Chris Clever grew into a perfect body for throwing the javelin – long and lean with a powerful right arm.
And he made the most of it in his time at Chambersburg, securing a pair of PIAA Class 3A boys javelin titles in his junior and senior seasons.
The best thing that happened to Clever was that he got paired with the Trojans’ expert throwing coach, Roger Coleman.
“I really lucked out in having a track coach who had been a javelin thrower,” Clever said. “So I have to thank coach Coleman for getting me off on the right foot with javelin.”
Clever came into his own for his junior season in 1996. At the District 3 Track & Field championships, his throw of 192-4 was good for first place. A week later at the PIAA Championships, Clever improved on that with a toss of 200-10, which won him a state gold medal by 10 inches over John Ruch of Pottsville.
In 1997, his senior year, Clever unleashed a throw of 211-8 to win another District 3 title. The next week at states, he saved his best high school throw for his final performance, hitting 220-3, which is still the school record. He won first place over the runner-up from Wyoming Valley West, Mark Ziotek, who was more than 6 feet shorter.
Later that year, Clever competed at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento, Calif., which brought together the best athletes in the country, and placed fifth with a distance of 202-0.
Clever was not just a track & field star for Chambersburg, however. He was also a quality basketball player, twice being named to the Patriot News Big 15.
In the 1995-96 campaign, in which the Trojans were 25-5, Clever averaged 9 points per game. The team was a District 3 runner-up and was eliminated in the second round of states.
As a senior, Clever upped his average to over 11 points per game, helping the Trojans to a 22-8 record. Chambersburg won a District 3 crown that year and was knocked out of the PIAA Tournament in the second round, 60-59 by Plymouth-Whitemarsh, on a last-second desperation shot by the Colonials, who went to win the state title.
Clever was recruited to Harvard University, and that turned out to be a great fit, too. In his senior year, he was chosen for the William J. Bingham Award as the Crimson’s male athlete of the year. He is a member of the Harvard Athletic Hall of Fame.
He was an NCAA All-American in 1999 and 2001, placing 14th (213-10) and 9th (222-6), respectively. Clever also won three Ivy League gold medals and a pair of Penn Relay victories, and competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000.
He still holds the javelin record at Harvard at 242-11.75, with the next-best throw almost 20 feet behind.
By Ed Gotwals
