By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Maddie Clark didn’t have much of a chance to truly just fit in.
The population of Fair Grove sits at just 1,393. The town is best known for a mill, the Fall Festival and Caleb Schaffitzel. Sports standouts here become local stars in a community that supports its programs as well as any you’ll see across Missouri.
And for Clark, her star has only been ascending since earning a reputation as one of the fastest kids in the state.
Her junior high races are folklore, with times fast enough to have her compete for high school state championships at the age of 12.
“I had Maddie in class as a seventh- and eighth-grader, so I knew she was pretty fast. I knew this mostly because other boys in class were always challenging her to race. They didn’t normally boast about their results afterwards,” said Fair Grove coach Lindsay Martin. “Then I saw her actually race in a meet and she won by a ton. Everyone was surrounding her and congratulating her, and she was frustrated that her block start was awful. I knew that if she cared about the little details like that as a 12-year-old, she would have a shot to be as successful as she wanted.”
It didn’t take long for Clark to assert herself among the state’s elite as a freshman.
In her first race she beat six-time Class 1 sprint champion Ashlynn Vanatter in the 100-meter dash, validating the early hype. However, she later lost the 200-meter dash to Vanatter, which also presented an element she didn’t see during junior high track.
Losing.
Not that Clark was incapable of coping with losses, but it never happened during her junior high career. So, competing against some of the area’s top sprinters served as a wake-up call to a freshman with state aspirations.
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“Realizing that I was only a freshman coming into a sport that I would be competing against all high school grade levels, I had to make myself, as an athlete, 10 times more competitive,” said Clark. “Throughout my middle school career, it was hard to push myself to get better times, but once I went to my first meet, I realized how much more pressure was on me to perform at my highest potential.”
A nagging hamstring injury restricted some of that potential, but Clark was still dominant. She posted the area’s third-best 400-meter time (58.69), fourth-best 200-meter time (26.07) and sixth-fastest 100-meter time (12.53).
She won district championships in the 100 and 400, also finishing second in the 200, and followed that up with first-places finishes at sectionals in all three events. But she struggled in her first two events at the state meet in Jefferson City, failing to qualify for the finals in the 100 or 200.
A thunderstorm threatened to cut short her weekend. That’s when Martin sat down her star freshman for a talk.
“The state track meet was kind of a nightmare,” said Martin. “We spent six to seven hours the day of her race either in the local shopping mall or the back of the Jeff City Walmart trying to avoid a bad storm. When the meet finally got back up and running, I overheard some kids saying they were done and just wanted to go home.
“I asked Maddie if she still wanted to win,” Martin continued. “She nodded yes. We made some adjustments from her prelim races and prayed for peace. Then I told her to go finish and if that means falling across the finish to do so, do it. As usual, she nodded yes and said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’”
And Clark did just that – literally.
Trailing sophomore and heavy favorite DeAvyion Smith in the final 30 meters of the race, Clark made one final surge, falling across the finish line less than three-tenths of a second ahead of Smith.
“Standing on the top of the podium after finishing first, as a freshman, with scratches and bruises from finishing with all that I had, was by far the best moment of my life,” said Clark. “Seeing my family in the stands cheering and the proud look on their faces was priceless, especially when my older brother, Cole, cried. I will never forget that moment.”
And it could be the first of many.
Completely healthy, Clark is ready to not only defend her 400 crown but look to make a push at state championships in the open 100 and 200. Fair Grove also returns all four legs of its 1600-meter relay crew that finished fifth in sectionals, nearly qualifying for state.
She spent the fall and winter adding more workouts to her schedule following volleyball and basketball practice, crediting her mom for providing constant motivation to never be complacent.
All seven 400 finalists in addition to her return this spring, making her path to repeat even more difficult.
Clark has found a way to balance the emotional stress of having expectations early in her career with a mature understanding of the work necessary to achieve at an elite level in the sport.
Martin believes that combination makes Clark’s future even brighter and her ceiling non-existent.
“I think a lot of people don’t know how hard she works and that she treats track like a job,” said Martin. “It is hard to have success, as you’ll always have people who doubt you. But that’s life and Maddie understands that. She just wants to win. She doesn’t get consumed by all the other stuff.
“Maddie will write whatever story she wants to write,” Martin added. “Track, school, her future career or whatever it is, I’m so confident she will be successful.”
