WESTFIELD — If Thursday was the appetizer for Saturday’s main event, Jonas Clarke could be making history.
The South Hadley senior put together an impressive 200-meter dash on Day 1 of the MIAA All-State Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Westfield State University. Seeded third in the field, Clarke pulled away down the home stretch to capture the individual title with a personal record time of 21.06 seconds.
While he fell just short in his pursuit of a state record in the event — a time of 20.93 seconds set back in 1981 — it was quite the opening statement at the two-day meet from Clarke. His pursuit of sweeping the sprint events at the All-State meet now turns to Saturday where he’ll go for another win and another state record in the 100-meter dash.
“All eyes are on that 100 now,” Clarke said with a smile afterward. “This was a race, Saturday is the race.”
Clarke, who ran a 21.15 in the 200 prelims on Thursday, bested the rest of the field in the finals by 0.41 seconds. Newton North’s Everton Muir was the runner-up in 21.47.
“I was so close to breaking 21 (seconds),” Clarke said. “That was one of my goals going into my senior year. It’s definitely something I’ll be aiming for at Nationals.”
South Hadley track coach Nick Davis said that Clarke will now try and recover on Friday before taking a crack at the state record in the 100 on Saturday. The previous mark of 10.36 seconds has also held since 1981 — both the 100 and 200 marks were set by Ayer High School’s Mike Morris. Clarke enters Saturday with a seed time of 10.44 seconds.
“The hard part about a two-day meet is staggering it so he’s not fried at the end of Day 1,” Davis explained of Clarke. “He knows everyone is going to be watching. The nice part is that this isn’t his first rodeo. He has this outside pressure of trying to break these 40-something year old records, but he’s just going to go about his routine as he always does and try and stay loose.”
The 100-meter finals are scheduled for around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday.
“These are the meets I’ve been waiting for,” Clarke said.
A dynamite freshman season continued Thursday for Amherst freshman Moriah Luetjen.
A week after finishing third in the MIAA Division 4 Championships in the 200-meter dash, Luetjen took nearly a full half second off that time during Thursday’s All-State meet. The freshman finished fifth overall with a time of 25.25 seconds, qualifying for the New England Championships in the process as a top six finisher.
Luetjen, who won the Div. 4 state title in the 400 meters on Monday, ran a 25.59 in the prelims on Thursday before kicking it into overdrive on an inside lane in the finals. Westford Academy’s Elliana Tweedie won the 200 title in 24.77 seconds.
It was just the beginning of what could be a huge weekend for the young Hurricanes star, as she’ll enter as the No. 6 seed in the 400 on Saturday back in Westfield.
Alena Maes-Polan saved her best for last.
The Frontier Regional School senior went out with a bang on Thursday. Maes-Polan cleared a personal record of 10 feet even in the girls pole vault, taking eighth place.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Maes-Polan, whose previous PR was 9 feet, 9 inches. “At the beginning of the season, I wanted to break 10 feet. The fact that it all came together today was fabulous.”
Frontier junior Ayla Starr tied for 16th with a top clearance of 9-0. Westford Academy’s Megan Frazee won the pole vault at 11-6.
The fact that Maes-Polan even had a crack at 10 feet wasn’t a given about an hour earlier on Thursday. Vaulters get three attempts to clear a height before the bar is raised six inches, and she missed her first two attempts at 9-0.
“I was giving myself heart palpitations,” Maes-Polan said with a smile.
Once she cleared 9-0 on her third and final attempt, she was able to relax just a bit and continue on in the competition. She actually cleared 10-0 on her very first attempt, but was unable to vault 10-6, ending her afternoon.
“That third attempt is so very stressful but once you get it, it’s such an amazing feeling,” she explained.
Frontier girls track coach Bob Smith said Maes-Polan, who began vaulting as a seventh-grader, has been a dedicated athlete during her tenure with the Redhawks.
“I think this was a real accomplishment for her and a great way for her to cap off an outstanding career,” Smith lauded. “Both (Maes-Polan and Starr) are incredibly dedicated. I have to make them stop vaulting at the end of practice every day. Most days they’ll just look at you and go, ‘just one more?’ That attitude is what got them (to the All-State meet).”
South Hadley’s Emma Sanford didn’t back down against the best the state has to offer in the girls pentathlon on Thursday.
Sanford, who won the Div. 6 title in the event last week, took fourth place on Thursday with a total of 3,073 points.
Frazee, who won the pole vault title, also took home the pentathlon championship with 3,313 points.
Sanford was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles to start the competition on Thursday, then tied for third place in the high jump before nabbing third in the long jump and second in the shot put. She closed out her grueling day with a sixth-place performance in the 800-meter dash.
Amherst sophomore David Pinero-Jacome crossed the line in 16th place during the boys 800-meter dash, posting a time of 1:58.65.
Hampshire Regional’s Brie Salomao took 16th in the girls triple jump, posting a top leap of 34 feet, 4 inches.