Harry Clark (2018) - Hall of Fame - Montana State University Athletics

Harry Clark

Induction:
2018

   Harry Clark’s time at Montana State was brief, but he left a mark.
   An amazing mark, as it turns out. The legendary prep athlete whose college career began thousands of miles away became MSU’s first All-America decathlete, and his fourth-place finish was the program’s highest in a national meet to that point.
   “Harry was just a great athlete,” said long-time coach Rob Stark. “He had a great high school career, he did really well at Houston, and he performed well here.”
   Clark was one of the most accomplished prep athletes in Montana history in the early 1980s. His career began at Stanford then blossomed after his family moved to Cascade, and Clark remains revered for his high school accomplishments. He set all-class records in the intermediate hurdles and triple jump, and Class B records in five events while earning 11 gold medals. His total of 22 state medals set a record.
   A winning performance in the decathlon at the Golden West meet in California during his senior year pushed Clark on the national radar. The opportunity to train with legendary coach Tom Tellez, in the shadow of Olympians such as Carl Lewis, lured Clark to Houston. After three seasons there, qualifying for the NCAA championship in each season and earning All-America honors in the spring of 1987, Clark transferred to MSU later that summer. He redshirted in 1987-88.
   The 1989 season saw Clark break out in the Blue and Gold. During the Big Sky outdoor championships he entered in several individual events, eschewing the decathlon – which, according to MSU’s coach at the time Rob Stark, angered on rival coach. The move paid off, as Clark finished third in the 110 meter hurdles, second in the 400 meter hurdles and third in the long jump. Those points, along with standout performances by several teammates, boosted the Bobcats into third place in the league standings, matching the school’s highest Big Sky finish ever to that point. In fact, that third-place finish began a run of seven years in the next 10 finishing third or higher in the Big Sky.
   Clark’s performance at the NCAA Championships in Provo, Utah, was even more impressive. Competing in the decathlon, his natural event, he set the standard for Bobcat decathletes. His 7,633 points in that meet remains the Montana State record two decades later.
   It seemed predestined that Clark enter the coaching profession, and he has thrived in that role. Clark’s father John Cheek, and his grandfather John Cheek Sr., both earned induction into the Montana High School Sports Hall of Fame after legendary coaching careers. Clark coached Stanford’s track and field teams before becoming an assistant coach at UM and eventually head coach at Carroll College.