After feeling the asphalt beneath his feet, he knew exactly where he belonged. Starting his running career at the age of six, Ryan Clark (‘13) hasn’t been able to stop since.

He loves what the sport has to offer, even if it is the nonstop practices and the hour long meets he must attend.

“I ask myself, why am I doing this? I honestly don’t have an answer right now. It takes up my free time and you really have to be dedicated to the sport.”

Overlooking the hardships, Clark still continues to run.

    “After seeing my older brother (Neil Clark (‘10)) run, I thought that if he could do it then I could do it and I would do it better.”

As a freshman, Clark had no idea that he would be as good as he is now. He thought that he would never win anything due to how much better his teammates were at the time. Those feelings quickly went away however because Clark began to get faster times which enabled him to win a couple of races.

However, not too long ago Clark was involved in a bad car accident which resulted in his knee being severely injured. He was forced to take time off of running due to the injury whic

h was of course difficult for Clark. “Every now and again it bothers me but I just want to keep running,” said Clark

Getting back on track has been somewhat difficult for him with the previous injury but he pushes through it.

    “I try to be as fast as I can possibly be while trying to have as much fun as possible,” said Clark. He hopes to beat all of his brother’s times as his senior year quickly comes to a close.     After some contact here and there from colleges, Clark would love to attend Louisiana State University where he would hopefully continue running.     Loving the competitive nature and the atmosphere of the meets, Clark realized that cross country and track and field have given him not only some of his closest friends, but the best experiences of his life so far.