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| October 12, 1978 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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October 12, 1978 |
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profile
y Clark's no
iled jack
currently seems to bear uncanny
resemblance to the game plan of
the gridiron sport at which he so
excels.
There are the rewards of
application common to both.
There are goals and direct means
of achleveing them. There are
temporary setbacks. And, like
life, football holds all manner of
potential for fun.
But some folks don't seem to
understand.
"A lot of people say, 'You're
'hat some
Jay Clark
to
game.
want to
shrugging
good bit
lot hairier
around by
student.
senior
see, life itself
m his biceps in the Climber weightroom.
is Saturday
to a Steilberg says will require them
to run through the Delphi Valley
and up the Mud Bay Hill. Best
limes for a similar test last year
were one hour and 42 seconds
Prornises set by Mike Lotter and one
hour, 15 minutes and 17
," seconds, clocked by Betty
Boppart, both in January of
take 1977.
the A 50-cent entry fee is
Library required to help pay for awards
which go to all who survive,
Welcome Steilberg promises.
which
qqllllllllln,
IIIIIIIIIII
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMIIIIIIIIIMIIlUlIIIIIIII
00¢¢mf News
||||||uM|ll|u|
Ill ,Alderbrook net 38
rrb held La2£ Limerick Ladies Golf
• ne. Club elected its 1979 officers at
its regular meeting last week.
Captain is Betty Dean;
co-captain, Mary Lou Nault;
secretary, Laura Yorke; treasurer,
Joan Towhey; and handicap
chairman, Trudy Frankinfiel&
The men's and ladies' annual
!1 dlvisi banquet will be November 4 at
:3; t, n: j the Lake Limerick Country Club.
alyn ,.. °yce Sign up at the pro shop.
for
ItAWAli
'00st00Qs '78 Climber Basketball
Call
Travel
59
crazy for playing football -
going out and busting your
head,'" says Jay. "But, the way
I see it, there are people who
like football and people who
don't.
"I like it.'"
Like it, indeed. A varsity
starter almost as soon as he was
eligible, defensive tackle Clark
went on to earn all-league
second-team honors his
sophomore year. Then, after a
crushing setback due to an injury
his junior season, Clark came
back this year in better-than-ever
condition and proceeded to set
the league on its ear with
startlingly consistent standout
performances in each of the
Climbers' five otherwise
lackluster outings to date.
He earned his Black Hat,
symbolic of defensive excellence,
in the first game. Two weeks
ago, against Timberline, his
performance earned him three
football decals, bestowed by vote
of his coaches.
Never before in Highclimber
history - a history whose
memorable figures include the
likes of all-state defenders Mark
Tuson and Sam Martin - had a
defensive performance earned
more than two. Never.
But things have not always
been so encouraging. In fact,
only one short year ago Jay
found himself the victim of an
injury that threatened actually to
keep him out of football for
good.
"I felt like my life had come
to an end," he says, recalling
that fateful intrasquad game last
year when his left shoulder
suffered a severe dislocation that
eventually forced him to undergo
surgery.
Jay didn't linger in the
doldrums for long, though - and
he has Climber Head Coach Jack
Stark to thank for it.
..... ',He pulled me back out of
it," says Jay. "He told me that
temporary setbacks are just a
part of life. He taught me the
meaning of sdf-respect, too. I
conld have fallen in a hole and
said, "Well, that's it for me,' but
I didn't. And inside I really kind
of fed proud of myself for not
giving up."
Although the operation
proved successful, and Jay's
doctor assures the shoulder
eventually will be 100 percent
again, Jay confesses to favoring
it just a little even now.
"The way I see it...
"But I try not to show it
when I play," he says, grinning.
"In football, you don't ever
want to let anyone think that
you're not tougher than he is."
Toughness really isn't
something Jay has to feign, mind
you. Although he is not
exceptionally large at 5-11 and
about 205, he is among the
strongest, if not the strongest, to
don a Climber uniform in years.
"He's as strong as an ox,"
confirms Coach Stark. "And
sometimes I just can't believe
how quick he is."
As much as his own personal
achievement is satisfying to him,
Jay is devastated by the
Climbers' lack of success this
season.
el Rill iN ml el I
"I felt like my life had
come to an end... "
llll 1 n lllll
"That 0-5," he says, in
reference to Shelton's win-loss
record to date. "That's just not
like Shdton at all. I just don't
know what to say. l'm
speechless."
What bothers him most,
though, is that he's convinced
the team is also unspeakably
better than its record would
indicate. "We've got great
potential," he says. "This year I
believe we're in much better
shape as a team than we've been
in a long time.
"But the game really is all in
the head, you know - and that's
the problem. It seems like every
time we're on the verge of
•.. there are people who like football and...
putting it all
overwhelm ourselves or
something."
As frustrating as it is for
him, Jay absolutely refuses to
criticize. "Putting people up -
that's what it's all about," he
says. "All my teammates have
Climber pride, and if they do
something wrong out there they
know it. They don't need to be
told."
Jay knows only too well how
important that confidence is on
the field -how momentum can
shift as quickly as one can
recognize the onset of doubt.
"Out there on the field it's
really moody," he observes.
'`Things change really easily."
As for himself, though, there
seems to be only one frame of
mind when it comes to playing
football. Jay has played it that
way ever since his first year in
the sport, when he won the
coach's award as a Shelton sixth
grader.
"I just play the game," he
says, matter-of-factly. "If I get
hit a good one, I just shake it
off and make sure I come back
twice as hard the next time. And
I try not to let my emotions get
the better of me. After all,
you've got to think of the team,
not just yourself.
"I tend to get set off pretty
easy, I guess, but I think I've
learned to control my temper
pretty well."
Priorities in Jay's life right
now are pretty easily catalogued.
Ask him about them and he
doesn't even hestitate.
"Sports," he says. "It seems
Hunters, don't forget...
All types of taxidermy.
Birds, animals, also rugs, novelties.
Available 24-hours a day.
CALL 426-9809
amples Taxidermy
LOCATED AT WINGARD'S SPORT SHOP
2210 Olympic Hwy. N.
together we " like I wouldn't know what to do
if I couldn't play sports. My
family is another priority, of
course. And school, too. I care
about my grades. I want to make
something of myself."
As for his family, Jay counts
mmmmmmmmmm
"When you take a good
look at yourself you see
there's not much difference
between people... "
mmmmmmmmmmm
dad Buck, a self-employed
logging trucker; mom Dee, a
part-time mailcarrier; stepbrother
Alan Steehler, 22; brother Buck
Jr., 19; and sister Carmen, 17.
"My parents are great," he
says. '`They both really support
me in football, too - although
mom does get worried about my
getting hurt. I don't even have to
tell her when I do, either. She
just comes up after the game and
says, 'You got hurt, didn't you?'
"But she handles it real well,
you know. She wouldn't want
me to have to miss out on
anything I really wanted to do."
- Although college def'mitdy is
I I
... people who don't. I like it.
in his future - he'd love a
football scholarship, he says-
Jay isn't about to speculate
beyond that.
"I really haven't thought
much about getting married and
having a family," he says,
squirming ever so slightly. "I
figure I'll just let life happen as
it will."
He already has developed
abiding interests in graphic arts
and photography, though, and
has maintained a solid B average
through his junior year at
Shelton high.
Indeed, Jay Clark
demonstrates both on and off
the field that he is no
one-dimensional jack grown
insensitive from repeated head
butts into charging linemen. He
is a young man of close friends
and strong convictions.
For one, he feels strongly
about the equality of all races -
a sentiment furled in part by the
fact that his mother is part
Squaxin Island Indian.
"Discrimination is so
pointless," he says, quietly.
"When you take a good look at
yourself you see there's not
much difference between
people!"
Although he has not been
bapted in his mother's Mormon
faith, Jay professes to a certain
conviction of his own.
"I don't disbelieve in
anything," he says. "In fact,
there have been times I've
prayed out there on the football
field - actually gotten right
down to it. And I believe those
prayers are answered."
Although he doesn't like to
share them with anyone, Jay
does set certain personal goals
before every game. "The goals
are for me," he says. "And I
believe eventually I will reach
them, too. There will always be
setbacks, of course, but I intend
to keep on trying."
One of Jay's goals this week
he's more than willing to release
for public disclosure. "Beating
Hoquiam," he says, adding that
Thursday night's Black Hills
League opponents, at 5-0,
represent mighty fat cats, indeed.
"That would sure help us
gain back a lot of self-resider, '
he says. "And we can do it, too.
I know we can."
Hunting
Roads
Over 400 miles
of timber country
roads in the
Simpson Olympic
Tree Farm make
vast areas open to
hunting.
Game & timber
are renewable
natural resources
& need proper
management.
Please do not
litter and be
careful of fire.
Simpson Timber Company
Tree farmers since 1890
I I I II I I I Ill I
Thursday, October 12, 1978 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 25