Two LDS collegiate track and field athletes are national champions. At the 2001 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Eugene, Ore., BYU's Elizabeth Jackson kicked to first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on June 1, while the day before, May 31, Weber State University's Charlie Clinger flew to the high jump title with a jump of 7-6 1/2.
Although favored to win the first-ever NCAA women's 3,000-meter steeplechase (running over barriers spaced on the track), the 23-year-old distance runner from Salt Lake City knew she'd have to kick to a big lead in the end to leave the pack behind. Not only did Jackson finish 20 meters ahead of the second-place runner, she broke the American record at 9:49.73. She also became one of only seven women to ever eclipse the 10-minute mark for this event.
"I was really thrilled. I definitely wasn't expecting to win. You have to go out and work for it," she said during a telephone interview. "I had a pretty good lead, and I heard my time at the 200 [meter mark]. I was thinking, 'Stay on your feet and go as hard as you can.'
"When I crossed, I remember seeing my time. I looked up and saw my parents. They ran to the finish line. They wouldn't let my parents through. I said, 'Please, they're my parents.' It was kind of funny."
Not only did Jackson run to a national championship and All-American status, she also received a contract with Nike that runs through the 2004 Olympics. Running for her new sponsors, the national champion will compete in the U.S. Track and Field Championships the third week of June, then head for Europe for additional meets. She graduates from BYU in August with a bachelor's degree in business marketing. She told the Church News that 2004 looms — obviously — in the back of her mind, but that right now "I want to make sure I'm doing the right things and have the right perspective. Running is not my whole life."
Jackson also enjoys dancing, drawing, being with friends and family, and playing the violin, which she took up when she was 5 years old. She got her balance in life, she said, from her parents, John and Anne Clayton Jackson, who still live in Salt Lake City in the Yalecrest 2nd Ward, Salt Lake Bonneville Stake. Jackson is currently in the BYU 202nd Ward, BYU 7th Stake.
Clinger, 24, was also touted to win his event, being the current season world record holder in the high jump at 7-8 1/2. But it took a "jumpoff" with Utah State University's Dave Hoffman for the senior from Weber State in Ogden, Utah, to take the national championship.
"I was excited. I really felt like I should win this championship after winning the indoors," Clinger said during a telephone interview, speaking of winning the recent 2001 NCAA Division 1 Men's Indoor High Jump Championship with a leap of 7-05. "You always want to come back and prove it's no fluke. It was exciting with Hoffman as well. He and I jumped together all year, and we're good friends."
Clinger now has his sights on Athens in 2004. He was an alternate on the U.S. team during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. A lung infection blocked his training before the U.S. trials last year, or he probably would have been in Sydney with fellow Star Valley, Wyo., native Rulon Gardner — known for his gold medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling.
In fact, five years ago, Clinger thought his track and field career was over. He was attending Boise State University when he told his coach he was going on an LDS mission. He was told that if he left he couldn't come back. Soon after, he began serving in the Australia Brisbane Mission.
"I honestly thought I'd never high jump again," Clinger recalled. "But I felt what I was doing was right."
When he returned in 1998 and began competing for Weber State, he found he was better than ever. "I really think [my mission] was the biggest change in my life and the biggest key to success. I came back with a little more perspective. Before my mission, [jumping] consumed my life. When I came back from my mission, I got in perspective. With that, I've been able to relax and train smarter."
Now, track and field is a priority after Church, his family and his wife, Kellie, whom he married Aug. 10, 1999, in the Manti Utah Temple. They are members of the Lorin Farr 4th Ward, Ogden Utah Lorin Farr Stake.
Email: julied@desnews.com
