Birmingham News Article #3
State\'s best athlete
Claybon earns spot alongside legendary star
05/15/02
JIM DUNN
For The Birmingham News
Joining Bo Jackson in any sports category is no mean feat, and doing it in a competition to decide the best overall athlete is even more impressive.
Jackson, the superstar from McAdory, won the decathlon twice in high school. Now Mountain Brook\'s Patrick Claybon can list his name alongside Jackson\'s as a two-time winner. Claybon won the decathlon in 1999 as a freshman, and ended his prep track career Tuesday at Mountain Brook High School with a second title, triumphing over Leeds\' Patrick Lockhart and Mountain Brook\'s Jeff DeMedicis. Claybon finished with 5,983 points, Lockhart totaled 5,909 and DeMedicis had 5,746.
Kelly Gaston of Lee-Montgomery won the heptathlon title with a score of 4,540. Lauren Johnson of Scottsboro finished second with 4,449 points and Edra Finley of UMS-Wright finished third with 3,893.
Claybon said his mental approach to this year\'s competition was the key to his title.
\"Last year, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and it came down to the last three events, I got a little discouraged,\" he said. \"I ended up throwing terribly in the discus, and that took me out of contention, but I was really close in the end.
\"This year, when it came down to those three events, I just decided I was going to bow up and not let anybody get me, like Coach (Greg) Echols has always told me.\"
Claybon said the top three finishers are close friends as well as competitors. ``Patrick Lockhart got second when we were freshmen, and we see each other over the course of a season. We\'ve become really good friends. When it came down to the top three, my teammate Jeff DeMedicis and Patrick, I love those guys a lot, and if any of us had won, I was going to be happy. But this just makes it sweeter.\"
Gaston overcame a slow start Tuesday to take home her title. \"I was nervous this morning,\" she said, ``and I was tight. When I did the long jump, I wasn\'t comfortable.\"
However, she performed well enough in the long jump to keep it close, and force a showdown with Lauren Johnson in the final event, the 800-meter dash.
\"Lauren and I were even through the long jump and shot put, so I knew it would come down to the 800,\" Gaston said.
Claybon earns spot alongside legendary star
05/15/02
JIM DUNN
For The Birmingham News
Joining Bo Jackson in any sports category is no mean feat, and doing it in a competition to decide the best overall athlete is even more impressive.
Jackson, the superstar from McAdory, won the decathlon twice in high school. Now Mountain Brook\'s Patrick Claybon can list his name alongside Jackson\'s as a two-time winner. Claybon won the decathlon in 1999 as a freshman, and ended his prep track career Tuesday at Mountain Brook High School with a second title, triumphing over Leeds\' Patrick Lockhart and Mountain Brook\'s Jeff DeMedicis. Claybon finished with 5,983 points, Lockhart totaled 5,909 and DeMedicis had 5,746.
Kelly Gaston of Lee-Montgomery won the heptathlon title with a score of 4,540. Lauren Johnson of Scottsboro finished second with 4,449 points and Edra Finley of UMS-Wright finished third with 3,893.
Claybon said his mental approach to this year\'s competition was the key to his title.
\"Last year, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and it came down to the last three events, I got a little discouraged,\" he said. \"I ended up throwing terribly in the discus, and that took me out of contention, but I was really close in the end.
\"This year, when it came down to those three events, I just decided I was going to bow up and not let anybody get me, like Coach (Greg) Echols has always told me.\"
Claybon said the top three finishers are close friends as well as competitors. ``Patrick Lockhart got second when we were freshmen, and we see each other over the course of a season. We\'ve become really good friends. When it came down to the top three, my teammate Jeff DeMedicis and Patrick, I love those guys a lot, and if any of us had won, I was going to be happy. But this just makes it sweeter.\"
Gaston overcame a slow start Tuesday to take home her title. \"I was nervous this morning,\" she said, ``and I was tight. When I did the long jump, I wasn\'t comfortable.\"
However, she performed well enough in the long jump to keep it close, and force a showdown with Lauren Johnson in the final event, the 800-meter dash.
\"Lauren and I were even through the long jump and shot put, so I knew it would come down to the 800,\" Gaston said.