By PATRICIA LUONG
Malden High School’s boys track team suffered a devastating loss to Cambridge in a meet on Jan. 16, 2013. Cambridge had an advantage in power and experience because of the huge wave of freshmen joining MHS’s track team this year. Sophomore Jonathan Ye stated that although the loss was tough, the team knew the season wasn’t over just yet so they “went back to working harder than ever.”
Their hard work paid off and the team bounced back in their Somerville meet on Jan. 23, 2013, winning with a score of 52-29. After winning this meet, Ye stated it “helped boost [their] confidence” and helped the team move on from their previous loss. The Somerville track team had a strong 4×400 relay team so the boys knew it could not come down to that. They started off with a sweep in the hurdles; sophomore Ralph Dupervil placing first. Other first place finishers included senior Franklin Huynh in the 50-yard dash, junior Danny Gould in the two-mile, Dupervil in the high jump, and senior Kevin Ortiz in shot put.
The boys continued to persevere and on Jan. 30, 2013, they won their meet against Medford with a score of 57-24. Sophomore Fitzgerald Eloi stated that the team “did what was needed” to win the meet. First finishes in the meet included; senior Franklin Huynh in the 50-yard dash, junior Claude Bonnet in the 600-meter, senior Abdelhak Belatreche in the 1000-meter, junior David Kibazo in the one-mile, sophomore Nahom Ghile in the two-mile, and senior Blondel Binyame in the high jump. The team stormed through the races and were able to have a successful meet.
Coach David Londino stated that he was happy with how the team performed and that the boys had a lot of personal bests in the GBL JV meet on Feb. 6, 2013. They won the 300 meter, the 600 meter, the 1000 meter, and the one mile. The boys also pushed through and won the 4×400 meter relay.
Unfortunately, the GBL Championship meet on Feb. 8, 2013 was cancelled due to the snowstorm. The runners that qualified continued to train for what would be a successful state meet on Feb. 16, 2013. The 4×200 meter relay team composed of senior Tyler Williams, sophomore Ralph Dupervil, senior Kelly Desane, and senior Franklin Huynh finished with a time of 1:35.11, which was the third fastest time in school history and the fastest Malden time run since 1977.
Overall the boys track team had a great season finishing 3-1 in the GBL. They were dominant in their three wins and trained hard throughout the season. Coach Londino was proud of the upperclassmen stating, “The efforts of our seniors have been great and our juniors really made the jump we expect to see between 10th and 11th grade. This combined with strong contributions from underclassmen keeps us looking forward to success this outdoor season and in seasons to come.”
