SALINAS – Clara Adams, the North Salinas High runner who won the state championship 400-meter race only to have her title taken away for excessive celebration, will be transferring to Watsonville High this school year.
“I will miss my friends,” Adams said. “I’m not excited about moving. But I know it’s for the best. I really didn’t feel like North Salinas supported my dad.”
Adams’ father, David, had been the North Salinas sprint coach for the past five years, while coaching his daughter for the last decade.
“I have been saying out loud that I want to coach football and track at the same school,” said David Adams. “I started singing that song at Watsonville, and they started dancing.”
Hired as a junior varsity head coach/defensive coordinator at Watsonville for football in April, Adams will also become the school’s sprint coach next spring.
“I didn’t plan to coach track at Watsonville until 2027 when Clara graduated,” Adams said. “What changed is I woke up one morning and saw North Salinas was looking for a head track coach – one that was promised to me in 2025. I still have the letter. My chest fell to my feet. I knew it was time for me to go.”
Leaving North Salinas hasn’t come without mixed emotions for both. The elder Adams went to North Salinas and was a standout in football and track.
“You have to understand North Salinas was my school before it was Clara’s,” David Adams said. “I thought long and hard, even shed some tears. But there’s no turning back.”
The elder Adams insists he would not have pulled his daughter if she weren’t willing. And at first, Clara Adams wanted to stay.
“I know my dad has wanted to coach football,” Adams said. “It didn’t work out at North Salinas. I am glad a school supported him. I’m happy for him.”
Clara Adams tore up the track, winning the California Interscholastic Federation State 400-meter title. Shortly after winning, she was given a fire extinguisher by her father that she used to spray her shoes with, an act meant to represent that she had run so fast her shoes had caught fire. Officials deemed spraying her shoes with a fire extinguisher as excessive celebrating and disqualified her from the meet.
The 16-year-old incoming junior would have been one of the favorites in the 200 at the state finals, but wasn’t allowed to compete.
Adams, who is competing next weekend in the National Junior Olympics in the 18-under division in the 200 and 400, has run 23.42 seconds in the 200 and 53.23 in the 400.
North Salinas High’s Clara Adams heads for the finish line, winning the Girls 400 Meter during the Central Coast Section championships in Gilroy, Calif., on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
“Clara’s departure is a significant loss for our school community,” North Salinas principal Mary White said. “She has inspired her teammates and brought pride to North Salinas through her achievements. She’s a remarkable young woman whose character, leadership and kindness left a lasting mark on campus.”
In two years at North Salinas, Adams became the school’s first female Central Coast Section track and field champion in the 200 as a freshman in 2024, then won a CCS 400 title last spring.
She is the first female at North Salinas to podium at the state championships, having finished fourth as a freshman in the 400 in 2024, and is still viewed by many as the reigning state 400 champion.
“It makes me happy that I can still compete in high school,” said Clara Adams, who had considered running unattached in college meets next spring. “I still have the same goals, just a different school. I’ll have to get used to yellow and black (Watsonville’s school colors).”
Adams, who also plays volleyball, will try out for the Watsonville team when she returns from the National Junior Olympics on Aug. 4.
“She will truly be missed,” White said. “We are deeply saddened to see her go. We respect her decision and remain incredibly proud of all she has accomplished. We wish Clara continued success and happiness in her next chapter.”
Adams leaves North Salinas as the school record holder in the 200, 400 and 800, just missing the 100-meter mark.
“It was hard for me to pull her out,” David Adams said. “I had to make an executive decision for my future. I told her I wouldn’t force her to leave. What changed her mind was when she found out the athletic director put out an ad for a new head track coach.”
David Adams applauded Watsonville principal Joe Gregorio for ignoring the noise and giving him a chance to coach both football and track at the same school.
“I would not put my daughter in a bad situation,” Adams said. ”I did my homework. The principal has been supportive and transparent. My first priority was her education.”
North Salinas’ Clara Adams celebrates by setting off a fire extinguisher in the infield after winning the Girls 400 Meter Dash during the CIF State Track and Field Championships on Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis on Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
While he was hired as a football coach at Watsonville on April 1, David Adams was not guaranteed a position as a track coach until this past weekend.
“I want to coach sprinters,” Adams said. “Clara just happens to be a sprinter. I wasn’t happy at North Salinas. So I rolled the dice. Every successful person has taken a risk. I was willing to bet on myself.”
Through the turmoil of having her state title stripped and weighing a decision to change schools, Clara Adams has kept her focus on the track.
She broke the county 200-meter record three weeks ago at the Junior Olympic Qualifier in Reno, and approached her career mark in the 400 at the Nike Meet in Eugene, Oregon in late June.
“I’m letting everything play out,” said Adams, who has a name-image-license deal through the Politely Raw podcast and has dozens of colleges reaching out to her. “I’ve been focused on the Junior Olympics. I’m looking at this as a new chapter. It’s time to move on.”
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Her father was quick to point out that when Adams enrolled at North Salinas as a freshman, she did not know anyone.
“She’s a down-to-earth, likeable kid that’s just faster than most,” David Adams said. “I’m not trying to rush her age. She’s my only child. Your goal is for your kids to be better than you. She’s already surpassed that. She adapts well in her environment.”
The fact that both are making changes in their lives together is helping with the transition. Both wished it could have worked out at North Salinas.
“You know when you’re wanted and when you’re not,” David Adams said. “I believe they only kept me because Clara is fast.”
“It’s truly unfortunate,” White said. “Clara is an all-around superstar. We love and respect her and I have a big place in my heart for her dad.”
Almost overshadowed by the move is that the Adamses have not stopped in their fight to get her state 400-meter title reinstated, with a lawsuit looming against the CIF.
“We are not letting it go,” David Adams said. “We’re letting Clara finish her season. Her season will end Aug. 2. By Aug. 4, we will pursue our case for her to be reinstated as a state champion. Everyone saw that she won the race. We will proceed.”
