South Hadley freshman Jonas Clarke stands alone in the sprint events at the All-State Track & Field Championships.
Clarke is the only freshman in the field for the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The All-State meet is Saturday at 3 p.m. at Westfield State.
Clarke, who won the 100 at the Division 2 Central/West Massachusetts meet, is the eighth seed in the event. He finished second in the 200 at the divisional meet and is seeded 13th at All-States.
Despite often being one of the youngest on the starting line for the races, Clarke stays unfazed by the competition.
“The competition’s really nice, at the big meets. I love them,” Clarke said. “The people there, they’re all really nice, they’re all really fast too.”
Seniors have the top three seeds in the 100, led by Acton-Boxborough’s Noah Sweeney (10.62 seconds). Clarke is seeded at 11.01.
Seniors have six of the top eight seeds in the 200, led by Lowell’s Andrew Bonsu (21.67). Clarke’s mark is 22.34.
After playing soccer in the fall, Clarke burst onto the scene for Tigers during the indoor track season. He holds the school records for the 55, 100 and 200 dashes.
“He kind of came out of nowhere,” coach Tim Laroche said. “It’s certainly been a game-changer for the entire program.”
South Hadley senior Savannah Sudyka will hope for another big throw in the shot put. She won the Central/West Division 2 title with a throw of 38 feet, 9 inches, just a half inch shy of her personal best. Sudyka is seeded sixth at All-States. Seekonk’s Cameron Garabian is first at 45-3.
Sudyka credits her coaches for her sustained success over the course of her career. She has qualified for the All-State meet every year since eighth grade.
“They know what I can do and they push me to succeed,” Sudyka said.
South Hadley has a number of athletes competing: Farrell Dawson (400), Jocelyne Rondeau (800), Emma Rahilly (100 hurdles), Lindsay Marjanski (high jump) and Paige Marjanski (triple jump). The Tigers will also field a 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 relay.
Northampton senior Emma Harder will compete in the 100 and 200 dashes. Junior Mary Yount will run the mile, and the Blue Devils will field a team in the 4×800 relay.
“I think I might be in the slow heat (of the mile), but I think trying to get the top places in the slow heat would be great,” Yount said. “I would love to PR.”
Northampton has several top-10 seeds in the boys meet.
Ethan Cooper is third in the 400, while Benjamin Gordon Sniffen is seventh in the 800 and the 4×400 is seventh.
Cole Lavalle is 11th in the 200.
“It’s our fourth year in a row with our (4×400) team making the fast heat,” Tucker Quinlan said. “I’m feeling really positive about it.”
Amherst Regional senior Sophia Jacobs-Townsley is second (10:56.2) in the 2-mile behind Natick’s Grace Connolly (10:44.63). Jacobs-Townsley is also 16th in the mile.
Amherst junior Isabela Shepard is seventh in the 400, while the 4×800 is 14th.
Kai Bailin is fourth in the boys 400 hurdles (54.82). Brockton’s Jordan Williams is first at 53.3. Frontier Regional’s Phaelon Koski is 22nd in the event.
Amherst is fourth in the 4×100 (43.19) with Acton-Boxborough first at 42.83.
Belchertown’s Zachary Bail is 20th in the boys 800, while teammate Evan Dunigan is 24th in the mile.
Hampshire Regional’s Jillian Scott is 20th in the girls pole vault.