by
Adele San Miguel
This article was published in Vaulter Magazine on October 1, 2020.
Earlier this year, when the world held a sense of vibrant possibility, Megan Clark made a comeback. At last injury free, Megan accomplished her best indoor season yet. She earned silver at the Millrose Games with a 4.40 meter jump. Two weeks later, she qualified for her second Olympic Trials by powering over 4.60 meters at the Toyota USATF Indoor Championships. Then the country shut down and the Trials were postponed, leaving Megan without a place to train, or a goal to aim for.
The daughter of Army Major General, Rob Clark, and mother Simona, Megan is accustomed to change. She attended ten schools K-12, and moved eight times before leaving home for Duke University. She trained at one of the top facilities in the country, the Hudson Valley Flying Circus, only to move to a Georgia high school with no track, no pit, no poles, and no coach. She set the state record and won the state title anyway.
Change is Megan’s constant. Raised to be ready, she knows how to adapt without resistance.
Popsicles and Pole Vault
Megan and her brother Matthew each dedicated themselves to a sport, so there was always a friend group to fit in with on the next move. As a freshman, Megan pursued track and field at Hayfield High School in Lorton, Virginia. She attempted every event. One particularly hot spring day, she spotted the pole vault coach, Randy McConchie, handing out popsicles to the vaulters. Megan sprinted over to try the event so she could have a popsicle. She did not know that her gymnastics past plus her mastery of running mechanics would equal quick success. She credits McConchie with building her strong foundation in the event.
In the fall of 2011, the Clark family of football fans believed Army could beat Duke on the road. They traveled to Durham, North Carolina for the game. Megan fell in love with the Collegiate Gothic and Georgian architecture, and the winding tree lined paths, bursting with the colors of fall. She imagined being a student there. At the time, her personal best was 10’6”. Megan confidently contacted vault coach Shawn Wilbourn, who told her thirteen feet was competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Inspired, Megan got to work.
By then, the Clarks had moved to West Point, New York, within an hour’s drive of The Flying Circus. Under the tutelage of Tim St. Lawrence, Megan thrived. She won the New York State Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and placed 4th and 7th at New Balance Nationals. She jumped 13’ her junior year. Wilbourn was the first coach to reach out, and Megan said yes to a future Duke address.
Megan finished high school in Fort Benning, Georgia, an area of the South where pole vault was not yet popular. Simona secured permission to use the track at a neighboring high school, and stepped into the box to take over as Megan’s coach. Coach St. flew down for a week to train mother and daughter.
“Megan Clark was a dream come true for me…. She has that special gift of spirit and she enjoys pole vault training to the fullest. She never missed a workout… she came to practice with an unbelievable positive motivation ‘state of mind’… She loves to train, and she loves competition. I was a blessed coach to be with her always,” said Coach St. Lawrence.
Megan concluded her high school career with state title victories in New York and Georgia, and an All State placement in Virginia.
Blue Devil
Megan’s first year at Duke was, in her own words, ‘great and terrible’. Coach Wilbourn changed several components of her jump, and as she worked through the adjustments, she either PR’d or no heighted from one week to the next. Her technique improved by her second year, but she broke four poles, which shook her confidence.
Forever an optimist, Megan eventually found her groove. By the time she graduated, she had collected a cluster of medals including in 2015, ACC Indoor Champion, NCAA Runner-Up, and ACC Outdoor Champion. In 2016, she won ACC Indoors; was the NCAA Indoor Runner-Up; the Penn Relays Champion; the ACC Outdoor Runner-Up; and the NCAA Outdoor 3rd place finisher. With three All America placements, Megan became the 4th collegiate woman to jump fifteen feet. Her indoor and outdoor records still stand in the ACC.
Duke proved to be a perfect fit athletically and academically. Megan graduated with a pre med degree and All Academic Honors, all four years. She left Durham for Eugene, Oregon to compete in the 2016 Olympic Trials. Megan proved she is one of the top U.S. women by jumping 4.60 at the Trials, placing fifth and tying with Katie Nageotte.
Though Megan feels her time at Duke was inconsistent, Coach Wilbourn recalls it differently:
“Megan has great talent but what she has most is resiliency and the ability to persevere after heartbreak. That’s what champions do, they get back up after setbacks and embrace the next challenge, competition, or season.”
Running Scared
After the 2016 Trials, Megan moved to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. Revisions to her jump ensued, and she found herself in a frustrating emotional cycle of confidence and struggle. In her quest to be perfect, she placed undue stress on herself and tore her soleous at the achilles attachment. Unable to run, she spent the 2017 season in a boot. She anticipated the 2018 season too quickly, and was injured again by that summer. Though disappointed with her season’s best of 4.51meters, Megan discerned how to allow wellness by training for health instead of for performance.
Megan opened her 2019 season at the Texas Relays. Beneath the shadow of broken poles and injury, her run lacked power and she waited too long to plant. Feeling desperate, she knew she needed to modify something, but did not know specifically what that should be.
Fortuitously, Bruce Caldwell was in attendance. Bruce is the founder of both ESSX and Fibersport Pole Vault Poles. He is a genius at pairing a vaulter to a pole, and has properly outfitted top vaulters the world over with the pole that will properly gauge their jump and maximize their success. Bruce offered Megan a lighter pole with a leading edge design. Bruce noted:
“Fibersport poles are lighter weight than most poles, giving Megan the ability to maintain excellent running dynamics. The poles provide the necessary timing needed to get upside down to catch that ride every vaulter seeks. Megan makes the poles look great!”
For Megan, Fibersports are easier to plant and roll. They move much faster and calibrate with her natural vault. She can come down the runway like she means it, and jump at her best without worrying about the pole.
Pole Vault as Family
Throughout the challenges, the ethos of the pole vault community is what kept Megan in the sport. Coach St. taught her that pole vault is unlike any other event: it is family. Vaulters and coaches lift as they climb. Megan experienced this first hand while receiving encouragement from Jenn Suhr, who also vaulted at The Flying Circus.
In 2013, after winning the USATF Junior National title, Megan competed at the Pan American Junior Championships. She traveled to Medellin, Colombia without issue; her poles, however, never left customs. She was forced to borrow a pole from Canadian vaulter Robin Bone, which she promptly broke during competition. Testing Robin’s good will, Megan asked for another pole. Robin said yes, Megan cleared the next bar, and a friendship came to be.
The organizers of a pole vault exhibition that took place in Herald Square, New York City in 2014, invited Megan to jump with Jenn Suhr, April Steiner Bennett, and Katerina Stefanidi. The thrilling experience opened Megan to possibility. She envisioned a post collegiate future in the sport. April championed her dream.
Megan’s sponsors, the New York Athletic Club, and women’s athletic apparel maker, Oiselle, never wavered in their support. Instead, they uplifted her through the difficulties.
Ready… and Waiting
At the end of 2019, Megan moved to northwest Arkansas to be coached by Bryan Compton, and train with Sandi Morris. Her 2020 season consisted of nine meets, and her jumps were mighty. When the NCAA commanded the shutdown of the University of Arkansas to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Megan pivoted her training to running hills and fields. She lifts weights in the garage. Reuniting with April Steiner Bennett, she vaults on April’s backyard pit. She recently took the MCAT, looking past her vault career and into her future as Megan Clark, MD.
Megan does not know when her next meet will be. What she does know is when adversity arises, she will meet it; when change appears, she will accept it; and when the bar goes up again, Megan will be ready.
