Malden High runners getting the rules explained to them by an Official. Photo by David Lombardi.

By David Lombardi and Anna Silva 

Remaining undefeated is Malden High School’s Boys Indoor Track Team with their record of 5-0. They started their season off with a win over Beverly and continued their winning streak when they went up against Marblehead, Danvers, and Revere. Most recently, they beat Everett 53-32 Monday, January 8th.

Senior Matt Chin couldn’t be any happier with the team and how they are doing. When asked about the team and how they are doing, he said that “[the team] had an intense meet against Danvers, but [they are] doing great, [they are] working as a unit.” What he wishes to accomplish in the future and what to do after school, he says “[he] is still searching for a spot at States and trying to qualify this season, college next year, [he] doesn’t know which yet. Whether [he] does depends on the school [he] attends next year, if they are too competitive [he] might do recreational or intramurals. If [he] has the opportunity to, [he] definitely will.”

During high school, Chin talks about who and what made his track years enjoyable. He started as a freshman and he talks about what influenced him to join track was “ The cross country team during [his] freshman year.”  Track inspired Chin’s high school experience as it has “given [him] confidence to approach everything, not just athletics, with an open mind and my best effort.” Some things that he overcame and what to overcome are to achieve in his afterlife after high school is “breaking through the early season rust of not hurdling since outdoor last year, basically getting [his] technique down in hurdling and improving as the season goes on.  Chin also participates in Outdoor Track, as “[he] likes the warm weather and being outside, but both track seasons are great.”

Senior Arthur Kossoski has started indoor track this year and has been doing volleyball for three years. When asked about the team and how they were doing, he said “The team is doing great so far. In the boys’ side, [they] won all the meets so far.” What Kossoski wishes to do in the future is and plans are “to end the season great, [he] want to make states, but as it is [his] first year on track, it might be hard. [He] can connect the sport with my life, because it might be hard, it might hurt, it might seem impossible, but [he] wants to keep trying, to keep going, [he] has to be determined enough to reach [his] goals, [he does not] plan to do this in college, [he] plans to play volleyball in college.”

The boys hope to continue their winning streak and go undefeated the rest of this season, and hope to compete at the state tournament.

The post Boys’ Indoor Track: Mid-Season Update appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The Malden High AP Research class is currently working on their research projects. They will be presenting their projects to the class after they are finished with it.

The AP Research class is somewhere you can research a major question that you have and cohesively put it together an answer for it with the information that you find.

Junior Novia Li’s project is about the “level of test anxiety students have on the SAT in correlation to self-regulated learning”. She is conducting an experiment with volunteers who are juniors taking Pre Calculus. In this experiment, volunteers will be taking two math practice SAT tests, which are 80 minutes with both a calculator and non-calculator section. This will happen over the course of 4 weeks where people will be given an instrument to prepare.

The volunteers will first be getting their baseline pulse rate and after a week, they will take the first math practice test. After, they will be given an SAT study instrument which they will be using for 15 minutes a day over the next 4 weeks. Their baseline pulse rate would be checked again and they would be given another practice test.

Senior Alicia Tan’s project is about feminism in cartoon TV shows. She will be “examining cartoon TV shows with teenage female leads to see whether they comply or go against feminism” that is being experienced now.

She chose this topic because she thought that it would be “fun but also informative” unlike the previous topics she has researched about. She mentioned how she “used to watch cartoons all the time when [she] was a kid” and has seen fairies flying around with sparkles and shopping enough times in it to wonder if she was different because she was not like that. She talks about how “it is like trying to find the balance between what women are portrayed to be and what [they] actually are”.

So far, Tan has had a pretty good experience as “it has been really helping [her] time management. She also mentioned how her AP Research teacher, Sean Walsh, “has been a great teacher as he knows what he is doing”.

Tan believes “what other people have done for research projects has been fascinating with what they found out”. For Tan, seeing different ideas and topics from her classmates has been very nice because she has learned about many things that she did not know about.

The post A Preview of the AP Research Projects appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The Mandarin Club is a club advised by Kin Chan and run by Senior Yongting Chen, who is also the President of the club. They meet every Wednesday from 2:30-3:30. The Mandarin Club focuses on teaching Mandarin to students who are interested in learning the language.

Yongting Chen got the idea of starting the Mandarin club during her freshman year when she was suggested it because there were no classes at the school where Mandarin was being taught and she was able to speak the language fluently. She decided to help others who are interested in learning Mandarin by first starting to teach them how to pronounce some words “so that they can have a basic conversation”.

Chen has noticed that over the past 2 years being the president of the Mandarin club, she has learned “how to be a better leader as [she] has grown more experience”. When the club first started, she relied on the advisor as she didn’t know what to do. Over time, she realized what she had to do. Chen created an agenda and planned out what should be done during each week. After seeing how far the club members have gotten that week, she can get an idea of what to expect from them in the future.

Chen has noticed that the pace of her club members are different as “some are faster than others, but some are kind of behind”. As some of the club members have never learned any Mandarin, she is trying to separate the club members into two different groups, where people that know some Mandarin would be taught at a faster pace while people who don’t know any of the language would be taught at a slower pace.

Chen has mentioned that people who are interested in joining the Mandarin Club should be ready for a challenge as it can be very hard for people to learn a new language, especially one that is very different from the ones they have learned.

If you are interested, visit the Mandarin Club on Wednesdays from 2:30-3:30 at H405.

The post MHS’ Mandarin Club appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The Entrepreneurship program, along with Ms. Buckley, hosted the second annual Elevator Pitch Contest, on Monday January 8. This contest requires the student to pitch their business idea to an audience with 60 seconds or less. Five judges came in to judge the competition and select the winners. Four of the judges came from the Mass Department of Higher Education and the last one came from Gear Up.The top three contestants will win the prize of $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place.

By the end the three winners were selected and it came out to Izabelly Barros in first place, Joseph Costa in second, and Sebastien Blanc in third. Barros presented her business idea which was a gym that would be made just for women. This gym would have personal training at an affordable price and all women would be able to go to the gym in a safe environment and without feeling uncomfortable. Barros said “It was made so that they could feel comfortable in their own skin and be able to achieve their goal.” Barros also stated that “[She] can relate when [she] goes to the gym and feels uncomfortable, when people are watching [her] do what [she] does.” Costa created boarding pet care business that included media films along with pets in the business. Costa said “[he] has always loved dogs and other animals but [he] is not qualified to be a vet so [he] thought of other ways that he could be involved with animals.” Blanc’s business idea was to develop an app that would help people find jobs around the neighborhood. Blanc said “ [he] needed quick cash.”so he thought this would be the way to go. Overall they were all amazing but they did feel the pressure  when it was time to present their ideas to the class.

Mrs. Buckley said “they were all successful and that she is very pleased.” She also stated that there were previous competitions that used to be held in New York City but instead she decided to come up with new things that the students could do here at Malden High School. She feels as if the “students are more comfortable in this environment and that helps them with their confidence.” She said that the competition from last year was held in may but since the students were ready she decided to have the competition earlier in the year. Each one of the judges from the competition had rubrics that she had made beforehand and the students were graded on a number of things. Buckley stated that “One of the most important things was to hook the audience.” Though the students were also graded on many more things, the presentation needed an introduction, and a closing along with a way for the audience to contact you.

Out of all the 16 students who participated in the competition the three lucky winners were selected. Overall the competition was a success. Hopefully we will be able to hear about next years annual Elevator Pitch Contest.

The post Entrepreneurship Program Attends Elevator Pitch Contest appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The post MHS Indoor Track Video appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The post Boys’ Basketball: Malden vs. Tewksbury Game appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The 2018 Massachusetts State Junior Olympic Championship for Air and Sport Pistol was held at the Massachusetts Institution of Technology, or MIT, on January 13, 2018. This event consisted of 26 competitors statewide. One of Malden High’s own, Freshman Gabe Matnog, performed successfully in the event with a ranking of second overall.

Matnog post-competition with his medals. Photo submitted by Gabe Matnog.

Matnog, the silver medalist for the event,is also a member of Malden High School’s newspaper, The Blue and Gold. Matnog practices at the Massachusetts Rifle Association, MRA. Their program is open to any child who wants to learn about shooting competitively. The Junior Olympic pistol competitions are sponsored by (USAS) USA Shooting, and the (NRA) National Rifle Association. Luis Matnog, Gabe Matnog’s father is also a NRA pistol coach. Matnog has been practicing competitive shooting for 6 years. Matnog began shooting at the age of 8 years old . He has competed at the Olympic Training Center 4 times and is among the top shooters of the country. Matnog has also won gold at the Bay State Games.

He stated that “this was definitely one of the most intense and mentally challenging events [he’s] competed in” and added that his main motivation is his dream to become an olympian and to be a world class shooter.

Matnog practiced hard for this event. He placed second overall in Massachusetts for both Air and Sport pistol. Matnog had family back home in the Philippines and Guam that supported him and congratulated him. His family was really proud because Matnog has been spending years training for this. Matnog belongs to the Massachusetts Junior Pistol Team. He scored a 522/600 in sport, and a 503/600 in air. Those scores earned him an invitation to compete at the Junior Olympic Games. Matnog stated that his “daily training and late night practices really paid off”.

Close friends, family, and his academic teachers are wishing him the best. Matnog will be competing at the Junior Olympic Games at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in late April 2018, In hopes of winning and earning a spot on the US Junior Olympic Team.

The post Matnog Ranks 2nd Overall at Junior Olympic Championship appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Senior Dylan Ha swims his breaststroke lap. Photo by David Cartledge.

Click here to view the rest of the swim photos.

The post Malden vs. Reading Swim Meet appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Due to the recent snowstorms and cold weather there have been days where school has been cancelled. While this gives students a break from school, a lot of preparation goes into deciding whether the Malden schools have school or not. In an interview with Malden Public Schools Superintendent John Oteri, he said that people such as the Police Chief, Mayor, Fire Chief, The Public Works Director and himself, along with others, get together and decide if they should cancel school or not. They base their decision on the most accurate forecast of the weather at the time and they take the safety of the students and staff at the schools into consideration. Depending on how severe the storm is, they decide if it is unsafe for students to walk to school. This most recent storm had over sixteen inches of snow, with freezing temperatures and fast blowing winds, so they decided to cancel school because they could not remove the snow to make travel safe for students.

Along with the mental preparation, the city also gathers the people and the most adequate equipment to clear the snow from the storm. Mr. Oteri said that “We use plows, snow blowers, and shoveling, along with salt to clear and melt the snow from the sidewalks to make transportation faster. We manage time well and do not send people to clear the snow at times where the snow is coming down the hardest.” The people they usually send to clear the snow include the custodial staff at the schools and the Public Facilities staff. They also hire contractors that have equipment they do not have.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

The schools are clearly affected by the snow and cold outside of the building, however the schools are also affected internally. The Early Learning Center and Salemwood were the schools affected most by the weather. In an interview with Mayor Christenson he described the entire situation. He said that “The Early Learning Center had a water line that burst in the wall because of the extreme cold. There was only one burst pipe at this school, however since it occurred on the second floor, the teacher’s lounge was damaged since it was directly below it, however repairs has been made.” Meanwhile in Salemwood, there was a few more situations involving burst pipes. He explained that in the parking lot there is a sprinkler system and because of the cold the main line froze. This caused the space to fill with water and the ceiling to collapse. There has been repairs made to the system and failsafes are being implemented to make certain it does not happen again. The kitchen and the locker rooms also had burst pipes, however they have been dealt with as well.

While these situations indicate that there was a lot of damage, in reality, the damage was not as severe as it could have been. Most of the pipes burst in areas were it was unoccupied or on the ground floor, so less rooms were damaged. The snow and bitter cold has resulted in complications for some students and staff, however the city of Malden is always prepared to the best of their ability by the officials and staff.

The post How to Know “Weather” or not School Will Be Cancelled appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

On January 6th, 2018, the Malden High Speech and Debate team competed at the Newton South Winter Festival in Newton, Massachusetts. The group that attended consisted of, seniors Harrison Zeiberg and Sherley Maxmin, juniors Makesha Mercedat and Jenny Chen, sophomores Matt Mijares and Rasmee Ky, and freshmen Gabriel Matnog and Suiyenah Chen.

The Speech and Debate team competes in different events recognized by the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League at tournaments against other schools around the state. There are events for speech such as children’s literature and group discussion while there are events for debate like public forum debate. Zeiberg, the co-president, competed in two speech events, radio broadcasting and impromptu. He stated that “the [team] did very good overall and there were two people who got bids to go to state finals, those being [Matnog] and [ Maxmin]”.

The Speech and Debate Team, post-tournament. Pictured left to right- Makesha Mercedat, Rasmee Ky, Sherley Maxmin, Suiyenah Chen, Jenny Chen, Matt Mijares, Harrison Zeiberg and Gabriel Matnog. Photo submitted by Kurtis Scheer.

The team advisor, MHS history teacher, Kurtis Scheer enjoyed the event as he judged events in his alma mater, Newton South High. Jenny Chen competed in a public forum debate which is “a giant leap as [she] has only competed in poetry at the other tournaments [she’s] been to.” Jenny believes that Newton South was definitely the most exhausting tournament the team has been to as the team usually comes home “screaming on the bus ride home”, but this time, [they] were practically sleeping on the bus.

The Newton South Winter Festival, along with the other tournaments, allowed the members to test their skills, whether it is speech or debate. Brendon Ky, the co-president, did not attend the tournament but still believed the team did great. Ky, who has competed in previous tournaments, usually competes in student congress which is far different from a speech or debate event.

Suiyenah Chen, who competed in poetry thought the tournament had some exciting aspects and said “it was a fun but competitive tournament”. Chen mentioned that she had met some nice people and she looks forward to competing in the next one. Mijares believes that his performance at the tournament are “building blocks to help him achieve what he wants”.

The Speech and Debate Team meets in B340 every tuesday after school from 2:20-3 pm. Any student who is interested in joining is welcome to come.

The MHS Speech and Debate Team will be attending the Mardi Gras Festival at Shrewsbury High in early April 2018 to compete and hopefully win.

The post Debate Team Attends Newton South Winter Festival appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Members of Boys and Girls indoor the track team. Photo courtesy of David Lombardi.

The girls’ indoor track team had a fantastic season this winter, ending with a final score of six wins and only one loss. To tie up the season, they had their final dual meet against Gloucester on January 22nd, and graciously took the win. However, what most of the team members, even Coach David Londino, believe was one of the harder competitions and a huge key meet for this year’s season was the meet against Peabody on January 18th. Sophomore Eva Federico believes that the Peabody meet had a huge impact on their season because “it broke the dry spell [the team] had against them,” which made their victory even sweeter.

Overall, the season was one of the most exciting, “One of the best seasons that Malden High [has had]” Sophomore Emane Boufaida happily reported. Junior Genny Murphy commented that “the NEC is much harder than the GBL was, so holding [their] own against [those] teams meant a lot to [them].” With their final score of win and losses, the team was really able to show other high schools that the Malden High track team is not something anyone should underestimate. Boufaida believes that, thanks to the great success of indoor track, members moving on to outdoor track “have so much [more] depth to go into.”

Now, the team’s upcoming events are states competitions and the league meet. The team has many states qualifiers this year. Senior Rachel Eaglin has qualified for States in the hurdle event, completing them within 8.9 seconds. In addition, Junior Shataeya Smith, who’s throw of 33.2 meters earlier in the season, also brought her to States. Smith was later able shock herself by breaking not only her personal record yet again but also the school record with a throw of 34.9 feet. Other State attendees include junior Shaquora Wallace for the 55 meter dash, the girls 4×800 relay race team which include seniors Jasmine Gray, Kylie DiMaro and Allie Russo along with sophomore Isabella Machado. Furthermore, there are two more meets, one on January 28th and another on February 11th, in which more qualifiers will be determined.

“[The team] just feels like one big, athletic family,” Federico described. “[They] really encourage [her] to do [the] absolute best [she] can, [they all] stand beside [each other].” Everyone was very welcoming at the beginning of the season and were always supportive of one another. Smith carries on to explain that the positive environment “[helps the team] succeed”. A great thing about the girls successful season was creating wonderful friendships in between practices and meets, as well as memories that will be remembered for years to come. Murphy explained how “every track season introduces [them] to new people and [one] can come to be really good friends with [their] team.” The enthusiastic energy not only shows when attending one of the team’s meet, but also in individuals. Many spriters, jumpers and throwers were able to break their own personal records and continue to develop their talents; Smith’s favorite part of this season was her personal improvement, “this season has helped [her] focus on who I am and my talents.” The team was sure to push their limits and work very hard so that they could not only start off with a bang but end with one too. “If [she] could describe [the] season in one word?” Federico said, “[it would] definitely be Fantastic”                   

The post Girls’ Indoor Track Finishes Off the Season appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Pete Jinapin performing his backstroke lap. Photo taken by David Cartledge.

This year held big changes for the Malden High swim team. They lost a lot of good swimmers due to them graduating, and have also changed to a new, more difficult league. This has made the year much more difficult for the players. Even with those changes, the boys managed to win in the conference.

Coach Jessica Bisson stated that “This is a very busy season with a lot of meets, but [the team is] holding [their] own and putting in a great deal of effort.” She added that “one of the biggest challenges [the team] had to face is the fact that this league allows diving scores to count even when the opposing team does not have any divers.” This means that because the other teams have divers and Malden does not, the team is already behind in points, so it makes it challenging for the team to catch up and take the lead again. Sophomore Tyler Lu stated that “It was more challenging for [them] to succeed because it was a new league…[they] didn’t really know their talent which made it more challenging for [them].”

Bisson said that “[the team] lost 13 seniors last year so this has definitely been a rebuilding year. This left [the team] with less depth than we used to have but we continue to see growth every day.”

Junior Tyler Lu in the midst of his freestyle lap. Photo taken by David Cartledge.

Because the team has gone through so many changes, they have excelled at things while also struggling at others. Ms. Bisson addressed this by stating that “[The team] has done really well with pushing through any adversity that has come [their] way”, but that it has been different because “[The team] hasn’t lost in the last couple of years so it can be a shock when a loss happens.” 

The new season and new league has set some new goals for the team, some of which they have already achieved and some that they plan on achieving before the end of States. Coach Bisson stated that one of the goals the team had at the start of the season was “to show improvement and do the best we can to make sectional and states cuts” which they have reached. The team has also had 2 swimmers break school records so far this year, Kevin Ochoa who beat the 200 free and Pete Jinapin in 500 free. A number of the swimmers this year have made it to States and [they] are hoping that many more will too.

This year the team seems to have a very family-like relationship. Coach Bisson stated that “[the teams] upperclassmen are doing a great job of helping the newcomers through the season.” and that “No one is left out and the entire team works together to make sure meets run smoothly and to make sure everyone is prepared and confident.”

The newcomers to the team this year seem to be putting in a lot of effort to make sure that the team does well. Coach Bisson stated that “All of [their] new swimmers continue to show improvement every day.” Tyler Lu also commented on this by saying that “The newcomers are good because [they] are actually putting the work into swimming which is great.”

The post Swim Season Comes to an End appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The Superintendent of Malden Public Schools, John Oteri, is working to address the needs and complaints of  parents. During the most recent meet and greet a topic that came up was whether parents should have their own individual login to their children’s X2. X2 is a website where teachers upload student’s grades. It’s a virtual way students can check on their grades and how they are performing.

Now parents are suggesting that they should have their own private access to these grades. Because of this, the school-board has begun working on allowing parents to have their own login to their children’s private X2.

This has started some controversy among some students because parents already have progress report cards, which are to show how students are performing and their teachers feedback. They also are given report cards which show students’ final grades for a term. Having parents monitor every grade can cause stress for a student because some parents would not understand weighted grades and percentages.

Every student has a bad day where they don’t do the best on their work. Teachers do not always put the grades right away, leaving grades blank, which makes it seem like there are uncompleted assignments.

This new system could potentially have a negative impact on students with parents who are foreign and don’t understand how the American grade system works, as well.

The post New Parental Login for X2 appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The wrestling season started with their first match on Saturday on December 9th of 2017. Although they have had their ups and downs, overall they have improved. Some of the members of the wrestling team are going to sectionals, such as Senior Stephanie Campos, who is going to women’s sectionals this season.

A Malden player pinning a Saugus wrestler. Photo taken by Jett-Le Tran Le.

The team has had five matches so far. They won separate matches but had to forfeit most of them due to not having enough members in the weight class. These are some of the team members’ thoughts on the season thus far.

Senior captain Carlos Parada Araujo said that the season so far has been pretty good for him. He said that “[the team did not] have as many meets as [they] did as last year so it feels a little slow.” He added that “[he] expected to be placed up at NEC tournament, and to [be placed] at sectionals to qualify for the state tournament.” Personally, Parada Araujo believes that he did not tremendously improve on his wrestling skills, but he said he felt really confident in doing his matches.

Parada Araujo said that “[his] greatest accomplishment so far in the season is him being placed at the Wakefield tournament.” He recalled that “in previous years, [he] would never make it past the first round. [He had felt] that [he had] done very well this past year, and so has [the team].” On the team as a whole, Parada Araujo claims that “[they] had our fair shares of bumps and bruises, but [they] have pushed past it.”

Senior captain Seth Jones said that the season so far has been hard for him, but it has been one of his best season so far. For him as an individual and for his team, “[he] always have more expectations, [he] always wants to do better and better, and [he] is trying to make it to states.” He added that “[he] had improved a lot and that [he] had gotten a lot stronger, conditioned himself better, and [he] knows more [on what to do].”

Jones said “[His] best accomplishment was when [he] was winning [his matches], [he] just wants to keep winning.” At first, Jones had a ton of energy during the beginning of the season. Later in the season it started to take a toll on him, but he is working even harder than before. He believes that “this was [his] best season so far, this is [his] best record [he] had ever had.”

Malden wrestler dominates a Saugus wrestler. Photo taken by Jett-Le Tran Le.

Sophomore Ved Gray said that the season so far for him has been pretty well so far and that the team had did better than last year despite it being small. [He] improved a lot this season, last year [he did not]  accomplish very much.” He added that “in this season [he is] still undefeated, so [he] thinks that it is a major improvement from last year.”

On what he has accomplished this week, Gray stated that “There really [is not] any one specific accomplishment [he] is most proud of this year.” Nevertheless, Gray “is happy that [he] is doing well this year.” He said that “[he] thinks [that him and his team had] done really well this year, and so has the rest of the team.” he said “We’ve all come a long way from where we were last year.”

So far the season has been really good to the team. Even with their ups and downs they still made it through and got stronger together and individually.

The post Wrestling Midseason Update appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

ESL stands for “English as a Second Language” and several classes are geared towards students who are ESL, and need need further assistance. On January 24 and 25, 2018 students at Malden High took the ESL test in the morning and classes started after at 11:15.

Lynn Rosedale is a teacher at Malden High School and teaches environmental science and biology. Rosedale is one of the staff members that took part in helping the test take place throughout the school. The testing helps teachers and other educators measure what level students’ are in English. In total there were 276 students who tested, which is why so many teachers proctored, and non-ESL students were not in the building.

On January 24, some students took a state standardized tests called the WIDA access test. WIDA was widely used this year. According to Rosedale, 47 states in the US has used the same test. The WIDA access test is a “large-scale English language proficiency assessment.” ELL is more compatible with the WIDA test, it stands for “English Language Learners” and is similar to ESL. Tests for ESL and/or ELL are mostly to see the level of what classes a student needs to take.

On Thursday, students who took the test took it for the listening and reading sections. On Friday, students took the writing and speaking portion of the test. The test is scaled from 1 to 6 and this score reflects whether a student should be placed out of an ESL class, or what class they should be placed in, within the ESL department.

The post ESL Testing at Malden High School appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The MHS Boys Basketball team played against Pembroke High School at the Boston TD Garden invitational game, which ended in a nail biting double overtime victory for MHS with the score of 66-64, improving their record to 9-4.

The first two points in the game were scored by Senior captain Fern Berard. However, after a 14-4 deficient at the end of the first quarter, the three fouls that Berard picked up early on, the team had a challenging task ahead.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

With five minutes left of the the second quarter, Pembroke had a seven point lead, with the score 11-18.

In the third quarter with 2:10 remaining, Berard made a layup bringing the team from 31 to 33 points, which was the first lead for Malden since the beginning of the game, with the score of 33-32. The final score of the third quarter resulted in Pembroke having a 4 point lead, 33-37.

Malden was able to have a three point lead, with a score of 42-39, during the fourth quarter with 5:21 left of the game. Sophomore Cameron Lloyd shot a two pointer with 3:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, thereby increasing the lead to five points. Senior Thomas Redwood also scored a two pointer thus maintaining the lead with a score of 48-41.

With 2:10 left of the fourth quarter, Lloyd made a clutch three pointer creating the biggest lead Malden has had throughout the game, 51-41. Pembroke was forced to call a timeout with 17.9 seconds remaining. Berard got fouled which resulted in him having the opportunity to tie the game with two free throws, in which he was able to rattle them both down. With 3.3 seconds left of the fourth quarter, the game was tied 51-51, causing both teams to advance to overtime.

Malden won the tip off and Senior Malik Bisset scored a two pointer, now only 1:30 left in overtime, Malden was up with a score of 55-53. Pembroke managed to obtain a one point lead, 56-55, when Senior Tyler Holness was f

Malden Player Fern Bernard makes a shot at a home game. Photo taken by Jesaias Benitez.

ouled with 6.8 seconds remaining in overtime. Although Holness was able to score one out of the three free throws, Bisset caught the rebound causing Malden to get possession of the ball.

Berard was fouled with only one second remaining in overtime. Succeeding in scoring both free throws, the game became tied 58-58, bringing the game to double overtime.

Bisset attempted to score a two pointer, despite missing, Berard tipped the ball in securing the score 60-60. Lloyd was able to step up and shoot a three pointer with 1:32, Malden was then leading by two points.

Holness was fouled with 32 seconds of double overtime with a score of 66-63. Fern picked up his fourth foul, with only 9.3 seconds remaining. Malden finalized the win with a score of 66-64.

Junior Robens Garcia came to an agreement with Holness that the two free throws made by Berard, tying up the score, which brought the team from overtime to double overtime, was the highlight of the game.

Although Garcia made it clear that multiple teammates had a great performance, he pointed out that Berard had a great performance especially. Additionally, he added that players such as Holness, Bisset, and Lloyd also had a great performance in which he said “grabbing rebounds and making clutch shots.”

Despite having an exceptional game, Holness believes that having an active bench, colliding more, and working as a team needs to be improved upon. Likewise, Berard and Garcia agree that starting off strong is still a factor that also needs to be improved. Garcia stated, “[they] definitely need to improve on [their] teamwork like working together more… when [they] have the lead in a game, [they] have to keep that lead and make it bigger.”

Berard also added that starting off stronger and building a bigger lead is what he wish had gone differently.

Holness explained that the team played good as a unit however, he said “Individually, that was probably [his] worst game in the season, [he] did not hit [his] free throws when [he] needed to.” He continued to explain that Berard is a key player on their team and he “gets the job done.”

Moreover, Berard described that their defense needs improvement. He said, “[they] were letting guys score too easy, [they] were giving too many open shots. So, [he] felt like [they] needed to stop that in order to have a easier game.”

Garcia revealed that not once did he or his other teammates doubt one another. They all had confidence in one another that this would be a successful game. Similarly, Holness said he “has faith” in his teammates.

Berard explained he has never been in double overtime and says the excitement was “crazy” but still fun.

The boys MHS basketball team had an outstanding game which resulted in  many great performances from many members.

The post Boys’ Basketball Invitational at TD Garden appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Sophomore Corey Rufo has been part of the Malden/Revere ice hockey team for two years now. He has been playing Hockey for seven years, he commented that “what kept [him] in the sport was the emotion and that the sport is just so fun…he would always have a good time.”

Rufo first realized his interest in the sport at the age of eight, from a young age he would commonly find interest in watching the Bruins; that persuaded him to start playing the sport himself. Some other sports that he also found passion in consist of lacrosse and golf but more recently, he has played more football than golf.

Participating in the Hockey team, Rufo mentioned that although the team is a combination of two different schools “[they] are basically a family”. Because the players meet one another everyday, Rufo described the feeling like a “second home”. Furthermore, he expressed that with all of the stress from school, while playing the sport “Everything is just taken off [his] shoulders for a couple of hours”.

Something that Rufo believes he should improve on is stamina and his passing accuracy. In contrast, he observed that he is more advanced in “getting the puck from the other team” and he can score against teams that are hard to go against.

Being a student athlete, Rufo’s goals as a student is “to keep [his] grades up” and gain more knowledge and maintain [his] determination in keeping his attendance on track. As an athlete he hopes “to get 23 points by the end of the season as [he] already have 10 goals and 6 assists so [he] only need 7 more with the 5 games remaining”.

Planning ahead of time, he hopes to take Hockey into his college career, explaining that “after high school [his] goal is to play 2 years of junior hockey in the National American Hockey League” and join the college hockey team.

Rufo also expressed his role models, a few consist of “[his] father who is one of the hardest working people [he] knows when he played when he was little he was never one of the best but he constantly worked and worked to get there” the second is his mother who is the person he “wants to be when [he is] older” and the third is his teammate, senior Mike Giordano who is on the team and “constantly pushes [him] on the ice in the gym and almost everywhere else, [he] strives to have a season like he did his junior year where he got 43 points in one season.”

The post Boys’ Hockey Profile: Corey Rufo appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Senior Kaytlin Kwong on bar. Photo by Falyn Kelley.

This season has been a never-ending success for Malden High’s Gymnastics team, and they are on their way to finish as strong as they are right now.

This year was unlike the seasons in the past, since the team has moved into a new league. Coach Katie Bowdridge stated “[She was not] sure how [she] would fit in with the new league, but [they] are holding our own in [their] division.” Another aspect that stands out this year is the number of members on the team. Bowdridge adds that “[The team definitely has] more gymnasts than [she] expected to come out for gymnastics this year.”

Senior captain Kaytlin Kwong professes that the season has “been great” so far, adding how she is “really proud of the team” and “what [they have] accomplished so far.”

The team has had a lot of positive moments so far. One of the best moments this year, according to Kwong, was the team’s first win. Kwong says that “in general, [the team gets] really excited whenever [they] win.”

To Bowdridge, one of the best moments is when “a gymnast learns a new skill and competes it. For the coaching staff, [it is[ always amazing to see  gymnasts succeed in what they were trying to accomplish.” So far, every member of the team including returning gymnasts has added new skills to their routines this year.

One of the most challenging moments of the year was the meet against Hamilton Wenham. According to Kwong, there were “a lot of technical difficulties throughout the meet”, admitting that it was “a tough loss for [the team].”

For Bowdridge, a challenge this year is the “space that [the team is] in and the training equipment [they]  have”, but she also feels that they are “also very lucky that [they] have [their] own space that is in the school”, since “most of the teams in our league [do not] have that.” She adds that “[The team has] been fortunate to add a few new pieces of training equipment and mats this year and if [they] can continue to do that each year, it will help [them]  improve even more.”

On how they have improved since the beginning of the season, Kwong says that the gymnastics team has “improved so much from the beginning of the season”, saying how the team has been “working hard in practice and [they] have become a much more consistent team”.

Junior Tihun Lawrence during her bar routine. Photo by Falyn Kelley.

As a coach, Bowdridge says that she is “constantly looking for new drills and ways to teach [her] gymnasts.” She explains that “with technology and social media being what it is now, there are so many options available to share and learn different techniques”, adding that she has found that by “networking with other coaches from around the world”, she has been able to learn new drills and different ways to teach skills. She says that “If something [is not] working or someone [is not] getting a skill, [she] can post and ask for suggestions as well as offer [her] own opinions to others that are in similar situations.” Bowdridge adds how networking like this is “very different from years ago when you only had the coaches in your area that you could reach out to”, and admits that she “love[s] having such a wide range of networking available”.

On what aspects of her coaching she plans on continuing in future seasons, Bowdridge says that she strongly believes in “not cutting a student that wants to be part of the team. [They] have so many gymnasts that are in the gym every day working hard and trying to earn a competitive spot on the team for next year. She also mentions that “non-competitors are such a huge part of the success of our team. [They] are at every meet encouraging [their teammates]. To have that kind of support at a competition is very motivational.”

This year, the team has improved on both their vault and bar routines. According to Kwong, every event has improved at least a little, but she is “really proud of [their] bar routines” since they have been “working on new skills to add to [their] routines”. According to Bowdridge, Vault is their strongest event this year. She mentions that the assistant coach has been “working very hard with the vaulters to improve [their] form and scores each week”, and their vaulting scores have continued to improve.

Kwong says that she just wants to “end the season on a really positive note”, which they will. “Again, [she is] really proud of the team and it would be nice to win one more meet just to wrap up the season.”

The post Gymnastics Mid-Season Update appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Junior Salma Bezzat making a shot. Photo by Jesaias Benitez.

The Malden High Girls Varsity Basketball team “has been very determined this season” stated Head Coach Scott Marino. Marino believes that the girls will continue to fight toward their preseason goals, which is to make it to the state tournament.

Currently their record is at 7-7 (7 wins and 7 losses). Marino explained that “[The] season has been a little inconsistent, [the team] beat the teams [they should have] beaten, and [they] lost a lot of close games this year”. Already, the girls have won more games this year than they did last year, leaving them 6 more possible wins before the season ends. With only 6 games left in the season, 3 more wins are needed as a requirement to make it to the state tournament.

After the previous season last year, the girls came back ambitious as ever. They had set many goals for themselves, from changing the chemistry of the team to changing the way they play on the court during games.

This year, the team only lost 3 seniors at the end of the previous season, meaning the team had many returning members. Newer members of the team include sophomore Meley Ephrem, sophomore Darcy Cummings, junior Camille Nommi, and senior Zariah Stringer-Silva.

Senior Tiffany Tortora barrels through Winthrop’s defensive players. Photo by Jesaias Benitez.

They have yet to accomplish some longer term goals such as making it to the tournament (states), and drastically improving their record. Senior, Mackenzie Furlong said that the team “[tries] to stay positive even during bad games to stay focused to work toward [their] goal of making it to the state tournament. But throughout the season the girls were able to strengthen the bonds and chemistry together.

Marino has strived to kept the girls on track and made sure they were improving. He says that “Everyday at practice, [the team tries] to work on things they can improve on. [They] work on fundamentals and try to capitalize on all [their] mistakes.” As the season passed by, Marino has gotten the chance to get to know the new members as well as the returning members of the team. During games and practice Marino examines and gets to know each players strengths and weaknesses.

Despite the areas the girls need improvement in, Marino thinks that “[the team does] a very good job getting to the free throw line and converting our free throws.”

Throughout the season, the girls went up against many schools. Marino stated that “[they have had] really close games with Lynn English, Swampscott, and Beverly”. Furlong mentioned that she was “excited to play Everett because they are Malden’s biggest rival for years.” Junior Salma Bezzat was “excited to play Somerville and Everett because [she] knew [it would] be an intense game”

Overall, the Girls Basketball Team has had a successful season so far and has high hopes for the remainder of the season.

The post Girls’ Basketball Mid-Season Update appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Logo for the 2018 Winter Olypmics in Pyeongchang. Photo from Wikimedia.

As the days to the 2018 Winter Olympics slowly wind down, the world’s best athletes in winter sports are already preparing for the games, whether it is their Olympic debut or competing to defend their titles.

One of the most popular sports and a personal favorite is snowboarding. There are different events within snowboarding in the Olympics, those being, Halfpipe (competitors perform tricks in a semi-circle ditch), Slopestyle (competitors perform tricks off obstacles), Snowboard Cross (competitors race through a course), and Slalom (competitors race through checkpoints).

Realistically, the U.S. is probably going to take gold in men and women’s halfpipe and men’s slopestyle, due to the skills of the athletes selected. Shaun White, a two-time gold medalist in the Olympics for Men’s Halfpipe is among the athletes competing. He is absolutely one of the greatest athletes competing, as he has managed to snag two Olympic gold medals and 18 X-Games medals in snowboarding alone, and is hoping for a third gold medal in the upcoming games.

Representing the USA in Men’s Slopestyle is a 17-year-old phenom, Red Gerard. Gerard, coming from Colorado is one of the youngest on the U.S winter Olympic team and one of the best. Being sponsored by Burton Snowboards at a very young age, Gerard has already competed in countless competitions and hopes to clinch his first Olympic medal.

Within the subject of young athletes, Chloe Kim, who is only 17 years old will be competing in Women’s Halfpipe at the games. Kim, just like White, has won multiple medals in the X-Games, in the women’s superpipe category and competed in the 2016 Youth Winter Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway. Most of the athletes that are part of the U.S. Snowboarding team are within the age of 17-33.

Competing in Men’s Snowboard Cross and making his Olympic debut is Massachusetts native, Jonathan Cheever, who is from Saugus. Cheever attended Malden Catholic High School in Malden, MA and went to college at University of Massachusetts Lowell. Cheever has competed in the World Championship Games, placing 34th and in the FIS World Cup placing 3rd in 2011.

While the U.S. Winter Olympic Team prepares for their respective events, fans back home and spectators all around the world wait anxiously to see who will come out on top.

The post Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics appeared first on The Blue and Gold.