“Around the Oval’’ – State Meet Sidebar
As a Hope High sophomore, Erik Clinton went up and over
By BOB LEDDY (TAFWA)
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
20 Feb. – – At the 1991 State Indoor Track championships, Erik Clinton, then a Blue Wave sophomore track star, was doing big things at the high jump sector. He’d already cleared 6 feet, 6 inches (1.98 meters), and asked official Ralph Caruso to hike the bar to 6-10 (2.08). Having crossing over that barrier, Clinton had the bar raised to a height only one other R.I. prep athlete had previously conquered: the 7-foot (2.13-meter) challenge.
“The moment before I jumped, I was so nervous,’’ said Clinton, now coach of track and cross country at Providence’s Juanita Sanchez High School. “My teammate told me to drive my knee and lift my hips. So I jumped and cleared the height.’’
That night at the CCRI Lincoln field house, Clinton joined one other local athlete in the elite “2.13-meter club”. In March of 1975, then-Rogers High senior Tim Walker went 7-1 at the Eastern States Championships at Princeton. Walker’s mark became a R.I. state record that has survived ever since.
The capacity crowd at CCRI the night Clinton jumped became pin-drop silent as he advanced in height. When he soared over the 7-foot bar, the whole house rocked. But Clinton was jubilant for another reason, too. “As I landed on the mat, I was so happy that I’d taken first place and earned points for my team,’’ he said. (Hope finished third that year. St, Raphael took the ’91 team crown, edging Hendricken by a point. The scores, respectively, were 56, 55 and 50 for the Blue Wave. Hope captured team honors the following year.)
At the time, Clinton’s 7-footer broke the United States sophomore record. Over the four-year course of his prep athletic career, he earned 20 All-State honors. As a senior he made the Pan-Am National team in the triple jump, also earning All-American accolades in the process. Clinton participated in the 1996 Olympic Trials as well.
But, despite his place in state indoor track history, Erik Clinton was more than just the high jump. He excelled in the quarter and 800 meters on the track, and had memorable battles at the triple jump area with the late Robert Howard, then of Shea High and future Olypian. Clinton also was a class champ in cross country.
“I called him ‘Easy E’ because he made everything look so easy,’’ said longtime Blue Wave track mentor Thom Spann. “He was, hands-down, the greatest athlete Kevin [Jackson] and I ever coached at Hope High. He was a great kid and student, very humble. He’ll help anyone.’’
Clinton went on to graduate from the University of Oklahoma on full scholarship. Returning to Rhode Island in 2011, he reunited with Coach Spann.
“He taught me so much about everything,’’ Clinton said. He started me on my coaching path. The athletic director at Juanita Sanchez called me and asked if I wanted to be the head boys’ and girls’ coach. I was so excited. I finally got the chance to give back, and teach life lessons to high school students, just like Thom Spann and Kevin Jackson did for me. I love being a track coach,’’ Clinton said. “When you show a kid how to run, jump or throw and they get it, it’s so rewarding.’’
Coach Clinton’s squad that will gather at the PCTA track on Saturday includes senior Darchell Judd, ranked fourth in the state in the 55-meter dash. Senior Diana Perez is a high jumper. Seniors Jayla Ramos and Moniyah Johnson will score points.
The boys’ squad includes Jeffrey Torbio, who runs the 300 meters and is team captain. Christian Figueroa, Frantz Edouard and Stefan Lopez are top men on the Sanchez roster.
“The students work very hard, and it’s a great pleasure to coach them,’’ said Erik Clinton, the last Rhode Island schoolboy high jumper to clear 7 feet indoors.