beat out Texas.” Personally he has his eyes on a berth to Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. “I’m going to for top 10 at Foot Locker and to win states. I don’t care if I run 15:55 or 14:55 at states as long as I win, go out there and do well, that’s all that matters.”
After cross country season, he will venture to the track. Last season, as in cross country, he had a tough time beating future Gator teammate Matt Mizereck, coming in second in both the 1600 and 3200 meters. “I’ll take a few weeks off in between Foot Locker and track conditioning then jump right into that. I definitely want to go out there, put on my best showing and win the state championship in the mile and two mile. It’s hard running behind a Matt Mizereck because he’s such a great runner. With the legacy he left behind trying to fill his shoes is a lot but I’m going to try to step up to the plate and do that.” His goals are to break nine minutes in the two mile and get as close to the 4:10 mile mark as possible."
A self proclaimed pure long distance runner, Clark isn’t sure what he will run in college but feels he is best suited for 5,000 and 10,000 meters as opposed to a middle distance like 1500. He says Gator fans can be excited for the future, "Fans can expect a guy that’s going to go in and be real competitive, work hard, compete, and compete at the highest level he can. Hopefully my teammates and I can place high and perform well at the national championships. That’s the goal.”
The Jimmy Clark You Might Not Know
You know what the senior has done on the track and on the cross country course, but what does the senior want you to know outside of running? Here’s you’re guide to knowing the real Jimmy Clark.
Three things people might not know about you: “ I have a half colored eye. It’s blue and brown. My other eye is blue. I played soccer for thirteen years. I’m from New Jersey. Yes, I watch Jersey Shore. My favorite character is Pauly D.”
Rituals or things you do before a race: “Right when they are calling us to the line I step out and jump up as high as I can three times. Also my sophomore year, my first year running, every time before a meet we’d do our last stride out. Coach would call us all in, tell us our plan and right before 1-2-3 Knights he’d say a prayer. Dear lord give us the breath in our lungs, strength in our feet, to compete as a team in this race, protect everyone in this race, amen. In the 2nd race of the season our bus showed up late so we didn’t have any time. We rushed to the meet did our warm up. Coach couldn’t be there at the start so we just went out and ran, didn’t say the prayer. I fractured my foot in two spots at the meet. Ever since then I make him say that prayer before I run.”
If you weren’t running you’d be: “I’d definitely still be playing soccer.”
Favorite courses: “I think if I had to pick a favorite course it’d be Bartram Trail probably because I’ve run it so many times. It’s a fast course, I get to run it in preseason and do a lot of workouts there. Even the state meet course (Little Everglades) isn’t that bad, you’ve got the killer hill but it isn’t that bad.”
Best advice anyone has ever given you: “My sophomore year after cross country season, track season was about to start up. I almost quit track because I wanted to play soccer and my coach (Eric Frank) told me don’t do something you’ll regret. You don’t want to do this because you’ll regret it later in life, just come out run for your teammates because they are counting on you and looking forward to the season.”
Final thoughts – "GO GATORS!"
Long before Jimmy Clark was tearing up cross country courses he was terrorizing soccer fields. At age 13, he switched sports and little did he know how well that decision would paid off for him! The Creekside senior, who set the state's fastest 5k time of 14:53.29 at the FLRunners.com Invitational, announced this weekend that he's made a verbal pledge to join the Florida Gators next fall.
