Malden High Boys & Girl Cross Country excelled in fall season

Good Luck to Senior Slade Harding, who competes in the Division 1 State Championship this Saturday

By Bo Stead

The 2024 season proved to be a productive one for the Malden High Boys Cross Country team. The troupe went 6-2 in their overall record and placed third in the Greater Boston League Championship Meet.

Malden High Senior Slade Harding placed second overall in the meet and is now advancing to the MIAA Division 1 State Championship Meet being held this Saturday at Northfield Mountain, Mass.

While every meeting was filled with laughter, and the team simply having fun, each senior had their calendars marked for October 16. Of course, this was the day set up for their Senior Night. Girls Cross Country also held their Senior Night that day. Senior Nights are a time for coaches and teammates to reflect on the past years they have had together as well as for seniors to reflect on their own time in high school. For the cross country teams, their Senior Night was filled with music blaring over the speakers, photos with friends and family and plenty of running. Despite the cold day, this did not stop many of the players’ family and friends from showing up to support the seniors on their special night.

Sports do more than keep us in shape and make memories, they teach us lessons that we do not realize they even give us. Senior and captain Sean Retotal said that “discipline” is what he learned. “All the pain you go through in a race,” Retotal said, “it’s hard and you need that drive to just keep going.”

Fellow captain Gordon Zeng said that running cross country has shown him that “Social skills, life skills or athletic skills, it is all about putting in the work and being consistent.” Zeng added that one needs to “go through with things in order to make a difference.”

Finally, yet another captain, Slade Harding, said the sport showed him how to “be honest” with himself. Harding’s father, Corey Harding, agreed, noting how much he has watched Slade grow over the years, because in such a unique sport you need an “individual drive” that you can “turn on yourself at any time.”

With these seniors coming full circle, from being young and eager freshmen to wise and experienced seniors, it is a surreal feeling for many as they are finally saying farewell to the team. Harding said, “It’s pretty cool, because I remember when I was a freshman, I was pretty slow, and it was always really cool looking up to all the seniors that were super-fast, and I was like, that’ll be me one day.”

Retotal concurred, noting “it does not feel real, it feels like I’m in a movie.”

Zeng felt like it was a surreal experience, concluding that “I was once over there taking pictures with them at the posters, signing their posters, and now, I’m the one having my photo taken … I’m the one having that poster being signed. Honestly, it felt so great.”

Not only is this a time for reflection, but it is also one for the classes under them to acknowledge their departures. Junior Sean Cochran remarked that this group of seniors made a sport that may “otherwise have been boring” a little more “fun and silly – they lightened the mood.”

Senior captain Gordon Zeng expressed how much appreciation he has for running cross country: “It’s all about the community here, when I started freshman year I had no friends except the ones from middle school. The upperclassmen were open and inviting and showed me what high school is really about.”

Coaches also play a massive role in the athletes’ lives. Coaches act as mentors and friends for each member of these teams and often have very special bonds with the senior groups.

Coach Sean Weldon reflected that “it’s crazy the time that we’ve put into the season, but also that they’ve grown up so much from the years they’ve been here.” Weldon also expressed how great it is for coaches to watch players grow throughout the years; however, he will “really miss all of the seniors” on the team.

Fellow coach Michael Nicholson explained that this year they have “had an awesome group of kids who have supported the coaching staff and [are] always doing their best to help new kids.”

However, as many coaches feel, Nicholson noted that he is “excited to see what they do with their lives, they’re going to do so much.”

Looking to next year, sometimes this thought might be scary for teams that have graduating seniors. For reassurance, Harding urged the team to “stay consistent no matter what,” and Retotal affirmed that the team needs to “always keep pushing even when things get tough.”

Zeng is hopeful for the team next year when he has departed; he expressed, “I have no doubt in my mind the underclassmen will become better runners and better leaders than we all are, but honestly I just want to see this amazing team environment stay the same way.”

Harding offered a little piece of advice: to “keep working over the summer and always be running and improving yourself” and “It is always crucial for off-season work to be put in by athletes in order to perform in-season.”

This team cannot be more thankful for the wonderful group of seniors, as well as captains, they have had. Now, the seniors are eager for what the future has in store for each of them.