By FELICIA FALLANO
Since freshman year, Daniel “Danny” Gould has been a dedicated student at Malden High School and member of the track team. Unfortunately, this is Gould’s last season with his team as he is graduating and heading off to college this upcoming fall.
Leaving MHS on a good note and attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Gould will be majoring in political science. He hopes to have a career in politics and to “get a better understanding of how countries are run by people.” He aspires to get “as involved in the future as possible.”
Gould has been involved in track for four years, but he is not entirely sure he is going to continue the sport in college. Gould says he is, open to the idea but whatever he chooses to do he will never stop running. He originally decided to join track because he, “felt it would make [him] faster for soccer but soon found [he] enjoyed it far more and had much more opportunities in the sport.”
English teacher and boys and girls track coach, David Londino, believes that Gould had a great season. Londino stated that, “his practices were really strong and he had 100% effort 100% of the time.” Londino said he specifically recalls Gould’s best race which won their two mile event in a meet against Somerville where he ran a time of 10:09. Londino says he wouldn’t tell Gould to do anything differently. Gould says his biggest influence in high school was his coach. “[Londino] always made sure I was putting effort into what I did. [My coach] saw potential in me and gave me the chance to be a leader and a role model,” Gould says appreciatively.
Gould feels that his most memorable year was his sophomore year because it was not only his first full year of running but he also decided to take his first AP class. This experience has helped Gould develop his time management skills as well as develop close relationships with his teammates.
According to friends of Gould, his coach isn’t the only one who sees a great leader in him. Besides working hard during practices and meets, Gould also connects with many members of both the boys and girls track teams.
In agreement with Hannafin, member of the boys track team junior Nahom Ghile says that Gould, “shows everyone that they have to do what they have to do in order to do well.”
Although Gould is departing with his team this year, he is eager to start a new chapter in his life. He believes that his most important goals that he achieved in high school were, “performing well in [his] AP classes and being named captain of cross country [his] junior year because they were both accomplishments [he] could not have seen [himself] achieving just a few years prior.”
He has had a memorable experience at MHS not only as an athlete but as a student. As Gould departs from high school he leaves with many grateful lessons that he could only have learned at MHS.
