{"id":15890,"date":"2015-12-07T14:40:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T23:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alaskasports.wpengine.com\/?p=15890"},"modified":"2023-09-10T13:02:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T21:02:48","slug":"clary-deloach-headline-hall-of-fames-class-of-2016-inductees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/clary-deloach-headline-hall-of-fames-class-of-2016-inductees\/","title":{"rendered":"Clary, DeLoach headline Hall of Fame\u2019s Class of 2016 inductees"},"content":{"rendered":"
Arguably Alaska\u2019s greatest runner and the state\u2019s best track and field athlete both went to the Olympics, and now they are headed to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Don Clary and Janay DeLoach will headline the Class of 2016 induction ceremony this summer along with two moments and an event. The news was made official today by executive director Harlow Robinson.<\/p>\n
The Class of 2016 also includes the moment when Anchorage\u2019s Matt Carle won the celebrated Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s best player in 2006 and when the Special Olympics World Winter Games came to Anchorage in 2001.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old plus Native Youth Olympics was inducted as the event.<\/p>\n
The new class will be honored during the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame\u2019s special 10-year celebration event July 29 in Anchorage.<\/p>\n
Don Clary<\/strong> He advanced to the Olympic semifinals in the 5,000 meters, a moment that is nominated for Alaska Sports Hall of Fame consideration. He qualified by finishing third at the Olympic Trials. Four years earlier he was fifth.<\/p>\n Clary also ran in the 1983 Pan American Games and placed fifth in the 5K race.<\/p>\n In 1986, Clary beat former Boston Marathon winner Alberto Salazar to win the Alaska 10K Classic. The next year he set the course record of 28:35 \u2013 a mark that still stands today.<\/p>\n In college, Clary was a four-time NCAA All-American at the University of Oregon and member of school\u2019s 1977 cross country team that captured the national championship. He was also a Pac-10 champion.<\/p>\n At East Anchorage High School, he won two state cross country titles and set an Alaska prep record in the two-mile run [9:04.04] that has stood for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n Janay DeLoach<\/strong> A broken left ankle in 2013 forced her to abandon her traditional takeoff and switch to using her right leg. She still qualified for the World Championships and became first woman to jump 6.95 meters off either leg.<\/p>\n In 2014, DeLoach qualified for Worlds in the 60-meter hurdles after a second-place finish at the US Championships. That year she won hurdles races at the Millrose Games and Boston Grand Prix.<\/p>\n She was a 4-time NCAA All-American at Colorado State University. <\/p>\n At Eielson High School near Fairbanks, DeLoach was a 4-time long jump state champion and still holds the Alaska state record of 19-5. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Arguably Alaska\u2019s greatest runner, Clary was the first Alaska runner to qualify for the Olympics when he competed at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>The greatest track and field athlete in Alaska history, DeLoach is one of the most successful long jumpers on the planet with four US championships, a Worlds silver medal and an Olympic bronze medal from the 2012 Games.<\/p>\n