He’s Jumping at a Chance for Stardom : Track and field: State high school long jump champion Scott is new to event but has already surpassed 25 feet.

Clarence Scott III considers himself a bit of an oddity. Unlike most of his neighborhood peers, the Fremont High junior is not interested in fast cars or loud music. Parties and cool clothes also are not high on his list.

What does get Scott’s adrenaline pumping is a meeting with Olympic hero Carl Lewis, such as the one that occurred Tuesday afternoon at Rancho Cienega Park in Southwest Los Angeles.

“What a thrill to be introduced to Carl Lewis,” Scott said moments after the chance meeting. “He’s a lot bigger in person than he looks on TV. What a cool guy. He’s so talented.”

For the state long jump champion, exchanging words with Lewis is understandably a big deal. Scott is still reminiscing about last year’s meeting with Mike Powell, the world record-holder in the long jump.

Steve Lang, Scott’s coach, said he told Lewis and Powell to watch out for his star pupil.

“Clarence is going to go far in the long jump because of his natural ability in the event,” said Lang, who coached jumpers at USC and UCLA, among them Powell, before taking over the track program at Fremont. “I have an eye for this kind of a thing, and this kid knows how to jump. He has the instincts.”

Scott, 17, grew up playing basketball and made the varsity team at La Puente Nogales High as a freshman. But at 5 feet 8 and 145 pounds, he knew his future in the sport was limited.

After moving in with his father and enrolling at Fremont in the fall of 1993, Scott expressed interest in the track team. His father, Clarence Jr., met with Lang on several occasions to discuss his son’s future.

“I recognize that my son has some tremendous abilities, so I felt it was important for me to take a role in his training,” said Clarence Jr., a retired railroad worker. “I want my son to know I’m behind him 100%. Most parents don’t take the time these days.”

Scott is at ease on the track but the long jump is his real love. The first time he jumped, he went 19 feet. His improvement has been steady, if not spectacular. At the City Section preliminaries last month, he jumped 25 feet 4 1/2 inches, the top high school mark in the country this year and only a foot shy of the national high school record.

The City Section record is 25-5, set by Willie Davis of Roosevelt High in 1958.

Although he jumped farther than 23 feet last year during his first season of organized track, Scott was kept off the varsity team to improve his mental toughness.

“I’m building a team here, and throwing a sophomore with little experience into big meets isn’t smart,” said Lang, a high jump champion at Fremont in the 1960s. “Clarence is still developing his skills, and hurrying him along is not in his best interests.”

Scott would have been a contender in the long jump at the City Section finals last year, but he did not mind waiting his turn.

“If I would have won City as a sophomore, I would have expected myself to win the state title as well,” Scott said. “I don’t think I was quite up to that, so waiting a year made sense.”

The strategy paid off. Intense training increased his speed and strength and improved his technique. At the Arcadia Invitational in April, Scott won the long jump in 24-6 3/4, a personal best. He broke 25 feet at the City Section preliminaries and won the state meet with a jump of 24-7 3/4.

Such rapid improvement makes Lang believe that 26 feet, and possibly even 27, are not unrealistic goals. The Fremont coach said Scott benefits from his late start in track because he knows no boundaries.

“If Clarence had been long-jumping for many years, he would know that 25 feet in the long jump is not easy,” Lang said. “But since he is new to the sport, he really doesn’t have limits. He thinks he can just keep going further and further.”

Scott, with the help of his father, is trying to stay focused on school and track. He realizes a college scholarship will be offered next year if he keeps on top of things. Maintaining grades and citizenship, though, is not easy in a neighborhood filled with gangs.

Clarence Jr. walks his son to school every day and attends all of his practices and meets. He is not reluctant to express his opinions to teachers and coaches.

“I often hear that a young African-American man is a dying breed,” Clarence Jr. said. “I want to prove that is not true, and I’m doing that through my son.”

Scott tries to maintain perspective. He is enjoying his newfound success but wishes the long jump was a more high-profile event, like the sprints. He tries not to daydream about the Olympics too much.

“This is all so new to me that I’m still not quite sure what I’ve accomplished,” Scott said. “I know I’ve got the potential to keep getting better.”

Scott is training this summer with the Los Angeles Jets and will represent the club at the USA Track and Field Junior Championships today and Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. The meet, for athletes 19 and under, qualifies the top two finishers in each event for the Junior Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in September.

Scott will have his hands full. Four of the competitors have jumped 25 feet or longer this year, among them University of Florida freshman Dominick Millner, whose top mark is 25-10 3/4.

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Meet Notes

Field events begin at 9 a.m. today and running events at 5. Saturday’s finals begin at 10 a.m. for field events and 6 for running events. . . . Two of the Southland’s top sprinters will not be competing. Bryan Howard of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs is nursing ankle and hip injuries, and LaKeisha Backus of Long Beach Wilson is taking the summer off. . . . One of the biggest showdowns is in the boys’ 400, where state champion Obea Moore of Pasadena Muir will battle Michael Granville of Bell Gardens.