By Scott Doane
UWRF Sports Information

Many people are naturally gifted in some sort of area. Some people are blessed with a naturally good singing voice or have a knack for writing, while others may be naturally talented in sciences or mathematics.

Falcon track & field athlete Clint Christy is one of those few that are just blessed with talent. Christy is a natural athlete.

"I am not terribly fast," Christy said about himself, "but I do have good athletic ability and I was blessed with some hops."

Others share the same opinion of Christy that he has of himself.

"He's a very good all-around athlete," Falcon track & field Coach Martha Brennan said about the junior. "He's a jumper with good speed. If you got good speed and can jump, you can do a lot in track."

His great speed and his awesome leaping ability are a couple of reasons why Christy's favorite event is the long jump. Not only is the long jump his favorite event, it is also an event that Christy set an indoor record in this season with a leap of 22-6 1/2.  

That, however, is far from his only event. Christy shows how versatile he really is athletically by participating in multi-event competitions. This indoor season, he set a heptathlon record by scoring 4,850 points.  

At times, Christy is able to help his team with his versatility. If someone drops out of an event at the last minute, Brennan will look to him as a replacement.

"(Christy) is a guy you can depend on to throw into an event like the 4x400 relay," Brennan said. "He's a person you can ask to run a relay if you're in a pinch. He likes to work hard."

Christy, not only helps on the track, he also helps the team off the track. This year's track & field team is very young. Christy is one upperclassman who helps his young teammates make the transition from high school to college track & field.

"He's a good upperclassman," Brennan explained, "we don't have a lot of upperclassman, especially in the decathlon. It's nice to have him there to help. It helps me coaching wise."

Christy's experience in track is what makes him a good influence on his young teammates. Christy has been running track since eighth grade. In his younger days, he played baseball, but because of vision problems, he was forced to quit. That was when he made the switch to track & field.

It turns out that it was a pretty good move for Christy to switch to track. In high school in Tomah, Wis., Christy went to state in the long and triple jumps in both his junior and senior years.   In the conference meet, he won both the triple and long jump, placed second in the high jump, and took third in the 300 hurdles in both years, scoring 34 team points.  

So far, Christy has been able to bring his success from high school to the next level. During this year's indoor season, he has set two indoor records in the heptathlon and the long jump.   He also has completed one of his goals for the outdoor season. Christy provisionally qualified for the NCAA Div. III Nationals in the decathlon at the Falcon Invitational held April 8-9.

Christy attributes his outstanding indoor season to being healthier than last year. Last season he nursed a bad back.

"I know I was a lot healthier this year than last year," Christy said, "Last year I competed in few events, whereas this season I only missed one meet."

Brennan also contributes Christy's success to his better health. "He did great," Brennan said about this year's indoor season, "Clint was healthy and that's the biggest thing. The big difference between this season and last was that he nursed a bad back throughout the outdoor season."

As for his goals for the rest of the season, Christy has already completed one of them by provisionally qualifying for the decathlon. He would like to improve his overall speed, hurdling and his javelin throwing. Christy also would like to try to break the school record in the decathlon. As a team, he would like to see both the men's and women's teams finish in the top five at the WIAC meet in May.

Christy's life isn't engulfed by track & field. Christy also enjoys playing recreational sports such as croquet or bocce ball. He also likes to spend time with his girlfriend, Brittany Smith, who also runs track.  

"Anyone who knows me, knows I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, who also runs for UW-RF and is a standout athlete" Christy said."We enjoy making each other laugh and giggle."

Christy is also a movie buff. His favorite genre happens to be horror movies. "I'm up for a new horror movie any day," Christy said, "I never get scared, but I love watching my girlfriend jump and scream."

Christy also is in the Army Reserves. He is now in his fourth year of six. Christy joined to get money to pay for college, but says that his experience has been more than just a way to pay for tuition.

"I joined for school money which I'm very glad I did," Christy explains, "also, the friendships I have made and the experiences that have come across have made it worth while."