Sure he’d been a star on the small-school circuit and now was making quite a splash at the University of Akron, where he’ll be a junior. But this was an international stage.
This was his first trip out of the United States, and of the 15 entrants in the Pan Am’s 800 meters, he and Puerto Rico’s Andres Arroyo were the youngest at 20.
“They nicknamed him The Kid in the USA camp because he was one of the youngest ones,” said Mark Murphy, Clayton’s dad.
An agronomist back in Darke County, Mark went to Canada to watch his son, but Monday afternoon he made an admission:
“Going there and knowing he would be running against athletes he’d never run against before, guys who were some of the best in (the Americas) — I was actually concerned if he would make the finals.
“And I’ll be truthful, I didn’t buy a ticket for that final day. One reason was that the tickets were $105 apiece and if he wasn’t going to make it, I was coming home because I’d used up my vacation.”
But then in the days just before Clayton ran, Mark went to lunch and dinner with him and said he got a taste of something special:
“Clayton just had so much confidence in himself. His demeanor was so good. He KNEW he could run with the best athletes in the world — not just in the NCAA — and he proved it to us.”
And the thing is, he did it just the way he had at Tri Village, when, as a senior, he won the state’s small school 1,600-meter race with a stunning late-stretch kick to overtake the defending champ.
“That’s his trademark,” said Melinda Murphy, Clayton’s mom, who had to work last Thursday and ended up watching a video of the Pan Am posted on Facebook afterwards.
What she saw was a carbon copy of what he had done a day earlier in his 800 prelim race.
Rafith Rodriguez — a 26-year-old Colombian who has been competing internationally for eight years in places like London, Poland, Spain, Turkey, China, South Korea and all across South America — led the qualifier from the opening gun, though he had Murphy stalking just behind him.
Coming down the stretch, Murphy kept pressing more and more and finally passed Rodriguez, winning by 1.8 seconds.
Thursday’s final set up the same way, once Murphy was able to work his way out of a logjam at the back of the eight-man pack. Again he was on Rodriguez’s shoulder coming down the stretch, this time surging past in the final strides to win in 1:47.19, four one-hundredths of a second ahead of the Colombian.
“It was pretty stressful running those last five meters to win it,” he said Monday. “To be able to look to my left and see daylight between me and him and know I did it, to know I’d won the gold medal, was an exciting feeling.”
When the race ended, U.S. flags were handed to Murphy and Ryan Martin, the former UC-Santa Barbara runner who took bronze, and the pair took a victory lap.
On the backstretch, Clayton stopped, and with the flag held behind him like a cape, he grinned up into the stands where his dad — thanks to a last-minute ticket purchase — stood cheering a few feet away from a pair of Akron coaches.
“To see that look on Clayton’s face,” Mark said quietly, “it brought tears to my eyes.”
‘Always had a goal’
Clayton grew up on a farm between New Madison and New Paris.
He was active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America, had a pig that won Grand Champion honors at the Darke County Fair and had a division winner at the North American Livestock Expo in Louisville. His brother, Wesley, is now following his footsteps and over the weekend, his goats won honors at the Ohio State Fair.
Against that setting, Clayton began to hone his running skills along the ribbons of rural blacktop, including the Eaton-Fort Nesbit Road that their farm is on, Richmond-Palestine Road and New Garden Road.
“No one I’ve been around has had a work ethic and a determination like he does,” said Tri Village track coach Scott Warren. “He always had a goal and he’d do whatever it took to get there.”
Mark laughed as he thought about a correlation he used to bring up: “Every time it came down to a big race, I’d say, ‘Clayton, it’s just like showing a pig. You need that championship drive. Get through the prelims and make the final and then … just perform.’ ”
And that’s what he did.
He was a three-time All-Ohio cross country runner, finished third in the state as a senior, was a three-time state track qualifier, won the 1,600 meters and set seven school records.
He visited Miami University, Memphis, Kentucky, Iowa State and Georgia Tech before deciding on Akron, thanks in part to Lee LaBadie, the Zips cross country coach and distance coach on the track team, who was a great miler himself at Illinois in the early 1970s.
Murphy runs cross country and track for the Zips, is a two- time Mid-American Conference champion (indoor mile, outdoor 1,500 meters) and won All-America honors with a third-place finish in the 800 at the NCAA outdoor championships.
“His girlfriend runs for Akron, too,” Mark said. “She’s from Covington and her dad and I were at the Eagles last night and we came up with Clayton’s top three races.
“There was the state title when he sat on the other kid’s shoulder for four laps and kicked by him at the end. Then there was the 4x400 regional final in Piqua. He ran the anchor and passed four guys in that last lap and the team made state.
“Then came last Thursday night. That was the most exciting.”
Olympics a goal
Tri-Village is having quite a high school sports year.
The boys basketball team finished 30-0 and won the Division IV state championship in March. This fall the school fields its first football team.
And in between Clayton Murphy takes Pan Am gold.
“By the time I went to bed Thursday night I’d replied to 80 text messages,” he said. “Last night I was still receiving all kinds of congratulations and my parents keep texting me and telling me so and so said, ‘Congratulations.’ ” It’s pretty cool.”
Melinda, who helped Clayton and his roommates move into a different place at Akron over the weekend, said her son’s gold medal showing is “big on Facebook” back home. “People are really proud of him.”
Although he is quite humble about the whole matter, Clayton will admit: “It was the biggest win of my career. The state title in high school was pretty cool, but this was representing my country and that makes it pretty special.”
Mark said “we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg with him.”
Next week Clayton will pull out his new passport and head to Costa Rica for a meet.
“He had set the 2020 Olympics as a goal, but it’s happening much quicker than he planned,” Mark said. “He realizes he can run with anybody now. And one thing for sure, if Clayton’s in the race you’re looking at an exciting finish.”
That is, if you’ve bought a ticket to see it.
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