HIGH-SCHOOL

Creekside's Jimmy Clark and Stanton's Kendal Williams win titles at Class 3A state track meet

Jeff Elliott

WINTER PARK - One of the area's dominant distance runners ended his high school career in style, and a youngster who could develop into one of the city's top sprinters left a lasting impression in his first state track meet.

Creekside senior Jimmy Clark and Stanton freshman Kendal Williams were the dominant area performers at the Class 3A state track meet at Showalter Field on Friday.

Clark and Williams gained the top step of the medal podium for finishing first in their specialty, after close, second-place finishes earlier in the evening. Clark won the 3,200-meter race about an hour after finishing runner-up in the 1,600, losing out by less than a second to a future teammate of his.

Williams set a school record of 21.60 in winning the 200 after he came up .06 seconds behind the 100-meter winner.

The win was especially gratifying for Clark. He finished second last year in both the 1,600 and 3,200 to Matt Mizereck, currently a freshman distance runner for Florida.

Clark's narrow defeat in the 1,600 this year was to Tyler Cardillo from Charlotte. Both will now join Mizereck after having signed to run at Florida this fall.

"I really liked my second race [3,200] tonight," Clark said. "I wanted to win. I didn't want to go out with another second-place finish. As frustrated as I could be, I really wasn't in losing the 1,600. I ran 4:11, my fastest ever, so I really couldn't be mad about that. And Tyler beat me and he's going to be my future teammate at Florida so I was happy for him.

"In the 3,200, I was thinking about all the workouts I've done to get this far, and that last 200 meters, I just let it all out. I wanted to make sure I went out a winner."

While Clark goes out a winner, Williams comes on the state-wide track scene in the same manner. He's relatively new to the sport, having competed in track for just one season. A year ago, he was barely breaking 11 seconds in the 100. Now, he's considered one of the state's fastest sprinters.

"I knew I had it in me to run fast, but I didn't know it would come out this early, this fast," he said. "I was a little nervous in the first race, but I was pleased to get that 10.6 time.

"I was somewhat frustrated after that first race, but I've learned you can't run a race with frustration in your head. I got my mind right, my coach gave me a pep talk right before the 200 race and I was feeling good."

Williams and Clark both edged another area runner in their race. Williams finished .18 seconds ahead of Wolfson junior Taurus Simmons. Clark overtook Parker sophomore Kamal Koroso in the final quarter-mile after Koroso took the lead with half a lap remaining. When Clark pulled away in the final 200 meters to win by four seconds over Koroso, the stadium P.A. announcer responded to the crowd, "... it looks like Clark was just shot out of a cannon."

"That's always been the way I race the 3200," Clark said. "Be right there with the leaders on that final lap and then give it a sprint to the finish that final 200 meters."

While Williams experienced success in his first season of competitive running on the varsity level, he indicated that he'll try a second sport this fall.

"I'm going to play football next year as a wide receiver," said Williams who carries an A average at Stanton. "I've talked to some of the coaches there and they said I can be used on fly patterns, just take off down the field and go as fast as I can."

Williams' and Clark's 18 points each in their two events were all that Stanton or Creekside accumulated, but it was enough for a ninth-place tie, the best finish by a local school.

The only other top-three finishes by area athletes were Ridgeview's Trevor Kintyhtt, who took third in the discus, and Stanton's girls 4x100-relay team, which finished third.

jeff.elliott@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4292