Here's the article from the SF Chronicle's website.
He has been called the state's best all-around track and field athlete in a half-century, which California High hurdler and jumper David Klech says is "exciting!"
His name has been bandied about with the names Bob Mathias and Rafer Johnson -- both gold-medal decathletes. That, the gangly 6-foot-4, 160-pound junior says, is "really exciting!"
Last month, he was featured in Track and Field News and that was "totally unbelievable!"
But for all that, Klech has not even won a state title. In fact, he has advanced past the trials only once, finishing ninth out of 10 high-jump finalists last year.
What does the always upbeat Klech have to say about that? It was "disappointing, but a really positive experience," he said.
That disappointment should drive him today, when the 87th CIF state meet opens with trials at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.
In one amazingly busy and productive season, Klech has emerged as one of the meet's headliners, qualifying first in the 300-meter hurdles and among the top six in three other events.
No athlete has ever won four individual events at the California state meet and only three males have won three, the most recent one being Jerry Proctor from Muir of Pasadena in 1967.
With the country's second-fastest time this year, Klech is a strong favorite in the 300 hurdles. Considering he's a 7-foot high jumper, and owns the state's third best time in the 110 hurdles -- the top mark is by James Logan's Kevin Craddock, who is out with a hamstring pull -- and best long- jump mark this year, Klech could make history.
If he doesn't make it this year, there's always next season.
"My goal is to simply get to finals in all four events while expending the least amount of energy possible," Klech said. "Then, in the finals, I'll just let it all loose."
Which is how he attacks every 300 hurdles race.
"The way he attacks that race is eye-popping," said Rich Gonzalez, who is co-editor of DyeStatCal, the Web site of record for high school track and field.
Said California coach Mark Karbo: "It's a thing of beauty. It really is."
At first glance, he's just a gawky, fidgety teenager with all his pre- race quirks -- snapping wrists, kicking feet, jumping in place and cracking his neck. He's dressed in his school's Halloween colors with orange socks rolled to a ridge just below the knee. His hair is tinted to complement the color scheme.
From the start, he's gone. It's over. It's a hair-raising sight watching the awkward kid become a man among boys -- attacking the hurdles, making up the stagger on the four outside runners by the turn. It's all forward motion - - no bounce -- with long, fast strides that carry him to a 30-meter lead.
His ascent to national stardom came quickly -- "I like to do everything fast," Klech says -- during a whirlwind three weeks that started in late March. It included:
-- Marks of 6-8 (high jump), 24-7 (long jump) and 48.7 (400) at a league dual meet.
-- Wins in the 110 hurdles (14.29), 400 hurdles (52.75) and high jump (7- 0) at the Stanford Invitational.
-- Increasing his then state-best high jump to 7-0 3/4 and launching a wind-aided 24-7 3/4 long jump at the Oakland Relays, before facing nationally elite performers at the Arcadia Invitational, where he won the 110 hurdles (14. 13) and the 300 hurdles (36.28).
Considering Klech's other eye-opening marks in his "lesser" events, Doug Speck, the other DyeStatCal co-editor, says Klech may be the state's most versatile athlete since Mathias, the 1948 and '52 Olympic champion, and Johnson, the 1960 Olympic champion.
"Klech's range of events is what makes him so unique," Speck said. "(Other) guys had maybe three events, but Klech has four at a very high level."
Getting to each event on time with gas in the tank is probably Klech's biggest challenge. As he did in his childhood, he looks to his mom, Yvonne, for navigational help.
A highly competitive swimmer and soccer player since the age of 6 in San Ramon, Klech was chauffeured between events many weekends.
"We'd go from a swim meet to a soccer game, then he'd want to get back to the swim meet," Yvonne Klech said. "This track stuff going event to event is nothing new."
A soccer coach introduced him to track in the sixth grade.
Then, just last year, he reluctantly gave up swimming -- "David wasn't a big fan of 5:30 a.m. workouts," said Bill Klech, his father -- and soccer to focus on track.
"I don't sit still really well," Klech said. "I have to keep moving."
Add athleticism (his brother Bryan Klech was a 6-3, 225-pound first-team all-league lineman), and an ability to absorb information from eight different California coaches to his work ethic, and a star is born.
Determination has also helped. After his only false start, at the 2004 Stanford Invitational, Klech dug deep and the next day set two personal records and defeated Craddock in the 400 hurdles -- his only win over the three-time state champion.
He had the electronic finish-line picture of him edging Craddock (54.73 to 54.75) blown up, and it is framed prominently in his bedroom.
"I gained a lot of confidence that day," Klech said.
That was the day Klech also introduced his knee-high socks and dyed his hair for the first time. It's become his trademark at every big meet.
"I decided from that day forward, I was going to add more of myself into every race," Klech said. "I was going to give more of myself."
Four times more, in fact.