Kevin Clark Doubles Fun -- Tumwater Athlete Adds Discus Win To Shot Title

TACOMA - Kevin Clark of Tumwater closed his high-school track career with a victory in the discus that fell short of his expectations but would make most athletes beam.

Clark won the Class AA discus with a throw of 180 feet, 5 inches that completed a three-year sweep of the event for the 210-pound USC-bound fullback.

"I wanted to go 190 today," said Clark, who said he was disappointed. He won last year at 184-6.

Clark won five of his six events in three years at Star Track and his 60 foot, 1/2 inch throw in the shot put Friday was one of the meet's highlights.

Entering the night session, Kennedy High School of Burien held a commanding lead among AA schools with 49 points. Tumwater was second with 28 followed by Lynnwood with 27 and Franklin Pierce with 23.

The AAA meet was tighter, with Lakes and Mead tied with 36 points and Clover Park within striking distance with 28.

One hundred yards away from where Clark was closing his prep career at Lincoln Bowl yesterday afternoon, Mead sophomore Ryan Edington was providing fans with someone to watch in future years as he won the javelin with a throw of 197-3.

Another sophomore sparkled in the first running event of the night as Mead's Matt Davis won the AAA 3,200 in 9:12.57 to give his team the overall lead. Davis had won the 1,600 Friday night in 4:15.42 and last fall won the first leg of the distance triple crown by capturing the state cross-country title.

Earlier, the much-anticipated showdown in the AA 800-meter race between Gbolahan Fatuga of Roosevelt and Matt Chaplin of Pullman failed to meet expectations. With 110 meters to go, Chaplin was about to start his kick to try to catch Fatuga but suffered a leg cramp and faded out of contention, finishing sixth.

Fatuga easily won in 1 minute, 52.16 seconds, just off the AA meet record of 1:51.11 set last year by Eric Anderson of Prosser. Fatuga had won the big-school title last year in 1:52.84 when Roosevelt was AAA.

Chaplin, son of Washington State track coach John Chaplin, wanted to win the race in honor of his late older brother, James, who died last fall of injuries suffered in an auto accident.

"I wanted to win this one bad," Chaplin said. "I've been here (at state) four years and my brother died last fall."

Fatuga, a native of Nigeria whose father is a University of Washington student, had beaten Chaplin in a photo finish earlier this season at the Pasco Invitational.

Fatuga said he was disappointed that Chaplin was unable to challenge him.

"He's a great runner and I love running with people who are just as fast as me because it really pushes me," said Fatuga, who will take his speed and 3.88 grade-point average to Brown University next year to study computer science. Chaplin is headed for Tulane to play football and compete in track.

Fatuga topped the AA field by more than three seconds, but the AAA 800 provided the close finish missing in the AA race. Brice Newton, a junior from Columbia River of Vancouver, surged in the final 20 meters to nip Tim Krueger of Moses Lake and Eddie Foshey of Marysville-Pilchuck to win in 1:54.43. Krueger was timed in 1:54.54 and Foshey in 1:54.55.

"It was a toss-up and whatever happened, happened," Newton said.

In the AAA discus, the winner was a thrower with a fractured elbow. Justin Strand of Gonzaga Prep of Spokane won with a toss of 172-4 despite throwing in pain.

Strand suffered the injury three weeks ago when a shot slipped out of his hand and hit the left-hander's throwing elbow.

"The doctor said go ahead and throw if I wanted to throw," said Strand. "He said it probably wouldn't get any worse."

Strand's winning throw was on his final attempt and it lifted him from third place.