Jacqui White, Staff Writer

Clarence Skipper was born in Albany, New York, a short drive from Utica College. He didn’t play sports in middle school, due to him preference for video games over sports. But by his freshman year of high school, Skipper was a three-season athlete. He played football and two seasons of track.

“By my junior year of high school, I had decided that the sport I would be participating in would be track and field,” Skipper explained.

Before deciding to be a jumper for his high school track and field team, Skipper was a sprinter for a long time.

The freshman is an accounting major, though he is thinking about switching to a business management major instead. Being only a freshman, he has plenty of time to think about which major he wants to do and what he’ll pursue in either of the two.

Despite only being a freshman, Skipper is already breaking records. At this year ECAC championships, Skipper broke his own record of jumping 14.25 meters with jumping 14.75 meters.

“The feeling of breaking that record was beyond surreal. It made me feel that my first season of track at a collegiate level was successful,” Skipper said.

Skipper also explained that even better than breaking his own school record was the fact that the new record qualified him for the NCAA division 111 indoor track and field nationals in Naperville, Illinois.

As for his future in track, Skipper thinks he might be an assistant track coach after college. He doesn’t care if it’s at a college level or in high school; Skipper just wants to continue to be a part of what he loves.

One of Skippers’ coaches, William Razzano, explained what Skipper has brought to Utica. The track coaches call him Skip, as Razzano explained.

“This is my first season as a coach here at Utica. I wasn’t involved in his recruiting, however I know that he was very highly recruited by our coaching staff,” Razzano said.

Razzano also explained that even though Skipper would just be a freshman when he joined the track team, they knew he could make an immediate impact. For Skipper’s first indoor track season as a freshman, he was able to bring home All-American honors in the triple jump. This made him the first Utica College athlete to be an All-American with an appearance at nationals.

“We’re very excited about his potential and are looking forward to the upcoming outdoor season, which starts at SUNY Geneseo,” Razzano explained.

Razzano said he hopes that Skipper will bring home another All-American trophy for Utica College.

“Not only is Skip a strong athlete, he does well in the classroom and is a very hard working student-athlete.”