GBL Champ Malden High Swim Team shined in MIAA North Sectional Meet at season’s end

Tornado Girls finished 16th overall in North and Boys were 19th; Relay Teams excelled in their events

By Steve Freker

It was a season to remember for the Malden High School coed swim team, including another undefeated Greater Boston League Championship and a successful run at the MIAA North Sectional regional meet. Malden High Head Coach Jessica Bisson and Assistant Coach Christine Terranova were very pleased with the finishes and the season overall with all of the team and individual success.

The Golden Tornado Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay Team qualified for the MIAA Division 1 States at the final meet of the season with a time of 2:04.44. The relay team included sophomores Joslyn Nguyen and Hailey Tran, junior Tiffany Pham and 7th-grader Sophie Tran.

At the final meet, Hailey Tran made the States with a 57.96 seconds time in the 100-freestyle and the Sectionals with a 50-freestyle time of 26.83 seconds.

Two Boys Relay Teams qualified for Sectionals: in the 200-medley relay and the 200-freestyle relay. The medley relay team included senior captains Nathan Nguyen and Liam Bloom along with senior Nimon Jusufi and sophomore David Xu. The 200-freestyle relay team was Nathan Nguyen, Jusufi, senior Kyle Lee and Xu.

At the MIAA Division 1 North Sectional, the Malden High girls finished 12th overall in the meet in the 200 yard Freestyle Relay with a best of the year time of 1:51.01, missing the States by 0.78 of one second. The 200 Medley Team, consisting of the same girls’ quartet, maintained their state qualifying time.

“They did phenomenal!” Coach Terranova said of the improvement in the 200-freestyle relay time. “With abrupt time improvements from Joslyn (dropping 2.25 seconds), Hailey (dropping 1.19 seconds), Tiffany (dropping 1.08 seconds) and Sophie (dropping 0.70 seconds), they finished with a season best of 1:51.01!”

In the individual events, Hailey Tran finished 5th at the Sectional Meet in the 50 Freestyle (25.75) and 21st in the 100 Freestyle (58.23). Sophie Tran’s personal best time of 1:05.36 was 19th in the 100 butterfly.

Hailey Tran used Coach Bisson’s “tailor made” strategy to post her best time, after qualifying for the Sectionals at the season’s final meet.

Coach Bisson said Sophie Tran, Malden’s youngest competitor as a rising 8th-grader, improved her times considerably. “It was also great to see a large group of teammates on hand to support the swimmers competing in the Sectionals.”

Hailey Tran’s improvement was remarkable and earned her a spot on the podium with the Top Eight finishers.

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Malden High Boys compete in MIAA North Sectional Meet

Coach Bisson and Coach Terranova brought five Malden High School swimmers to the MIAA North Sectional Boys Meet at Beverly High School after the regular season. Some 58 schools were represented at the meet and Malden High competed in two relay events.

The first race was the 200-yard Medley Relay that had Nathan Nguyen in backstroke, Nimon Jusufi in breaststroke, Liam Bloom, butterfly, and David Xu, freestyle. Malden finished with its best time of the season, 1:51.71, which was good enough for second in its heat and a few seconds better than they had done before.

The second relay event was the 200-yard Freestyle Relay with Nguyen, Jusufi, Kyle Lee and Xu. They swam a 1:39.46, second in their heat and their best time of the season.

“Overall, it was a great day at this exciting event and the MHS swimmers represented their school well,” Coach Bisson said.

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