Over the last five years, Clark has been building both individual stars and successful teams in the cross country program. Some of these premiere athletes include: Basabose Bahati (2012), Mucuranyana "Freddy" Amon (2014), Flimon Fre (2015), Charles Bennion (2015), and Yoseph Shiferaw (2016). Because of the legacy some of these players left behind and the continued success shown be active competitors, Clark came into the 2014 season ranked #1 in the state.

 

The Chargers, starting with Bahati's senior season in 2012, have been building continuously. Last year, some miscommunication caused the state-bound team to miss their regionals race. However, this year the team took the previous seasons' disappointment and ran with it all the way to the state championship race.

 

Senior runner Charles Bennion said, “Although last year was a major let down, it taught us to be forgiving when people make mistakes; we all will in the future. ”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the 10 regular season races Clark competed in, they came in first twice. However many of these races were invitational which included teams from Division A and out-of-state competitors. Of the teams in Division 1-A, Clark consistently came in first.

 

As an individual, wherever you finish determines how many points you accumulate for your team, which in most sports would be considered a good thing but not for this one. Clark had an average team score of 63, which includes both division races and invitationals. This score is well below (again, being “less” in this sport is a good thing) the national averages for large- and small-scale competitions. The Chargers had five consistently placing runners this year that brought about this success: Yoseph Shiferaw, Flimon Fre, Charles Bennion, Harrison Kirk, and Brenden Palmer.

 

The landmark that defined this year was that the Chargers rode and ultimately finished as second place in state. Initially favored to take the title, the Chargers dealt with injuries over the course of the season that would cause a detriment to their team score at state. Nevertheless, three chargers finished in the top 20: Shiferaw (8th), Fre (10th), and Bennion (20th), which is considered great standing for this level of competition. Palmer and Kirk came in at 26th and 28th respectively. Overall this performance would earn Clark the runner-up spot, falling 20 points short of the well-rested Spring Creek team.

 

It is obvious that this sport induces a range of emotions. For the majority of humankind, it is one of disgust due to the strenuous exertion running has on the body. People tend to avoid it altogether.

 

But for Flimon Fre, “Cross country makes you competitive and it also allows you to get to know people and build friendships.”

 

In the future, you can bet that this team will continue its strive toward the ultimate form of accomplishment: a state championship.