Kaplan's Gabe Clement commits to run track for UCLA

KAPLAN — Kaplan High graduate Gabe Clement Jr. had his choice of running track at four major universities — LSU, TCU, UL and UCLA.
Three of the four have one thing in common — it is hot during track season.
The one university that is not hot during track season is where Clement decided he wanted to be for the next four years.
Clement committed to running track at UCLA, which is located in Los Angeles.
“The weather played a huge contribution,” said Clement. “It was perfect. They said this was how it was all year round.”
The average temperature in April and March is in the mid-70s during the day and 50s at night at UCLA.
He and his family visited the campus on June 21 and stayed for a week. Former great Kaplan football player “Mookie” Mouton (1997-1998) lives in Los Angeles and is related to the Clement family.
After the week in California, the Clements returned to Kaplan and waited to see what type of scholarship UCLA would offer before committing.
He plans to major in pre-medicine, dreaming of one day becoming a physician assistant.
“UCLA is the best public school in California and is a great place to earn a degree,” said Clement. “The hardest part about moving to Los Angeles is being away from my family. The good thing is that I have family in Los Angeles already. This is an opportunity I can not pass up. I am ready.”
Clement made Vermilion Parish history by becoming the first athlete from the parish to commit to UCLA in any sport.
Clement is coming off a stellar senior year at KHS.
He won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes at the Class 3A state outdoor track meet in May.
Earlier in the year, he ran a 46.9-second race in the 400-meter dash. No other parish sprinter has run that fast in the 400.
His best time in the 100 is 10.55 seconds and in the 200 his best time is 21.31.
Gabe Clement Sr. has helped guide him throughout his track and field journey. The older Clement ran track at Kaplan in the early 1990s and then went on to run track at USL (now UL-Lafayette).
The elder Clement went with his son on the four visits and said he is not surprised by his son’s choice.
“When he ran at Nationals in Oregon as a junior, we got off the plane and he loved the weather. So when UCLA came calling, I knew he would like it. The weather is a plus, and it is a beautiful campus,” Gabe Sr. said.
The younger Clement will no longer be a big fish in a small pond. UCLA has four sprinters running in the 45s and another in the low 46s.
“I know they will push me in practice,” said Clement. “I know I have to train harder to be as good as them.”
As a freshman, his father said his son could run in the low 46s and high 45s with proper weight training at UCLA.
The Clement family has been Gabe’s biggest supporter. However, traveling to Los Angeles to watch him run will be tough, said Gabe Sr.
They plan on watching his races on the internet.
His father said he had hoped his son would have selected UL, but that was because it was where he ran. However, he understands it is his son’s life.
“I want him to enjoy his own experience,” said his father. “It is his journey and he does not walk in my shoes. He is his own person.”