Cape Central inducts four members to its athletic Hall

Travis Clark was all about reaching new heights during his high school days as a Central Tiger.

Clark literally set the bar for all Central track athletes after him by winning three consecutive Class 4A state titles in the high jump.

This Friday, Clark, a 1991 graduate, will again enter an elite realm when he is inducted into the Central High School Hall of Fame. He will be among a class of four that also includes former athletes Tatum Kitchen (1998) and Mike Schuette (1966) and coach Annette Slattery.

Clark went on to become a Pac 10 decathlon champion at Stanford, and later earned a medical degree at Vanderbilt University. He's a urological surgeon in Wenatchee, Wash., where he recently married. He's planning to return for Friday's induction ceremony with his new bride, Lucy.

"To me, it's one of the biggest honors I've ever received because my athletic career, especially in my high school years, are such a fond memory, and to have it come back to life for me like this is pretty special," Clark said. "It's something I'm very proud of."

Clark cleared 6 feet, 7 inches to gain all-state in Class 4A as a freshman, and he only went up from there. He was clearing 7-0 by his junior year and topping out at 7-2 as a senior. He attempted to clear a state-championship meet record 7-3 as a senior but had to settle for his third consecutive state title.

"Simply put, he was the best high school athlete, I'm talking all-around athlete, I ever saw on the male side," said Mark Ruark, who was Clark's track coach at Central. "There wasn't anything he couldn't do, and he was a great kid and a great academic kid. There aren't enough words in Roget's Thesaurus to describe Travis. He was a great, great kid."

Clark eventually cleared 7-3 his sophomore year at Stanford, before converting to the decathlon.

Central history best remembers Clark for his achievements in track and field, but he also was a captain on the football team and a starter on the basketball squad.

"One of my favorite memories was our junior year high school football season," Clark said. "We just had a very good team that year and we had a lot of fun guys on the team."

He said he still remains best of friends with quarterback Matt Boren, who he endorses for consideration to the HOF.

"We hooked up for a lot of yards that year," Clark said. "We just had a lot of fun on and off the field. We just had a lot of other good athletes. ... As far as the camaraderie on the football field and in the locker room with the guys on the football team, there was nothing like it. The horsing around, the stories and pranks -- all the laughs that go along with it."

Clark didn't bring too many smiles to the faces of opposing coaches on the football field, where he gained all-conference and all-district honors at receiver and defensive back.

As a junior high player, he looked up to Central players like Cory Crosnoe and Steve Goodman -- both HOF members -- referring to them as "heroes" and "professionals." And when it was Clark's time to shine, he embraced it.

"I remember the feeling of going to school in the morning on Friday with your jersey on with all your teammates," Clark said. "That was just a real special, fun memory. The excitement all day. You couldn't even concentrate all day in class ... And playing on Friday nights was just the coolest thing because a lot of the community is there for you to support you."

He said the benefits from his athletic career at Central were numerous -- he was on full scholarship his final three years at Stanford.

"When I went on to medical school, I think it certainly opened some doors in regards to getting accepted," Clark said. "A lot of the interviews I did, the guys that were interviewing -- the deans of the medical school -- they wanted to talk about my sports career both in college and in high school. And when the conversation shifted toward that, I figured my chances were pretty good. I certainly had to have the grades and all that, but the sports gives you an extra edge of something that makes you stand out.

"I think the other guys that are being inducted will probably say the same thing, a lot of your future employers and people that want you to come to their professional schools look for the type of person that can succeed in a team setting. It certainly doesn't hurt you at all to have that sort of diversity with your life."

It's tough to get more diverse than a decathalete, and he is one who displayed his array of skills for his high school alma mater, one in which he remembers as much as they remember him.

"Really, the high school years were as good, if not better, in terms of my exhilaration as far as the rush I would get," Clark said. "Some of those memories are probably as, if not more, vivid than my college memories."

Tatum Kitchen

This year's class will be inducted at a ceremony in the Central cafeteria at 5 p.m. Friday. The four inductees will be recognized at halftime of Central's game against Fort Zumwalt East later in the evening.

The new inductees will increase Central's HOF to 55 individual members. It also includes three teams.

This year's inductees

Travis Clark (1987-1991)

A team captain for the Tigers in football, where he was all-conference and all-district at wide receiver and defensive back. He was awarded the Carr Trophy by the Poplar Bluff Letterman's Club as the top football player in Southeast Missouri his senior season. He also was the recipient of the Lou Muegge Award his senior year. He was a two-year letterman in basketball. He especially excelled in track where he was a three-time Class 4A state champion in the high jump. He was also a member of Central's 1,600 all-state relay squad. He went on to become the Pac-10 decathlon champion his junior year at Stanford.

Tatum Kitchen (1995-1998)

An all-around athlete who lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He was a three-year letterman in football, serving as a team captain and twice earning all-conference and all-district honors. He won the Golden Helmet his junior and senior seasons for leading the Tigers in tackles from his linebacker position. He was a Missouri All-Star Football Game selection. He lettered three years in baseball, attracting first-team all-conference and first-team all-district honors. He holds the Central career record with 12 home runs. He threw a no-hitter his senior season when led the staff with a 1.52 ERA. He was selected to play in the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Game. He was a recipient of Central's Lou Muegge Award. He received a football scholarship to Southeast and was a three-year letterman at linebacker/defensive end. He recently was hired as Central baseball coach and will guide the Tigers from the dugout for the first time this spring.

Mike Schuette (1963-1966)

A natural athlete who excelled in all sports he played for the Tigers. He served as shortstop in baseball, was the quarterback in football and played forward on the basketball squad. He was all-conference in baseball. He later served his country in the Army and was involved in front-line combat duty in Vietnam. A lifetime supporter of Central and Southeast Missouri State athletics, Schuette passed away in 2012 at the age of 62.

Annette Slattery (1979-2008)

She accumulated a career record of 303-37 in her 25 years as the Central girls tennis coach. In compiling an .891 winning percentage in her career at Central, she led the Tigers to 19 district titles and 11 undefeated regular seasons. The Tigers qualified as a team for the state final four in the 1995-96 school year, and a Central singles player or doubles team made it to state in each of her 25 seasons.