Four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs visits Halsted Middle School
NEWTON A sixth-grader named Kevin learned that you don't clown around during an assembly when the speaker happens to be four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs. When he began waving at her during a presentation she was giving last week at the Halsted Middle School, she stopped speaking and said, "Excuse me, what are you doing?" The rather shocked young man admitted that he was waving at her. Instead of accepting this distraction, Clark Diggs turned it around, "Ok, that wave is our special sign to each other now, and whenever I wave to you like you were waving to me, I want you to stand up and answer a question." The young man stopped waving. A native of South Orange, NJ, Clark Diggs was only 15 when she ran in her first Milrose Games, an annual indoor track meet held in New York City. In her presentation to the middle-schoolers, she talked about purpose, preparation, patience, perturbation and perseverance as they related to her career as a world-renowned middle distance runner. She then correlated each of her "five Ps" to the life of a sixth-grader and how they can be used to make the students more productive. "My goal for you today is not for you to be an Olympian, but for you to be the champion of your life," said Clark Diggs after a video of her career highlights was shown. "As youngsters, if you don't take care of your mind and body at your age, when you get to be my age, it all falls apart." Clark Diggs is 50, but she looks twenty years younger. Clark Diggs admitted she was a spirited young lady. "At your age, I said what I wanted and found that I often had to apologize because of that. Now I live by 'give thy thought no tongue.'" She talked about how, as an athlete, she had to have purpose and that it is no different when it comes to students in school. Preparation as an athlete meant giving up things like her high school prom because of a big meet the next day. In college, at the University of Tennessee, Clark Diggs said she formed a habit of eating healthy meals and being in bed by 9:30 p.m. so she could wake up to train two hours before her 7:10 a.m. class. She paralleled this to the students preparing for things like tests and doing their homework instead of relying on things like "osmosis," thinking they could learn the material if they slept with the book under their pillow. The patience portion of her presentation had Clark Diggs telling the story of how she wanted to be a Nike model for years, but that the dream didn't happen until she was 30. She also talked about how she tried out six times for the Olympic Games and made it four times. "Words like 'failed' went through my head when I didn't make it, but I didn't give up," said Clark Diggs. She also didn't give up when she was involved in a harrowing crash on Sept. 15, 1998, on the NJ Turnpike. The accident between her car and an 18-wheel tractor-trailer left her body battered and doctors questioning whether she might walk again - much less run. The doctors forgot with whom they were dealing, and thanks to a lot of patience and determination, Clark Diggs returned to qualify for her final Olympic Games in 2000. She equated this to the lives of the audience by urging them to never give up when things don't go their way. "No one is a loser, it just may not be your time yet," said Clark Diggs. Clark Diggs called on the audience to give an example of being perturbed (agitated and dissapointed). A young man said he was perturbed because he had sustained a concussion and couldn't play basketball for a while. Clark Diggs said there were two choices: "You can be reactive and sit home and watch TV or you can be proactive and get out and cheer on your team." He said he would choose the latter. As for perseverance, Clark Diggs said, "I was 38 when I made my final Olympic team in 2000. With everything, you have to persevere. Your mind is like a parachute: it only works when it's open." Her perseverance has been life-long. One of her motivations to keep going was that she was named as the top high school prospect in the country in the late 1970s by Sports Illustrated magazine. She pointed out that though her running career is over, the five P's have now carried over into her career as a business woman and entrepreneur, and to her Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation, a non-profit that promotes good health and a positive work ethic in sports. She also stressed that it's important to always have goals, saying that she once ran five kilometers in 17 minutes. "I was thinking that a good goal for myself now would be to try to run that distance in 21 or 22 minutes," she said. The culmination of Clark Diggs' presentation was a video of her final Olympic trials, held on July 23, 2000, in Sacremento. While the film rolled behind her, she said how purpose, preparation, patience, being perturbed and perseverance each played their part during the race. She was 37 years old, had recovered from a horrific accident, and had to place in the top three to go to the Olympics. As the race began, she said, "We're weren't out there in itty-bitty outfits to get tan...it was 113 degrees on that track." Clark Diggs sister, Hazel Clark, 22, burst out of the blocks and led all the way with her sister-in-law, Jearl Miles-Clark, 34, just behind. As Clark Diggs crossed the line, it was an apparent tie with Meredith Rainey-Valmon for third place. As two photo finish angles rolled on the video, Clark Diggs talked about focus. While she had remained focused on the finish line, her competition had instead focused on trying to cut her off. It was the thee Clarks who went to the Olympic Games; she had placed third, not fourth. Clark Diggs' presentation was brought to Halsted Middle School by physical education teacher Jared Roe, who used a New Jersey School Health Grant to bring her to the students. Clark Diggs also introduced one of her former summer track coaches, Bruce Wask, who now lives in Fredon and volunteers to bring a youth track and field program to Sussex County. After finding Kevin for a wave, who had moved to the back of the auditorium, Clark Diggs opened the floor up for questions. "Do you have a six pack?" one student asked. "No, but I can do more abdominal reps than you any day," she responded, to laughter. Clark Diggs ended by donating her book, "Joetta's P Principles for Success" to the Halstead Middle School library.