CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

World Sports Chicago, an organization committed to bringing the Olympic Games to Chicago in 2016, selected Northside Senior Track Captain Adaora Achufusi to train with Olympians Jon Drummond and Hazel Clark on Sunday, November 16, 2008.

Northside Senior Adaora Achufusi holds the school record in the 400m Dash (64.29), Sprint Medley Relay, Weight Womens Relay, 4x100m Relay, 4x200m Relay, and the 4x400m Relay. Adaora Achufusi was also the second fastest runner on the Northside Cross country Team this fall with a personal best three mile time of 19:59. 

World Sports Chicago also selected Northside Senior Track Captain Simon Vecchioni to train with Olympic 800m runner Hazel Clark and Olympic Sprinter Jon Drummond on Sunday November 16, 2008. 

Northside Senior Simon Vecchioni holds the school record in the Distance Medley Relay, the record for consecutive Crunches with a 12 lbs Medicine ball (1100), the School record for Pull-ups (33), and has an 800m personal record of 2:10, and is also a second degree black belt in Karate.

Olympian Jon Drummond, a member of the 2000 Gold Medalist 4x100m Relay Team, traveled from Las Vegas, Neveda on Sunday, November 16, 2008 to train with Northside College Prep Senior Track Captains Adaora Achufusi and Simon Vecchioni. Drummond has a 200m Personal record of 20.03, and 100m Personal record of 9.92.

Jon Drummond attended high school at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drummond trained in school hallways during his high school career, because his high school didn’t have an indoor track. 

Drummond enjoys going to High School Track meets prior to the start of the meet, with a bowl of popcorn, to watch all the unusual Team warm-ups. He said they look neat, but that none of them actually help with running. Drummond told the Northside athletes that there are only three warm-up drills that actually help, “A” Skips, “B” Skips, and High knees, and stressed that he even recommended them for distance runners. 

Olympian Jon Drummond led Northside Senior Captains Adaora Achufusi and Simon Vecchioni in a warm-up, including “A” Skips, “B” Skips, and High-knees, and then focused on the core, and then extensive stretching.  

After a Relay race across the gym floor was anchored to victory by Northside Senior Simon Vecchioni, Olympian Jon Drummond turned Adaora Achufusi and Simon Vecchioni over to Olympian Hazel Clark. 

Hazel Clark had traveled from Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, November 16, 2008 to Chicago, Illinois to train with Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi. Hazel Clark has a 1500m Personal record of 4:16, and an 800m Personal record of 1:57. Hazel Clark is a three time Olympian (2000, 2004, and 2008), and made instant friends with Northside Head Coach Jon Gordon by complimenting him on his 1500m PR of 4:07 (1991).

Olympian Hazel Clark grew up in New Jersey, and is the daughter of famous New Jersey Principal Joe Clark. Her father was the subject of the movie, “Lean on me”. In “Lean on Me”, Morgan Freeman played Principal Joe Clark, in his most famous role, about the true story of a high school principal, who carried a baseball bat with him, and chained schools doors closed, as part of his tactics to help clean up a gang-ridden tough New Jersey High School, and make it into one of the best high schools in America.  

Hazel Clark won three NCAA indoor titles and one outdoor title at the University of Florida before graduating in 2000.  Hazael Clark won the U.S. Olympic Trials this year, and competed for the best Track Team in the World, the USA, in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.  

Olympians Hazel Clark and Jon Drummond spent six hours on Sunday, November 16, 2008 training with Northside Senior Captains Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi. Drummond and Clark shared the six core Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship, Celebration, Respect, Hope, and Harmony with Vecchioni and Achufusi.  

Jon Drummond values the core Olympic value of Celebration the most and told Vecchioni and Achufusi about his victory lap with his teammates after winning the 4x100 Gold Medal in 2000.

Hazel Clark values the core Olympic value of Friendship the most and told Vecchioni and Achufusi about her friendships with other members of the U.S. Olympic Team, including Chicago Olympian Connie Moore. 

Hazel Clark spent a lot of time with Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi on the track doing “boxed-in” drills to see how they would react to that situation in a race, and then showed them the best way to break free when they are “boxed-in”. The drill almost took a bad turn, when an 800m runner from Craven high school, did an illegal and unsportsmanlike move on Olympian Hazel Clark. Hazel Clark responded by letting him know it with a hard elbow, just like in an Olympic race. It was great. The Craven runner even asked Clark to autograph his jersey at the conclusion of the drill. 

Olympian Hazel Clark also shared her favorite workouts, and formed a friendship with Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi. Hazel Clark gave them a personalized autograph photo, including a message to Simon Vecchioni to focus on the third 200m of his 800m race, and she exchanged email addresses, and phone numbers with both Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi. It was a priceless experience. 

A special thanks to World Sports Chicago, an organization committed to bringing the Olympic Games to Chicago in 2016, for selecting Simon Vecchioni and Adaora Achufusi for this opportunity, and making this experience possible.