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TERRY JONESSenior Chris Chatterton has been called a natural. He proves it on the track, on the football field and in the classroom.
CARROLLWOOD - Even though football is his primary sport and he considers academics the key to his future, 17-year-old Chris Chatterton recently took time from his weightlifting regimen to prove that he's a top national athlete in track.
Competing against talent from all over the country, Chatterton placed second in the javelin throw and seventh in the discus throw at the AAU National Track and Field Team Championships, last month at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.
Chatterton, a Jesuit High School senior who lives in Carrollwood, competed in the national meet as a member of the Seffner Track and Field Club.
The club's head coach and organizer, Mike Zelazo, said Chatterton is a natural thrower and could easily compete on the college level.
"Chris is a natural athlete, and throwing seems to come easy to him," Zelazo said. "He didn't practice much during the summer because he was involved with the Jesuit weight program. We were just glad to have him with us at the nationals."
Not too many high school athletes throw the javelin in the first place; they're so sharp. The Florida High School Activities Association doesn't allow the javelin throw in high school competition because FHSAA officials consider it unsafe.
The event is a part of NCAA track competitions, however, as well as the Olympics.
"Throwing events seem to come easy to me," Chatterton said. "I only threw the javelin 139 feet at the AAU nationals, but I have thrown further. I should have spent more time practicing. Then, with the discus, I lost my step. That too comes back with more practice."
Chatterton also competes on the Jesuit track squad, but football is his first love.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound athlete plays tight end for Jesuit's football team. For most of this summer he has been attending football camps and preparing, along with his Jesuit Tiger teammates, for the fall football season.
"Our whole team attended the University of South Florida camp," he said. "We really expect a great season this year. Our new coach (Bill Schmitz) has initiated the West Coast offense, and we are doing well with it."
Rivals 100, a national athletic ranking service for high schools, recently informed Chatterton and his family that he was one of the top-ranked tight ends in the United States. He doesn't know what his ranking is, but he was informed that the final list will be published in the fall on the Web at Rivals100.com.
As much as he enjoys athletics, Chatterton says sports won't be his future. He works just as hard on his studies, carrying an unweighted 4.14 GPA.
"I have made only one B in my first three years of high school," he said. "All the rest were A's."
The scholar-athlete and his parents haven't decided where he'll attend college. He says he has reduced his Ivy League choices to Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. He's also considering the University of Virginia and Wake Forest University.
"Hopefully, I'll decide on college soon, but academics are more important to me than football, even though I want to play at the collegiate level," Chatterton said. "I also plan to throw the javelin and compete with the track club next summer, too."