Washington Prep senior Pierre Clark is a dual-sport athlete, competing in football and track and field.
In track, Clark competes in the 100m and the 4x100m relay. Track and field helped improve his speed while football taught him how to motivate his relay teammates.
“Now I’m the senior, so now everybody looks up to me,” Clark said. “It helps me keep going and try to put my best forward so that the younger classsmen can see what I’m doing and hopefully follow.”
This season, Clark played at the running back position. A personal highlight was when he scored his first touchdown.
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“Last year, I played [defensive] end, so I wasn’t on the offensive side,” Clark said. “It was so rare that I scored in high school and it was my first touchdown, so it was very exciting.”
Last season, Clark helped the Generals reach the Division III City Section championships. The season taught him about the importance of perseverance and optimism.
“It taught me to never give up,” Clark said. “Play until it’s over and that’s exactly what we did and that’s how we was able to make history.”
Running against more experienced track athletes was a challenge for Clark. However, his experience in track became an asset.
“It’s an experience, you get to meet more people … it helps you with your social skills,” he said. “Being able to compete because you’re competing against other people and football, you’re competing too.”
Clark understands how essential good grades are to playing football. Business on the gridiron and in the classroom must be taken seriously.
“You can’t play if your grades aren’t good. You’re in school then you go to practice,” Clark said. “It’s definitely a main priority. Then even college, you need to have good grades. Grades is something you can’t run from.”
Clark enjoys his English class because of the efforts of his teacher. His favorite assignment from the class is an all-about-me project.
“You’re basically describing yourself and describing your qualities and what you like to do,” Clark said. “It’s always good when you can work on something that’s about you.”
An aspiration that Clark has is to play football at the college level.
“Once you give it a shot, you never know what can come,” he said. “Maybe NFL, maybe whatever comes from it.”
