Three-time state champion Todd Cleverley passes
By Brandon Hurley
Managing Editor
news@beeherald.com
Jefferson’s fastest athlete in history has passed away.
Todd Cleverley, a three-time track and field state champion, died Nov. 24 at the age of 55.
The 1985 Jefferson High School graduate still holds the all-time 100-meter record with a blistering personal-best of 10.8 seconds.
Cleverley won three sprint state championships Ram in the 1980s, including back-to-back golds in the 100-meter dash. He also won the 200-meter state title during his senior year in 1985. Cleverley was born Nov. 11, 1966 in Fort Dodge, son of Jack Cleverley and Mary (Thayer) Cleverley.
Todd is the only Jefferson athlete ever to win state titles in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, an incredible feat he accomplished in a single year. Cleverley is also one of only two athletes in Jefferson history to win a state title in either sprint of the top sprint events, joining Joe Rogers, who won the 100-yard and 200-yard dash state title in 1930, 54 years prior. Cleverley is the only Jefferson athlete ever to win a state title at the metered distance, which was implemented in the late 1970s.
Brent MacLagan is the only boys’ athlete since Cleverley to win a state title in any track event. The 1995 Jefferson-Scranton graduate won state championships in the 400-meter hurdles and the 1,600-meter run.
Cleverley, who is a father to two kids, Genevieve and Otis Cleverley, was a superstar from the moment he stepped onto the varsity track, breaking Jefferson school records in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash as a freshmen.
While the sprinter was an immediate force, it took him some time to crack the big time. He first had to overcome a ferocious arch nemesis not far down the road. Perry’s Mike Tice, a three-time state champion, was a repeated thorn in Cleverley’s side, defeating him twice at the Midwest Conference meet.
Cleverley eventually escaped Tice’s clutches in the Perry Bluejays’ senior year. Though Cleverley finished runner-up to Tice at the Midwest Conference meet for the second straight year, he pulled a massive upset in the 1984 state finals, snatching the 100-meter title. An unforgettable moment in time, punctuated by a remarkable sprint.
The Jefferson Herald headline on May 29, 1984 read “Todd Cleverley dethrones Tice in 100 m.”
Cleverley also finished fifth in the 200-meter in 1984, setting the stage for one last hurrah. He only seemed to get faster as the years wore on. One of Jefferson’s most-decorated track and field stars begin his final season in the black and red with a record-setting performance. He broke the all-time Jefferson school record in the 100-meter dash with a blistering time of 10.8 seconds at a meet in Sac City, foreshadowing what was to come. The feat still hangs with Iowa’s best-ever. Iowa’s all-time best prior to digital timing is held by Carroll’s Adam Haluska, who ran a 10.1 in 2002. West Burlington Notre Dame’s Isaiah Trousil set the all-time digitally-timed record in 2017 at 10.53 seconds.
Cleverly capitalized on that record-shattering run, qualifying for the 1985 Drake Relays, where he was the highest finishing Class 3A athlete, placing sixth overall as the only non-4A runner in the finals.
Cleverley kept building on the momentum of a brilliant senior year, sweeping the three sprint events at districts in 1985, victorious in the 100-meter, the 200-meter and the 400-meter dash, securing his third straight appearance at the Iowa high school state track and field meet.
The stage was set, and Cleverley delivered. His speed was on full display at the 1985 state meet in Des Moines, capturing the Class 3A 100-meter title with a time of 11.42 seconds. He then secured his third career state title, capturing victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.7 seconds, securing a massive lead by the turn.
Punctuating his stellar weekend, Cleverly finished fourth in the 400-meter dash, his sixth top 10 finish of his career.
Cleverley went on to run at Luther College. He married Michelle Loucks in September of 1995, to which a pair of children were born.
The father was artistically gifted, working as a mold designer for Plynetics in Oregon and California before moving back to Iowa. He later worked as a prototype designer for CDaD as well as MD Orthopedics in Iowa City, creating shoes to help correct foot deformities in children.
Cleverley’s body will be cremated. Private funeral services have not been scheduled.
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