From "no, no, no" to "OK, I'll try it" to national elite status.

That, in a nutshell, constitutes the transformation of Jimmy Clark, the soccer player, to Jimmy Clark, one of the nation's top cross country runners. Granted, Clark put in endless hours of training, often running by himself in pre-dawn mornings with the idea that to be the best, you need to outwork the rest.

The Creekside senior did that this season, losing just one race and capping his season with a record-setting performance at the state meet and a top-10 finish at the national meet, the first Jacksonville runner to accomplish such a feat. Another honor comes today with his selection as the Times-Union All-First Coast Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.