After first anchoring the Trojans' 4x100 relay to a No. 11 US time and a virtual 41.97 tie, but a second-place finish to region rival Southwest Dekalb, the meet's team champion, Clark whipped an otherwise calm crowd into a frenzy.
Unlike his performance two weeks ago at Westlake's Lions Showcase where he stumbled slightly and came from third or fourth place to pull a Carl Lewis imitation, Clark left little doubt from start to finish this time.
What is apparently becoming his trademark in this early season, once the Banneker senior hits his acceleration phase, there seems to be little opponents can do but fight with one another for second. After setting a Lakewood Stadium track record in the short sprint, Clark came back in the 200 to pull off the single, best 1-day sprint performance in the storied stadium's history.
Tucked away next to the Lakewood Amphitheater, Lakewood's track has seen the likes of Roosevelt's Antonio McKay, who holds the state 400 meter record, Douglass's Ahmad Carroll, once the Class 4A 100 meter state record holder at 10.41, Northside-Atlanta's Sam Graddy, who finished second in the 1984 Olympics to Carl Lewis and Bass's Vinson Turner, who once clocked 9.4 for the 100-yard dash.
Running from lane 5 on the 9-lane mondo surface, Clark broke the staggers on everyone in the upper lanes by the 80 meter mark, pulling the field off the turn like a powerful wind-tunnel and zooming away to lay down another incredible time, 20.92. In doing so, he staked claim to the No. 1 US time in the event.
As Clark stole the individual spotlight, Southwest Dekalb stole the entire show as the Panthers bested the competition to amass 84 team points to edge Heritage's 79. The Panthers took both relays, laying down a 3:17.33 to take over the No. 3 position in the country in the ``mile relay.''
Southwest Dekalb, led by the Conwell twins, Terry and Terryon, ran away from what was a close battle with Banneker. However, the Trojans dropped the baton on the final pass to Clark as Southwest was never challenged by anything other than the time display at the finish line.
Over the years, the 4x400 relay has been Southwest's signature event as the Panthers hold the state record of 3:11.31. Hurdler Kelly Carter, a member of that record-setting squad in 1987 and now the head women's track coach at Georgia Southern University, was in attendance at the meet.
Southwest also owns the No. 2 and No. 3 all-time fastest times in Georgia history in the event. The No. 2 time was set by the team that featured Olympians Terrance Trammell and Angelo Taylor.
Girls Action
Traveling from Milledgeville, the Lady Braves of Baldwin brought to the big city what everyone in Middle Georgia already knew, they are pretty good.
Led by Zykeria Williams's double wins in the 200 and 100 hurdles of 24.79 and 14.75, Baldwin's speed was apparent. The Lady Braves also snatched victories in the 100 with Deloria Boone's 12.27 and 4x100 meter relay with a 47.72, which is the No. 15 US time.
Boone, in her specialty, the long jump, flew off the board to a national-leading jump of 19'7. Her performance is No. 9 all-time in Georgia.
Riverwood's Elizabeth's Graves' best competition may have been to run in a boys section of the 1600 and 3200 as she obliterated the field en-route to a 5:29.66 in the shorter distance and an 11:28.47 in the 8-lap race. Graves' 3200 time would have been eleventh in the boys field of 21 runners.