2019 Female Athlete of the Year honor by Kemna Auto representative Eric Hippen.
Ashlyn Clark’s Fearless Fight Facebook
‘I wasn’t going to let cancer take this away’
Clark’s summer softball story of sheer determination inspires thousands
LOCAL SPORTS AUG 2, 2019
CHRIS JOHNSON
Assistant Sports Editor
cjohnson@messengernews.net
Quitting was never an option for Ashlyn Clark.
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So many times, when facing adversity, people see giving up or giving in as their only
way out. This recently graduated Humboldt High School senior instead became a fighter.
Through her battle with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma — knowingly or sometimes even unknowingly — Clark has become a superstar in the eyes of many, and an idol to young athletes who have connected with her sheer will and affable personality.
Her story now includes snapping pictures or signing autographs for anyone
from 10-year-old girls to Chicago Cubs all-star and world champion Jon Lester.
“I think it’s amazing (being an inspiration to others),” Clark said.
“I’m just trying to be myself throughout the whole process.
“I’ve always been strong, but I guess I never realized how strong.”
Even with her cancer diagnosis, Clark fought back and finished her career
at Humboldt on the softball field with her teammates.
“I never considered (stepping away from sports) as an option,” said Clark, an Iowa Central Community College volleyball recruit. “I had a lot of things taken away from me right away … I wasn’t going to let cancer take this away (softball).
“My love for the game kept me motivated.”
Because of her grit and determination and sheer overall production as a Wildcat,
Clark has been named the 2019 Kemna Auto Female Athlete of the Year.
“It means a lot (to be recognized), because there were so many athletes (in the region) to choose from,” Clark said. “It’s an honor.” During her treatment schedule, when her body would allow, Clark was either with her teammates in the dugout or in right field — a place she considers “home.”
Clark put together a successful final campaign despite only being able to take the field for select games, earning second team all-North Central Conference honors for the Wildcats. She saw action in 18 games total and had 26 at-bats, hitting .462. Clark scored two runs and drove in nine.
Clark has experienced many memorable moments, but two come to mind above all the others.
“My favorite memories would be making a diving catch against Davenport Assumption at state (in the semifinals last summer), or hitting my home run (last month),” Clark said. “Just because I had so much taken away … the homer (on Senior Night) was a personal win.”
The photo of Clark with her home run ball went viral.
Attracting hundreds of responses and thousands of views on social media. She went deep on the eve of her 18th birthday and hours before a scheduled round of treatment at the Mayo Clinic. A few days later, Lester saw the picture and invited Clark and her family —
as personal, VIP guests — to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
So much has changed about Clark’s health, but Humboldt head coach Doug VanPelt
knows she’s still the same person at her core.
“She didn’t want to be Ashlyn with cancer. She just wanted to be Ashlyn,” Van Pelt said. “She was no different on the softball field. To earn second-team NCC (recognition) in a limited amount of games was an honor. Her production was right there where it was last year, but you can’t put a value on what she accomplished.
“What she did between the fences, while she was dealing with what was going on outside of them … it was a thing of beauty.”
VanPelt saw no wavering in Ashlyn’s ability
or desire to play after being diagnosed in early May.
“‘Will’ is the key word with Ashlyn,” Van Pelt said. “She’s had that in her battle with cancer, and in her will to continue to play. From day one, she wanted to get back and stay on the field. Ashlyn’s story is just unbelievable; a great testament to her perseverance.
“Anybody that has followed Ashlyn and anyone who has dealt with cancer with someone they love believes in a higher power. Ashlyn had to overcome a lot to be at our ball games. She has touched people’s hearts and emotions and inspired so many.
It’s truly been unbelievable.”
Through her battles on and off the field, Clark has always experienced unconditional support from her family, her coach and her hometown. There have been fundraisers and rallies in her name across Iowa this summer, with programs like Fort Dodge and St. Edmond joining the cause. Her own school held “Ashlyn’s Night at the Ballpark” in late June, which attracted thousands of people to Humboldt for an evening of fun activity. Former Iowa Hawkeye and Iowa State Cyclone stars made it a headline event.
“Humboldt has been a great community to play sports in.
We’re like one big family,” Clark said. “(Coach) Van Pelt has been the biggest influence throughout my athletic career. He had so much respect for us that we just automatically have it back for him.
“My mom has been my rock throughout this whole process, and my family’s strength
for me … is just breathtaking (Ashlyn told the Messenger in an earlier interview). “
After four years of running track and playing basketball, softball and volleyball at Humboldt, Clark will narrow her schedule down to one sport and play for Tritons’ head volleyball coach Sara Horn.
“I’ve known Ashlyn for a while now, and she’s come to our open gyms,” Horn said.
“She is a great athlete with a tremendous attitude. Her positivity is just fantastic.
She doesn’t let anything deter her.
She wants to stay the course and keep moving forward.
“She isn’t going to let anything change who she is.”
Twenty-two-year-old Ashlyn Clark is a varsity volleyball head coach.
She is also a survivor of stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Clark was diagnosed with cancer four years ago.
In 2023, she is in two-and-a-half years of remission.
Clark’s dreams of playing volleyball in college were crushed once she was diagnosed.
Now, she shares her knowledge of the game with her players.
“I’ve told the girls I would take your spot any time of the week,” Clark said.
“I would love to go back and play again, but I can’t, I’m going to give you all my knowledge, everything that I have, to be the best coach for you guys.”
Clark has big goals for her team as she steps into a leadership role.
“I want to make a name for ourselves. I want to be a state competitor team every single year,” Clark said. ‘It’s an unbelievable story’: Humboldt softball player Ashlyn Clark inspiring others as she fights cancer.
Cody Goodwin The Des Moines Register
HUMBOLDT, Ia. — Commotion stirs around the Humboldt softball field as Ashlyn Clark settles into the home dugout. The press box operator blares the school’s fight song. Beyond right field, her coach blows up a giant bounce house. People walk toward the front gate. They’re eager.
Clark, a senior right-fielder for the Wildcats, watches in awe. Her smile draws attention away from her bald head. They’re all coming for her — to raise money, to offer support,
to say hello and share a hug. Many are wearing shirts bearing Clark’s No. 26. “It’s pretty crazy,” the 17-year-old says. “I never thought in a million years that I’d inspire other people.”
On a Thursday in late June, Clark is one day removed from a game against Webster City,
where she will record a hit in a 5-3 win.
The next day, the Wildcats will drive north to Algona, where she will get another hit in
a 7-0 victory. Three days after that, July 1, Clark heads farther north to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to begin another round of chemotherapy. She was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma in May and has spent her summer alternating between treatment and playing softball.
If Clark had her way, this story wouldn’t be about her. She mentions her team a lot during a 20-minute conversation. Humboldt is 23-2 and ranked No. 3 in Class 3A. The Wildcats finished fifth at state two years ago and third last season. All eyes are set on the team’s chase for a title later this month.
That’s what’s kept Clark’s spirits high over the last two months.
During long hospital stays, she dreams of returning to this dugout, where she either
plays or watches, depending on her energy levels. In 15 games this season, she’s hitting
.368 with a double and 4 RBIs.
Back in the dugout, Clark smiles. She watches more people pull into the parking lot behind the field. A fun night awaits. She turns and looks at the small sign up in the corner.
“Humboldt Softball,” it reads, “Where Champions Come To Play.”
Later, as the sun drops behind the trees, her mother, Kristi, shares a story:
“Every game, when they announce her name, I tear up,” Kristi says. “When she’s in the hospital, she’s like, ‘Mom, I want to get back to my happy place. I need to get back.’
“To see that smile and to watch her run out and be a kid and play a game she truly loves … It’s emotional.”
‘They always had a reason’
Sports were always going to be part of Ashlyn Clark’s life. Her father, Derrik, played football at Iowa State. Kristi works as a physical education teacher. Dallas Clark,
the All-American tight end for Iowa and All-Pro for the Indianapolis Colts, is her uncle.
So at a young age, Ashlyn and her younger sister, Kendal, played everything. They both grew into four-sport athletes — volleyball, basketball, track and softball. Last summer, Ashlyn hit .341 with 11 RBIs, 9 stolen bases and didn’t commit an error all season.
In May, Ashlyn signed to play volleyball at Iowa Central.
She helped lead the Wildcats to 89 volleyball wins in three years.
In October, Ashlyn says she started “feeling pretty crappy.” She grew tired easily,
which she found odd. Trips to the doctors always resulted in an explanation.
You have a cyst on your ovaries.
You have an ulcer.
You have low hemoglobin levels.
You’re just not feeling well. Get some rest.
“Every time we went to the doctors, they always had a reason,” Ashlyn recalls.
“So they put me on an iron pill, or birth control, or whatever else. It worked for a little bit, but then it’d stop. “In April, I would throw up every time I ate. Something was definitely wrong.”
Kristi thought maybe Lupus or Crohn’s syndrome. “Never in a million years would I have thought about cancer,” she says. “I should’ve known better than to hop on Google.”
The official diagnosis came May 8. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system. Her chemotherapy includes five rounds
of 21-day cycles. Her doctors encouraged her to live as normal as possible.
That meant playing softball.
“That’s what’s normal for her — to spend her days on the softball diamond,” Kristi says.
“To take that away, that would’ve been really tough. So giving her that moment of happiness in a trying time? I was 100% on board with that.”
Ashlyn’s first chemotherapy cycle bled into the beginning of the season.
But on May 31, she returned home and called Humboldt coach Doug Van Pelt.
I want to play, she told him.
Van Pelt met her at the field and they practiced catching fly balls.
He was impressed. She played at right that night. Humboldt won, 5-0.
“My hope, when she was diagnosed, was that she could walk out once with the starting lineup — uniform and everything — and then we’d take her out,” Van Pelt says.
“I couldn’t even dream that she would play.
“You hear the word cancer, and softball just doesn’t matter anymore — it’s about her getting healthy. But then she comes back and not only suits up but plays and contributes? It’s an unbelievable story.”
‘This is what Iowa is all about’
Back at the field Thursday, the commotion makes its way inside.
Van Pelt threw a fundraiser for Ashlyn and her family, complete with games, concessions and a celebrity softball game between former Iowa and Iowa State athletes. He dubbed it, “Ashlyn’s Night at the Ballpark.” As the sun sets behind the trees, Ashlyn takes it all in. She talks with teammates and takes pictures.
She stops to get a snow cone and a bottle of water. She wanders over to the home run derby area, where a boy named Michael in a Yankees shirt slaps one to dead center.
While she walks, a mother and a young girl, both wearing white shirts with a violet ribbon on it, stop to say hello. The mom talks with Ashlyn while the girl shouts to a friend nearby.
“That’s Ashlyn!” she says as she points.
The mom smiles and leans into Ashlyn.
“She talks about you all the time.”
The softball game is a who’s who of former Iowa and Iowa State stars. Ben Bruns, Joel Lanning and Brent Curvey all play on the Cyclones’ team while Dallas Clark, Ed Hinkel, and Greg Brunner represent the Hawkeyes.
Before the game, Dallas Clark had Ashlyn sign his shoes, then wrapped her in a hug.
“You’re an inspiration,” he says.
Longtime Iowa broadcaster Gary Dolphin grabs the mic for pregame introductions.
The stands behind home plate are full. More fans, including some softball players from Fort Dodge and Estherville Lincoln Central, line the first- and third-base lines as well as the outfield fence.
Dolphin jokes that the scene “is so Iowa.”
“I live 15 minutes from the Field of Dreams,” he continues. “That line — ‘Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.’ — Humboldt, this is Iowa. This is what Iowa is all about, helping our own.
“Ashlyn will beat this. She will kick it right in the you-know-what.”
An auction is held between innings. A Kirk Ferentz-signed Iowa helmet goes for $1,100.
A Matt Campbell-signed Iowa State helmet goes for $50 more. Ashlyn, a Cyclones fan, quietly pumps her fist.
Nearby, Kendal smiles. She wasn’t sure if she’d get to play with her sister one final time this season. She tears up at the thought.
“I don’t know what I would do without her,” Kendal says. “I’ve learned that every second
is a blessing, and to be with Ashlyn all the time. When she leaves, it’s heartbreaking, but when she’s there, it’s like a switch. It just gets the team going.”
Ashlyn’s shirt is bright yellow with her No. 26 on the back.
It was printed with her teammates’ signatures on it. There’s a hashtag at the bottom
that reads, “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” It’s a line from a Bible verse, she explains.
“I am beyond grateful to put a jersey on and step foot in this dugout, or any other dugout,” she says. “I’m a very competitive person, but a bad at-bat, in the broad aspect of life, really doesn’t matter. “You’ll think about it for a couple of hours, but I’m just so beyond grateful to even be out here.”
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