Hoover alumnae finds javelin success at Harding University
Anna-Kay Clark chose javelin her freshman year at Hoover High school because it came naturally to her. She loves how competing is individual, but the team always encourages each other together.
Clark just finished her freshman year at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where she gained several achievements in the javelin. She took first place in the Great American Conference, fifth place in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships and broke her school record three times with personal improvements. Her current personal record is 153 feet.
With a 4.0 GPA, she also made the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s All-Academic Team.
While at Hoover, Clark played volleyball her freshman year and ran cross-country all four years. She chose Harding because her dad and both her brothers went there, so it had always been at the top of her list. In December of 2019, she officially visited the campus.
“I got to talk with the coach and meet some of the teammates, and that definitely cemented me wanting to throw there and got me excited to compete,” Clark said.
Don Hood has been head cross-country and track coach at Harding University for 33 years. When he is coaching, he takes two approaches: always be positive and make sure there is a purpose for every workout.
Track is a very isolated sport, and the athletes do a lot of the work without a crowd cheering them on, so it can be mentally challenging, Hood said. The goal is to have a team mindset where everyone is encouraged by being part of a team. This helps the drudgery of getting up early, staying up late, sweating in the heat and freezing in the cold a little more worthwhile.
Clark is very competitive, Hood said.
“She wants to win, and she hates to lose, and I don’t know which one’s more,” Hood said. “That combination is really good for her.”
Clark said her favorite thing about the javelin is being able to improve. She gets really excited every time she gains a new personal record or has a good series of throws.
The more challenging thing about the javelin for Clark is training and staying healthy. Training for javelin is unique in comparison with other track and field events. It involves strengthening the muscles and the joints, which means staying bulky but not too big, and staying fast but not too fast or the strength is lost.
Hood compared javelin throwing to being a baseball pitcher. He said it can be really hard on the shoulder, and if a throw isn’t done well, it can injure the shoulder or the elbow. Checking in to see how athletes are doing and what they feel ready to accomplish is a big part of training. They also do core work with the torso and hips, weight lifting and sprint work.
Clark trains with gymnastics, doing handstand walks, rope climbs and rings to help build her core and shoulder strength. She also practices run ups, which are the runs before the throw that help gain momentum.
In the summer, she works out and throws around every now and then, but since the track season at Harding is in the spring, she will have all fall and winter to train more and get back into the swing of things.
Hood said Clark deserves most of the credit for her achievements with the javelin because she does the extra work to get there, even if it means doing something she has never done before. She understands that in order to succeed, she has to get stronger.
“I just want to stay healthy and keep improving,” Clark said. “As long as I feel like I’ve given it my best, and that I’m at the potential I can be at any given time throughout a season, then I’m happy with that.”