Jonas Clarke isn’t used to sharing the podium with anyone. But in his last year of high school track, he guessed that maybe, just this once, he’d be OK sharing a title.
South Hadley’s Clarke and Frontier’s Jack Vecellio were named co-winners of this spring’s Daily Hampshire Gazette Boys Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year – a rarity when it comes to postseason awards.
“I was like, ‘Oh dang, looks like I have to share this one with you,’” Clarke said with a laugh.
Neither of them are used to sharing titles – both Clarke and Vecellio recently capped high school careers for the history books, and it’s safe to say that their records (and they have set many of them) will stand for years to come.
When it came down to it, Clarke and Vecellio made waves in Massachusetts this year; both successfully broke state records that they had been gunning for all season. Clarke won the 100-meter dash and broke the old state record with an official time of 10.395 seconds at the MIAA Meet of Champions. At the same meet, Vecellio cleared 17 feet, 1½ inches on the pole vault, setting both a meet and state record in one fell swoop.
Breaking records and winning titles has become the norm for this pair of local standouts. Both have competed at an elite level for most of their careers, and they’ve traveled around the country to compete against the best of the best. That’s partly how the two met and became friends.
“When we were both freshmen, we both went to this outdoor nationals in North Carolina and we were both Western Mass. representatives. We knew of each other but then that’s when we kind of realized that we were both from the same area of the state,” Clarke said. “We started just talking on social media and stuff and then we actually became pretty close.”
The two would often travel to the same college meets together, a chance for them to compete against competition that was more at their level and an opportunity for them to talk to college coaches as they started the recruiting process. Those meets also gave them a chance to hang out and grow closer; the two have become tight-knit over their four-year high school career. Vecellio kept his college list relatively private, but Clarke was one of the few people he did share it with. The two also help each other stay relaxed at meets, joking and laughing to keep the atmosphere light before high-stakes races and jumps. But don’t mistake their cool demeanors for nonchalance – Clarke and Vecellio are both fiercely competitive, something else they have in common.
“It’s cool to see him at those super big meets far away, and there’s a way where we kind of push each other in this competitive way – we’re doing different events, but we both have the same goals to reach this, or break that mark, or we’ll both try to be national champions one year,” Vecellio said. “So we have that competitive mindset with each other.”
Though they’ll travel even further from each other next season – Clarke will be competing for Harvard University, while Vecellio is leaving for warmer weather with Clemson University — they hope they’ll cross paths at least a couple of times at collegiate meets.
As Vecellio prepares for college, he looked back on his high school season with mixed emotions. He was able to accomplish one of his main goals – clearing 17 feet and setting a new state record, something that he’ll remember for a long time.
“That was the best feeling in my high school career. That was the most memorable moment. I was so stoked,” Vecellio said. “It felt like — I don’t want to say it felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders, but it was like a check. I was so glad I finally got it.”
But his postseason results weren’t always what he hoped for. Pole vaulting isn’t a very forgiving sport, Vecellio admitted. He didn’t achieve the results he wanted at outdoor nationals, clearing just 16-1. But despite the setback, Vecellio has remained mentally tough, thanks in part to a new sports psychologist, Robert Andrews, that he’s been working with.
“I would meet with him once every week, every other week. He’s super great. He’s a sports psychologists for a lot of Olympic athletes,” Vecellio said. “He has helped me with my competition mindset, handling adversities like rain, anything that doesn’t go my way… everything that you can be prepared for in competition. He’s always been there for me and I’ve improved from a 16-footer to a 17-footer with him.”
Clarke thought his senior season might be over before it really even started. A hamstring tear in his very first meet of the spring outdoor campaign caused a major setback for the sprinting phenom.
“It was pretty bad — I couldn’t run for four weeks. I could walk, but it was really painful walking. So honestly I was really surprised I bounced back as well as I did. I kind of thought my season was over when I hurt it, I was just gonna sit it out just to get ready for college,” Clarke said. “That explosiveness was gone from all the lifting and all the work I’ve done in the indoor season…. when you don’t work out for two weeks, everything’s gone. So I didn’t work out for four weeks and everything’s gone. But you know, it is what it is. I know I can run faster than I have this year and hopefully I can demonstrate that next year in college.”
Like Vecellio, Clarke is getting ready to start a new chapter at college: figuring how who his roommates will be, scheduling his classes around his new practice schedules, and buying a new suit – “I think it’s just a Harvard thing.” While he’s nervous to make the jump from high school to college, he’s thrilled to get an opportunity to compete for a bigger institution that can offer him more resources for his training.
“I think that in my four years at South Hadley High School, I got a lot more accomplished than I ever thought I could have. Being from a small town, you don’t expect to compete on such a national level,” Clarke said. “I always think, I can’t wait for when I’m healthy an entire season next year when I have a lot more intensive training more focused on my muscles and recovery and such at a higher institution that has the money to drop it on stuff like that.”
Logan Alfandari, freshman, Amherst
Ryland Breen, freshman, Northampton
Jael Cabrera, senior, Holyoke
Jonas Clarke, senior, South Hadley
Riley Cole, senior, Northampton
Rowan Hodgson, senior, Northampton
Theodore King-Pollet, sophomore, Northampton
Gulian Marconi, senior, Hampshire
David Pinero-Jacome, sophomore, Amherst
Miguel Pinero-Jacome, sophomore, Amherst
Jackson Seney, senior, Hampshire
Jack Vecellio, senior, Frontier
Ryan Yanko, senior, Amherst
Nick Brisson, sophomore, Hampshire
Erich Brown, junior, Frontier
Ian Burt, sophomore, Frontier
Josh Denoronha, junior, Hampshire
Simon Dostal, junior, Northampton
Tristan Doyle, senior, Amherst
Adrian Dybacki, senior, Hampshire
Jeffrey Fish, senior, Hampshire
Luke Howard, 8th grade, Frontier
Jack Kamins, freshman, Northampton
Moniha Krouch, freshman, Amherst
Dylan Lubold, junior, Holyoke
Jude Mourad, junior, Northampton
The Savior Robinson, sophomore, Amherst
Liam Sibley-Welch, senior, South Hadley
Aidan Valderrama, sophomore, Frontier
Kyle Yanko, sophomore, Amherst
Joe Boyer, junior, Easthampton
Tim Cahill, sophomore, Hampshire
Jaden Diaz, freshman, Holyoke,
Nicholas Elias-Gillette, sophomore, Hampshire
Ryan O’Donnell, senior, Easthampton
Adrien Pazmandy, 8th grade, Frontier
Tafari Proctor, senior, Amherst
Dan Widmer, 8th grade, Frontier