Chris Clark’s cross country career has come full circle.

The Commodore Perry High product qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships Saturday at Cooper’s Lake Campground, near Slippery Rock University.

A California University of Pennsylvania graduate student, Clark is the reigning NCAA Atlantic Regional medalist after he copped that crown 2 weeks ago (also at Cooper’s Lake Campground) with a course-record 31-minute clocking. A week prior he posted a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-best 23-minute, 56-second performance at Lock Haven University.

According to Cal’s Web site, for his efforts Clark, a Hadley native, recently was named NCAA D-II Atlantic Region men’s athlete of the year, as voted by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Assn.

Upon his graduation from Commodore Perry, Clark matriculated at and competed for Clarion University’s cross country team, but is making the most of his remaining year of athletic eligibility.

At the regional race, Clark copped a 23-second victory by virtue of a 5-minute/mile pace as he outdistanced a 165-competitor field and led the Vulcans to a 9th-place finish — the program’s best at the regional level in more than a decade. At the PSAC’s, Clark’s 4:49/mile pace enabled him to edge Edinboro’s Ben Hahn by 14 seconds and become Cal’s 1st conference kingpin since Brian Ferrari (1981).

Early in this current campaign Clark also captured the Carnegie Mellon University Invitational crown.

California is coached by Daniel Caulfield, who previously served as Clarion’s coach since January 2005. Caulfield was a 4-time NCAA D-II titlist and 10-time All-American at Adams State College (Colo.), which won back-to-back country crowns (1993-94). Subsequently, Caulfield, a Roscommon, Ireland native, set his country’s 800-meter mark (1:47.21), was a European Cup champion in both the 800- and 1500-meter runs and a 2-time runnerup at the prestigious Millrose Games.

Serving as director of Cal’s cross country and track & field programs is Roger Kingdom. While a University of Pittsburgh undergraduate, Kingdom captured gold in the 110-meter hurdles at both the 1984 and ’88 Olympic Games, the ’89 World Cup and World University Games, as well as the ’89 and ’95 Pan American Games. In 1989 he erased Renaldo Nehemiah from the world record book in the high hurdles by posting a 12.92. Kingdom joined CUP’s staff in 2004 and became interim head coach for both the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs in March ’05 before being promoted earlier this year.

As a Commodore Perry High senior Clark qualified for the PIAA Cross Country Championships, where he was coached by Ellen Banick Kellar.

Ed Farrell is assistant sports editor for The Herald