Madeline Clark’s record-breaking track season began at the Max Marr Invitational on March 7, only three weeks after she finished 10th in the diving competition of the Class 4A state swim and dive meet.
In the first track meet of the season, the Mountain View senior won the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 8.99 seconds. Not only was it a meet and stadium record, but it was a school and district record as well. It also still stands as the fastest girls 800 time in the state this season.
From there, she has continued to set records all season and is among the top four in Class 4A in three individual races. In addition to having the top time in the 800, she has the second-fastest time in the 1,600 and fourth-fastest in the 400.
She credits her success this season to being and staying healthy along with the extra work she has put in during the offseason and in-season.
“This has been the healthiest I have physically been, so during dive season, I got to run more than I typically do,” she said. “And then I just had so much support from my coaches, being flexible with my training and being able to cross train. So, all those things just really helped me start getting in shape before track season even started.”
Clark’s training doesn’t end with before-school and after-school practices on the track.
She spends time on an arc elliptical trainer, which features more of a running motion, and a stationary bike as well. She also goes through longer running sessions on the road, sometimes as long as 1 1/2 hours.
That training also helped her back in the fall when the finished eighth in the Class 4A race at the state cross country meet in Colorado Springs.
After dive season ended in February, she was ready to run again and her success was immediate. Her 800 time at the Max Marr even surprised her.
“I definitely had a really big breakthrough,” she said. “But I’ve been working so hard these last few years, so it’s really cool to be able to see all that pay off.”
Two weeks after the Max Marr Invitational, she broke a pair of school records at the Niwot Invitational. She finished eighth in the 200-meter dash in a PR and school-record time of 25.63 seconds, later finishing sixth in the 400 in 57.03. She lowered her 400 PR and school record at the Randall Hess Roughrider Invitational on April 18 to 56.08.
She broke her fourth school record April 4 at the Altitude Invite in Fort Collins. She finished first in the 1,600 in 4:54.85.
Even though she has enjoyed running all the races, the 800 is still her signature event. She has run it two other times this season. She finished second (2:09.17) at the Texas Distance Festival on March 20-21, and then set a Pomona Invitational record when she won the race in 2:09.30 April 11 at Jeffco Stadium.
Her school records in races ranging from the 200 to the 1,600 are a testament to her versatility. While most cross country runners stick to the longer distances, she enjoys the sprints as well. She even ran the 100 at the Murray Kula Invitational on March 14 in Fort Collins, finishing in 13.02.
Mountain View head coach Matt Hall said Clark will run the 100 at this week’s Longs Peak League Championships and he believes she is capable of taking down that school record as well.
“Madeline is, obviously, very special,” Hall said. “In fact, I would call this the greatest individual season in Mountain View track history. For an athlete to break the school record in four separate events is almost unheard of. And, when you look at the events (200, 400, 800 and 1,600) it really shows her range as a runner. She is extraordinary at both sprints and distance.
“Also, look at the 800 she ran at the beginning of the season. It is still almost three seconds faster than the next closest competitor in the entire state (all classifications). This is greatness.”
In addition to her track success this spring, she was recently named a finalist for the SCHEELS All-Star Award. Although Abigial Hess of Nederland was the winner out of five finalists, Clark said being a finalist meant a lot.
Athletes are nominated by athletic directors and then asked to answer several short essay questions.
“That was really cool,” Clark said. “It meant a lot. I was excited about that.”
Clark and her Mountain View teammates will compete this week at the LPL Championships at Roosevelt High School in Johnstown. The meet, which runs simultaneously with the Northern League Championships, begins Wednesday and will conclude Friday.
Then, the state meet is scheduled for May 14-16 at Jeffco Stadium. Last year, Clark was on the awards podium in Lakewood in two individual events. She was fourth in the 800 and eighth in the 400.
Her goal in the final meet of her high school career — she’ll head to Boise State to run collegiately — is to experience the view from the top of the podium.
“I want to be a state champion,” she said. “It’s just been so exciting, just a lot of breakthroughs (this season) and I finally feel like I’m showing what I have believed that I’m capable of all through high school.”
