Senior Matthew Chin is sprinting into his last Indoor Track season with his determination driving him further than he’s been before. He has been apart of the Cross Country team, both indoor track and outdoor track and found that the adrenaline that racing provides fuels his intrinsic motivation to run.
Chin started running his freshman year when he wanted to explore something out of his comfort zone and decided to give track a chance with no knowledge that it would be what he would do for the next four years. When asked what he considers to be his motivation, he replied by saying “[his] team. [They] train together, compete together, and win together.” Chin has made many friends over the years and likes to stay in contact, even with alumni. He went on to tell us about how a great friend of his helped him get out of slump during his season.
“When you race, the adrenaline from competition fuels you to push through barriers that jogging will not provide.” Chin told us how the feeling overall between just jogging and an actual race is totally different. A memorable experience Chin had was described as traumatic when he was at an intense meet in Somerville and tripped over a hurdle, but says that “it became memorable because the experience sparked [him] to return with a fiery eagerness.” Chin hopes to improve on his speed and execution when clearing the hurdles to increase his odds of making it to the State Championship.
Coach David Londino claims that “[Chin’s] leadership serves as a model for the rest of the team. [He is] always worked hard to improve and help others improve.” Senior Eric Toh explained to how Chin’s determination and hard work has helped him improve over the past 4 years. Toh also added on “what [Chin] lacks, [he] makes up for in hard work and technique. Every year [he] gets better and better.” Toh also said how Chin is great leader and role model to the team and a good friend.
Chin’s goals for this season are to “personally, [he hopes] to qualify for state championships in [his] last indoor and outdoor seasons. In terms of the team, [he] believe[s] that we will hold or even improve our record from the outdoor season — [they] recently joined the NEC conference and are establishing [themselves] as a team.” Londino believes that Chin has improved over the years, saying that “[Chin has] always been dedicated and for that reason [his] performance has improved each year. [His] indoor 55 meter hurdle time has gone from 11.57 as a freshman, to 9.33 sophomore year, to 8.89 as a junior.”
