By Joe Hartman  
      Junior Maria Malone of Folsom HS burst on the scene her freshman year at the 2005 section finals by winning the D1 title in a field that included Erin Lewis of Modesto, Caprice Bradshaw of Fairfield, and Chelsea Reilly of Davis. Then last year, despite a late start to her season, Maria recovered to take 2nd at sections. She has times of 18:46 and 18:48 at Woodward Park. She capped last season by taking 3rd at the AAU Junior Olympics in Orlando, Florida.
      Maria was brought along cautiously for the 2007 track season, but when May rolled around, she ran her trademark steady, unrelenting pace and had qualified for the state meet with a 10:59 at the SJS Masters meet. So far this year Maria looks as dangerous as ever. She won the Rocklin Invitational and was 2nd behind Laurynne Chetelat at Yolo County. In a race in which she had slightly higher hopes, she was still a respectable 5th at the D1 Stanford race. In the upcoming weeks, she faces an exciting league final match-up with Nicole Mendoza of St. Francis as well as a D1 section showdown with Chetelat and Jonah Weeks of Davis, and Crystal Esparza of Beyer, among others. Maria's next race will be Saturday at the Bronco Invitational.
      Coach Dave Gregson has certainly had a load of individual talent move through Folsom, the most recent being Jake Matthews (UCLA) and Natasha LeBeaud (Georgetown). But he spares few superlatives when discussing Maria. 'Maria Malone's strengths are her strengths (physical and mental). She certainly does not have much speed but she is so strong physically. Once she finds her pace she keeps it.'
      What Maria has had to overcome to bring out that talent impresses Coach Gregson even more. 'Her mental strength is even more amazing,' says Gregson. 'To go through the injuries (mostly literal growing pains the last 2 years) and to do the stretching and swimming and biking all on her own (or with her PT Michael Moore) for 2 years is tough for anyone to handle, but she perservered and the results are starting to show. Last year was a tough one not running until league in XC and then shutting down and not running in track until the middle of February. This season hopefully will be different - it certainly has started out well.'

Kyle Lackner, Jesuit HS
      Many people worry about adding pounds around Thanksgiving, but that's the last of Kyle Lackner woes. The night before the state meet, when the Marauder team shears are finished removing Lackner's rock-star locks, the way he's going (or more accurately - growing), Kyle will be dropping some significant weight. Of course that assumes the Marauders will make state this year out of Sac-Joaquin's Division 1 - and while very talented, this year's Marauders aren't taking anything for granted. But if Lackner keeps racing like he has so far this year, yet another trip to Fresno from the Carmichael bunch is much more likely.
      So far in 2007, Kyle was 3rd at the Rocklin Invite and 4th at the Trojan Invite before moving onto tougher races. At Stanford he was 16:02 for 27th in the tough championship race. And then on Saturday at Clovis, Lackner moved onto Jesuit's all-time Top 20 Woodward Park list (17th) by clocking 15:47. Lackner has been Jesuit's #1 for six races so far this year.
      Lackner has no shortage of big meet experience. He was 5th at section finals last year and 37th at Woodward Park, #4 for Jesuit (16:14), as the Marauders claimed the ninth state title in school history over Ventura. As great as the state meet experience was, Lackner may have topped it a week later with a brilliant showing at Nike Team Nationals. Kyle was 25th overall out of 140 runners and was #3 for the Carmichael XC Club as the Marauders placed 4th in the nation.
       Kyle is fortunate enough to be coached by one of the state's long-time prep running authorities Walt Lange. Coach Lange says 'Kyle is our team leader and as dedicated to the sport as they come. His Clovis Invitational race was a nice breakthrough for him, improving his best on the course by 11 seconds.'
       Anyone that follows Jesuit knows that the Marauders have 'peaking' down to a science so it's pretty much a given when Coach Lange modestly predicts, 'I believe he will be running even better in November.' And probably by more than a hair.


Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: What is the main reason you run competitively?
Maria: The main reason I run competitively is that I enjoy everything associated with it; I love the people involved in it, I love the feeling of accomplishment after a workout, and, most of all, I take pleasure in the fact that, if I get stressed with school or something, I can just go for a run and forget about everything.
Kyle: One reason that I run competively is that I didn't make the soccer team as a freshman so I took up cross country. But after my first year I realized that I was much better at cross country than I was at soccer so I kept it up. That and I just enjoy racing and the competitiveness of the sport.

Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: Of all your high school races, which one was most memorable?
Maria: My most memorable high school race was Sac-Joaquin Section Championships my freshman year. It was an energy-filled race, with a lot of tactical race strategies built in. I remember most vividly running the second loop and having Caprice Bradshaw always passing me on the down hills. Then I would pass her on the hills. We battled each other for quite awhile, along with Erin Lewis and Chelsea Reilly. I felt strong the entire race, so the combination of all of those factors make it very memorable. (note: Maria won that race with a time of 19:24.)
Kyle: My most memorable high school race would have to be Nike Team Nationals. It was my most memorable race, well, because its nationals but also because its the best race that I've personally had all-time.

Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: What advice would you have for newcomers to the team?
Maria: I would tell a new person on my team to not stress out before races. I have had PLENTY of personal experience with this! In the grand scheme of things, races are not that big of a deal. There are many races in one's high school career, so if one race does not go well, the next can always be better.
Kyle: For someone new to our team I would tell them not to slack off because training hard, even though it sucks, really helps.

DyeStatCal: Which meet(s) are you looking forward to the most this year?
Maria: I am most looking forward to Sections. I really want our team to make it to state again this year because traveling together last year was such a great experience; our team really bonded, and the girls this year all have a strong relationship. If we all have a great race a Sections, we could probably go to State. Then I would really be looking forward to State.
Kyle: Meets that I'm looking forward to the most would have to be the Clovis Invitational, one of my all time favorites, and sections and state.

Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: Is there a particular song you listen to that gets you ready on meet day?
Maria: I tend not to listen to music when I warm-up because I personally do not feel like I have a chance to communicate with my teammates. However, I really enjoy listening to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles when I bike on my own. Some of the newer songs out there are alright, but I prefer the 'oldies'.
Kyle: 'Crank that Soulja Boy' by Soulja Boy. (It's a team thing.)

Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: Is there any particular pre-race meal or snack you abide by?
Maria: I don't know, my favorite foods though are sandwiches, because there are so many different varieties. I also love chocolate milk.
Kyle: I'm going to have to say the snack-sized bag of Famous Amos cookies before a race.

Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal: If you could pick anywhere in the world to visit, where would you go?
Maria: There are so many great places in the world to travel, but I would really like to go on a long tour of Europe, maybe to France, Switzerland, and Italy. Spain would be fun too.
Kyle: I would most like to visit Europe. Even though I've already been there I had a great time and would love to go back.

DyeStatCal: The one thing that would surprise us the most about Maria Malone is….
Maria: This may sound weird, but I actually kind of enjoy school. I find it fascinating that there are so many different things that you can learn in one place. That may sound kind of nerdy, but I like going home in the evening and knowing that I came home with new information that will apply to different scenarios in the rest of my life.

DyeStatCal: The one thing that would surprise us the most about Kyle Lackner is….
Kyle: ...is that I was in four commercials back when I was younger, one of which was a 'got milk' commercial.

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