As the spring season begins, senior athletes approach the conclusion of their athletic journey at Malden High. After years filled with blood, sweat, and tears, members of the class of 2025 prepare to row the last mile, compete in the last volley, hit the last home run, and score the final goal of the season, year, and—for some—their lives.
Among these seniors is Slade Harding, an accomplished tri-sport athlete preparing to run his final lap after four years of participating in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track. Harding, a captain of all three sports, stands as a proud part of Malden athletics and the track program as a Greater Boston League champion for indoor track and a record-breaker at Malden High.
Despite these notable achievements, Harding noted that it took a long and strenuous journey to arrive at this destination. When he initially joined the cross country and track teams his freshman year, he noted being “pretty slow at first.” His determination to stay consistent motivated him to continue running.
Harding’s numerous achievements since his freshman year are a testament to the power of dedication and commitment. As he approaches the last competitive race of his high school career, he does so as one of Malden’s quickest runners. Last season, Harding broke the school record for the two-mile race, setting it at 10 minutes and 20 seconds—a significant improvement from his freshman year, when it took him 16 minutes for the same race.
Harding attributed his success to “being as consistent as I could be throughout the years and pushing myself, especially during hard workouts.” His persistent motivation stems from one of the main things he loves about running: visible improvement. “I like the way that after every workout and every race, I can really see my progress,” Harding noted.
Reflecting on the past four years, Harding recounted the key lessons running has taught him, both about the sport and life. It “taught me how to be honest with myself because you can’t really cheat yourself in this sport; if you’re not putting in the work, you can’t expect to see any results at all.”
Harding continued, “It’s taught me how to be able to deal with a large group of people because everyone’s looking for somebody to look up to, especially the underclassmen. So, as a captain, you have to step up and be that person.”
One of these underclassmen is junior Sean Cochran, who is in his first year of trying out track. A key aspect of sports that often attracts athletes to begin their athletic journey is the community and bonding. For Cochran, Harding was a major reason for joining the team. “He made it seem like a really fun sport, aside from just the basic exercise of running.”
“I feel like a lot of the time, it’s easy to rack up complaints about the sport because it’s kind of uncomfortable to do for extended periods of time. But, staying positive is one of the things that he tries to spread—stay positive about the work,” Cochran praised.
Senior Sean Retotal, co-captain of the aforementioned sports, similarly ran indoor and outdoor track for all four years of high school. Reflecting on his experience running side by side with Harding, Retotal remarked, “We’ve seen each other grow both as teammates running faster every season and as captains getting better at leading.” He went on, “We learned to push our limits together to get faster and better on and off the track. Running the team with him has been one of my best experiences.”
Senior co-captain Addison McWayne also recognized the connectedness of the track teams. “We’re all very close, and so it’s nice to know people super well. When you’re trying to lead a team, it’s very easy to talk to any one of the captains to plan things or to collaborate on other activities. So it’s not stressful at all because you have a good team behind you.”
This spring season, Harding’s main goal is “to go for the school records,” as “it’s something I’ve been aiming for since my freshman year when I began running.” While he proceeds on to the next chapter of his life, Harding looks to continue his running journey post-graduation, with a few offers from college track teams already.
“Without all the captains, all the teammates, the sport would literally just be running,” Cochran anticipated. But under Harding’s leadership and the vibrant community that he and his co-captains Retotal, McWayne, and senior Keira Celicourt have built, the team surely sprints toward another successful season.
