Dec. 18, 2014
For the past 10 years, Clark Humphreys has been a fixture with the Vanderbilt track and field program. The Nashville native and former three-time All-American enjoyed a decorated prep and college career, capturing two state championships at nearby Brentwood Academy and winning the 1997 NCAA Division I men’s pole vault national championship at Auburn. His mother and grandmother went to Peabody College and remembers coming to Memorial Gymnasium and watching Will Perdue, Barry Goheen, Barry Booker and Billy McCaffrey. His wife, Erin, was an All-American in the heptathlon at South Carolina. The couple has two children, London (9) and Cailey (6).
Being a Nashville guy, how nice was it to come back home?
When I initially came back 10 years ago, I thought it would be two or three years. I did not know that things would grow and things would progress like they have. The most obvious thing is that indoor facility. When I first got here, there have may been a preliminary talk but the discussions were completely different. It has come a long way in the short time I’ve been here. It has been to fun see that. There is a real fun sense of bragging, so to speak, about the school and what we do here – because it is home.
The pole vault, was that something you had done for a while?
In seventh grade, my coach Charlie Harper asked me to do it to score some points at a junior high meet. He literally said go do it and I did it. In eighth grade, I guess in earnest, I tried to train for it and practiced it some. Then it just kind of took off. This is probably a lot of my personality, in team sports a lot of times you have to rely on your teammates. You’re only as good as your weakest link, so to speak. I played those and I enjoyed them. And I went to pole vaulting, I would go to a competition and I didn’t have to rely on anybody to do anything other than myself. I got myself warm. I competed. It was probably some of level of ownership of my outcome. I had pretty much 100 percent control over things. I’m sure it was empowering to me as a 13 year old. I got success with it. And like most things you get pats on the back. That is obviously a great feeling and I just kept on with it.
What was that moment like when you won a national championship as a junior at Auburn?
Just, of course, surreal. I actually had such blinders on that day. I was just so honed in and focused. I broke the pole in warmups. I’m sure a lot of people who saw me were like, ‘That guy is done. He’s out.’ But I was just so channeled and focused like there was nothing that could get in my way the day. The rain started coming. (The height) got up to 18 foot and a half inch, 550. The official stepped on the runway because it started to come. It was my turn up. He has a red flag on the runway, meaning we’re going to pause the competition. And I go, ‘Get out of the way!’ He goes, you want to go in the rain?’ I go, ‘Yeah, get out of the way.’ I picked the pole up, go down, jump it, clear it. First attempt. About 10, 15 seconds after I cleared the thing, the bottom just drops out. Pouring like hell. I had the lead going into that two-hour break. We warm back up (after the delay) and we get up to 18-4 ½. I jump it on my first attempt. Actually, I had won the competition at that point. I get up on the runway because I’m next. A guy came over and said, ‘Hey, congratulations.’ And I didn’t have any clue what he was talking about. I needed to keep jumping. That is all I was telling myself – go, go, go. He said, ‘Well, you won.’ And I’m like, ‘I did?’ I look over to my coach and they’re just celebrating. It was insane. It didn’t just hit me. It didn’t register… They are so hard to come by – championships.”
Do you enjoy coaching (he was also an assistant at South Alabama and Auburn)? What do you enjoy the most about it?
My favorite thing is seeing that kid come in. I remember most every kid that comes through, when they came on their visits, some of the questions they ask, how green they were, so to speak, how clueless, how naïve they are, and then to see who they are when they graduate. Brionne Williams (an All-American in the high jump in 2013) is a perfect example. She came and finished up last year and was just a sweet unassuming, very shy, quiet girl. She just progressed through from being a top 50 girl in high school. She came and turned herself into the top 15 in the country. Just to see that four-year development of the kid and the people they’ve become… Those things are fun, the relationships. Meeting the families over time, getting to know families. That is fun. You have to enjoy people in most of these positions. I enjoy people and being around them. That is the fun stuff. I love it.
