Athlete of the Week: Chris Clever '01

When men’s track co-captain Chris Clever entered into the 2001 outdoor season, he was already the greatest javelin thrower in Harvard history, the school record holder, a two-time defending Heptagonal champion, and an NCAA and Olympic Trial competitor.

This spring, he was only gotten better.

After two moderately successful 14th-place finishes at the NCAA championships each of the past two seasons, Clever is poised to take off at his final collegiate championship at the end of this month.

Each week, Clever’s performances have been improving rapidly, like never before in his career and with no limit in sight.

Clever opened the spring at the Rice Invitational over spring break with a 70.32-meter throw, the best of his career by a foot. One week later at the Harvard track, he upped his personal best to 72.84 meters.

“I’ve been healthy this year, unlike the past two seasons,” Clever said following the latter meet. “This season I’m getting into shape, and I’ve gotten stronger, quicker on the runway, and more flexible, and it’s translated into bigger distances.”

Even bigger distances were yet to come for Clever. On April 28 at the Penn Relays, Clever threw the spear 73.78 meters to win in his final chance in six tries in Philadelphia-a most special victory for the Pennsylvania native. In the process, he beat out several competitors who had qualified for NCAAs.

“I’m more confident than I’ve ever been,” Clever said following the Penn Relays. “I’ve been really consistent in practices and meets, and I think I still have a few more meters left in me.”

On Saturday, Clever went out top in his final Heptagonal championships with another personal-best throw of 74.06 meters that buried the 13-year old meet record in the javelin by several feet.

With his throw last weekend, Clever became the fourth thrower this season to surpass the 74-meter mark in the javelin. John Stiegeler of Oregon has the best throw in the nation this year at 74.92 meters.

“It will be a pretty tight race [at the top],” Clever said. “But it’s not beyond my means to win it. I’m definitely shooting for top five. It should be interesting when June rolls around.”

The national finals for the men’s javelin are set for 6 p.m., three weeks from today. If the past two months are any indication, Clever’s greatest throw is yet to come.