Male Athlete of the Year: Clever Sets New Javelin Standard

Out of all the male athletes at Harvard, one performer went to greater lengths than all of the rest to earn nationwide respect.

Senior track and field co-captain Chris Clever-the Crimson's Male Athlete of the Year-won every javelin title he aimed for this past season up until the NCAA championships and earned a top five national ranking in the process.

Although Clever's ninth-place performance of 67.82 meters at NCAAs last week was far from his best, it did not take away from his recent achievements-a Penn Relays title, an IC4A title and the all-time Heptagonal meet record.

When Clever entered into this season, he was already the javelin school-record holder, a two-time defending Heptagonal champion and an Olympic Trial competitor. Right from the outset of the season, Clever sent the message that he was capable of even more.

In his debut this spring, he turned in a career-best performance of 70.32 meters. One week later, he dwarfed his previous mark with a 72.84-meter throw.

"I've been healthy this year, unlike the past two seasons," Clever said following his second record-breaking effort. "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."

On April 28 at the Penn Relays-one of the nation's oldest and largest meets-Clever proved he could win against high-level competition. He set the standard with a 73.78-meter distance on his first throw, one that the rest of the field, full of NCAA qualifiers, could not surpass. It was a special victory for Clever, since it was his first in six tries at Penn.

"I've thrown here twice in high school, four times in college, so this was my last chance to win here," he said. "I'm from Penn, so I'm glad to win of my last opportunity."

Clever had already improved his personal-best by nearly four meters over the course of the season, and his career-best throw was still yet to come.

"I'm more confident than I've ever been," Clever said. "I've been really consistent in practices and meets, and I think I still have a few more meters left in me."

At the Heptagonal Championships, the track team's biggest meet of the season, Clever delivered a 74.06-meter effort that shattered a 13-year old meet record by more than three meters and earned him his third consecutive meet title.

Two weeks later, Clever took on the best competition from the Eastern U.S. at the IC4A championships. Among the competitors was Virginia's Brian Kollar, who was ranked above him on the national javelin performance lists. Although Clever did not deliver his best throw of the season that day, he still beat out Kollar and earned the first IC4A title of his career with a distance of 70.68 meters.

On May 30, Clever traveled to Eugene, Ore., in search of his first NCAA title. After consecutive 14th-place finishes at NCAAs during his sophomore and junior seasons, he was hoping for much more this time around. But when Clever faulted on his first throw and failed to break even 60 meters on his second, he was one bad throw away from a last-place finish among 19 competitors.

Clever would not allow his collegiate career to end in such dismal fashion. He delivered a clutch 67.82-meter throw to move up to ninth place in the competition and advance to the finals and earn All-American status.

While Clever failed to surpass hometown favorite John Steigeler of Oregon to win the national title, he nevertheless remained the greatest new-rules javelin thrower in Heptagonal history. His meet record of 74.06 meters and his three consecutive league titles has set the standard by which future Ivy javelin throwers will be judged.