Some people on Malden’s Cross Country team will tell you the best part of the sport is not running. Ask them on Senior Night, and you get some version of the same answer: It is the people.
On October 21st, the team gathered at Pine Banks to celebrate the seniors for their dedicated Senior Night. The afternoon was built around them, and by the end, most of the players were still taking it all in.
Senior Captain Ian Ian Ho mentioned that the most meaningful moment of her season was Senior Night. The seniors had watched everything the team did for them come together; she expressed that “it was really, really heartwarming.” She wasn’t always so sure she would find her place; when she first joined cross country, she didn’t know anyone. Ho later on mentioned that by being on the team, “you’re going to make a lot of friends,” continuing, “because of the sport, I made a lot of really good and deep connections.”
Senior Angela Lam’s advice to her first-day self was to “just have fun. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, you get better with time and practice.” She then added a sentiment shared by the rest of the team: “The best part of the season is the people around you.”
Senior Sophia Chen’s words were part pep talk, part workout survival guide. “Be consistent,” she said that cross country is a place where “you thrive with collaboration as well as persistence, even though when you’re in the middle of the workout, you want it to be over. But, the truth is that it’ll give you more advantages than you think, so just keep on going!”
Senior Captain Keira Celicourt’s advice came from a mistake she used to make in races. She explained that she ran scared: She’d start slow, hold back, and avoid passing people because she didn’t want to be the one to try and fail. Once she took risks, she shared that she “got a lot faster—significantly—and I PR’d every single meet.”
It didn’t stop at the finish line. Celicourt shared how cross country made her more outspoken and more willing to take chances. She learned to speak in public, to be kind to others, and to lead. “I kind of grew into myself.”
Ho’s takeaway was simpler, but it might be the most honest summary of what the sport asks of you. It taught her to endure, to work hard, and to not give up.
To understand this team, start with how they describe each other. “They’re all weird, but we’re all weird together,” Lam said. She admitted she probably likes the running more, but the people are why she shows up every day. “They’re welcoming and warm,” she said, and she feels she can be herself around all of them. When someone has a bad race, nobody makes it worse. “Everyone’s just there for each other, and I love it.”
Chen shared how she is going to miss the traditions most: the games, the laughing, and the way practice can turn into something one actually looks forward to. A lot of that, she said, comes from Coach Michael Nicholson, who would reward the team with extra practices and fun games in a “very encouraging and lighthearted atmosphere.” She has found a place where she can talk to anyone, and she isn’t ready to give that up.
For Celicourt, the “smaller” memories are the lasting ones. The meets, the bus rides, and the easy runs with friends. These days, her teammates are the people she hangs out with after practice and who she sees in her classes. “All of my friends, I made them in cross country.”
Ho said it simply: She’s going to miss the team. “We have a very strong family bond, and I’m for sure going to miss it after this season ends.”
Last year was rough for Lam, she said, and her teammates and coaches showed up. She expressed that “they’re so supportive” and that “they’re very understanding of our busy schedules, and they take care of us.”
Coach Nicholson has watched all of this from the sidelines, and for him, Senior Night isn’t a routine. This is his fourth year coaching the high school team, which means he got to coach this class from their first day of freshman year to their last season. “It’s an extra special night for us,” he said. “They’re such great kids.”
“I asked how the seniors had changed since freshman year. They have gotten better as runners,” he said, ”but the kids themselves haven’t changed. They have been the same amazing kids from freshman year, sophomore year, to today. They make the team fun,” noted Nicholson.
What stays with him is how they treated everyone else. “It’s fun to come to practice. They make it enjoyable for anyone who wants to try. They’re super accepting. They just make a warm atmosphere.”
Eventually the season will end, the seniors will graduate, and next year’s team will start running without them. They will never forget this golden time. But the thing Nicholson noticed in them, the thing every one of them said about their teammates, isn’t something you can beat. They built a team where no one feels like an outsider, where a nervous freshman runner who doesn’t know anyone can end up meeting their closest friends.
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