Teamwork and perseverance have allowed the Malden High School girls track team to continue their undefeated streak. Both this year and last year, the team has been named Greater Boston League champions and have not suffered one loss.
Under the guidance of their head coaches David Londino and Jayson Payeur, teamwork has been drilled into the mindsets of the high school track members, which can easily be identified as one of the main ingredients to their success.
With so many students on the team, it is essential to remember that “every member of the team is extremely important to achieve the goal,” expressed junior Deborah Kibazo. The goal being to continue having undefeated seasons and to clinch onto the GBL championship title.
A recent and very useful addition to the team has been coach Chris Kaulbfleisch, who works mainly with the throwers on both the guys and the girls side. Coach “K” “helped form a second family [no one] saw coming,” expressed junior candidate and shot put thrower Carly Amos.
Coach “K” has helped make throwing a much more essential and enjoyable part of the track team. Amos stated that “[Coach ‘K’] is always honest with [the throwers] and someone [they] can trust.”
In order to acquire the GBL title, the girls had to beat Everett, Medford, and Somerville, although the season as a whole consisted of many more team and individual meets.
Senior Chrislande Joseph identifies Somerville as the toughest team in the league to beat due to the fact that they are “a really strong team with lots of talent,” but she had trust that the whole team would perform to their best ability, which is exactly what happened.
On Feb. 11, 2015, several girls from the team represented MHS at the states competition which was held at the Reggie Lewis Center. Senior Amalika Lucien qualified to compete in the 55 meter dash, along with junior Carine Exume. Exume also qualified to run in the 300 meter race. Freshman Rachel Eaglin qualified to compete in the high jump competition. A 4 by 200 meter relay, made up of sophomore Taymise Sanders, Lucien, junior Marie Sylvain, and Exume, ran at the states meet. Along with this relay, a 4 by 400 meter relay qualified to race, which consisted of Joseph, Eaglin, junior Gillian Willcox, and freshman Alexandria Russo.
Among those girls, Exume moved on to the All States competition which was held on Feb. 22, 2015.
Senior Victoria Hannafin’s running abilities and passion for the sport have allowed her to become a leader on the team. With this being Hannafin’s last indoor season with MHS, she describes it as “surreal…but [she would not] have wanted it to end any other way.”
As the girls felt the pressure to perform even better than they did last season, the “strong sense of teamwork,” said Kibazo, is what allowed them to come out on top once again.“Replenishment of talent and continuous hard work” are the two reasons Coach Londino feels for the back-to-back undefeated seasons.
Now that the indoor season has come to a close, a majority of the team will be preparing for the outdoor season. With momentum and motivation to receive the GBL title for the outdoor season as well, the track team will surely deliver impressive outcomes in the season to come.
