Jordan Clarke is moving up in the world.
Clarke, the 24-year-old shot putter from Anchorage, unleashed the world's sixth-best shot put effort of the year Saturday to finish second at the Adidas Grand Prix track and field meet at Randall Island, New York.
With a heave of 70 feet, one-quarter inch, Clarke grabbed second place for the second straight week at a Diamond League meet.
His performance earned him $6,000 as well as growing respect in the track world.
"Most of the Americans all knew who I was just because we all follow each other, but a lot of the international people only heard of me from my NCAA career," said Clarke, who won four NCAA shot put championships at Arizona State
"But now with the last two performances, people are definitely starting to see that, fortunately and unfortunately, we have another American making it harder for them and harder for us."
Clarke missed his personal best of 70-1.5, recorded a year ago, by 1.25 inches. The throw was his best this season, topping the 69-9.75 throw that gave him second place at a Diamond League meet a week earlier in Rome.
"I was four centimeters away from breaking my old PR, so it was a very close miss," Clarke said in a phone interview from his New York hotel room. "I feel really good about it."
His medal-winning throw came in the fifth of six throws. Twice he exceeded 21 meters, and on his second throw, he fouled while uncorking a throw of 21.5 (70-6.5).
"Everything is going as planned," said Clarke, a Bartlett High graduate. "Two meets back-to-back with throws over 21 meters is a good sign the consistency has gone up quite a bit.
"It's pretty exciting, because I'm starting to get into really good shape but I haven't peaked yet for the U.S. championships.'
The national championships are June 25-28 in Eugene, Oregon. Clarke will spend the next two weeks at his Phoenix home training for the meet, where three spots in the Aug. 22-30 world championships in Beijing will be up for grabs. Clarke said there he'll be one of seven men at the meet who rank among the best in the world.
"No matter what happens, we're leaving home four guys that are just as worthy as the guys going to Beijing," he said.
Saturday in New York, five Americans placed in the top seven, a group led Joe Kovacs, who won with a throw of 71-1.25. Kovacs is the world leader in the shot put this year with a 73-4.
Among those whom Clarke beat were 2007 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Reese Hoffa of the United States, 2009 world champion and Olympic silver medalist Christian Cantwell of the United States and 2013 world-championship bronze medalist Ryan Whiting of the United States.
"It was a very stacked field, which made it really fun," Clarke said.
So did the $6,000 paycheck, the same amount Clarke won last week in Rome.
"It's nice to start making a little bit of money doing what I love to do," Clarke said.
Reach Beth Bragg at 257-4335 or bbragg@alaskadispatch.com