Malakai is an extremely talented high jumper who is a senior at the Boro. During this winter track season, he jumped a PR (personal record) of 6’8” at the NJ Meet of Champs, locking him in as the best high jumper in the state.
Just last weekend, he also competed in Boston in the renowned New Balance Nationals competition where runners from all over the US come to compete. Malakai’s performance at nationals (6’7”) earned him the title of All-American Athlete (given only to the top 6 athletes at a national level meet) and his placement being 6th in the country.
Read his response to some questions we asked him!
_______________________________________________________________
How did you feel about your winter season?
I feel like my winter season went pretty well. I did end up getting a lot better during the season and I ended up with a really good PR that ended up getting me to a lot of better places for school that I never could have imagined I’d get into for the sport. I also felt like it helped me develop more as a person, gave me more discipline, and to realize that some things take time to develop.
What were any obstacles that you had?
Some obstacles that I would have, I’d say, is the weather. I do not like the cold weather whatsoever so any time I was out there, I just felt miserable kind of *laughs* but I think it’s just because of the winter season and I don’t really like being cold. I’m more of a sunny person.
Did you ever lack motivation for going to practice? Did you ever feel like you just didn’t want to that day?
For practice, for sure. For meets, that’s whenever I kind of take time to just lock in and do. I came there for a purpose and that purpose was to excel. But for practice, 100%. There were multiple practices where I felt like I just really didn’t want to be there because I didn’t feel like being in the cold weather or doing stuff I didn’t feel like doing sometimes; I definitely did lack the motivation. But I knew that it would pay off towards the end.
If you could redo your career in high jumping or track and field in general, what would you do differently?
I definitely would’ve started earlier. I would’ve started around my freshman year because if I would’ve known that I was this good at track and field then I would have definitely started earlier, maybe like my freshman year even though it was during COVID but I would have 100% started earlier. It would have expanded my brain to the opportunities that I know of now and it would have gotten me better looks at different colleges. However, it is what it is and I play with the hand I’m dealt with and I plan to do pretty much whatever I can with the experience that I have now.
What goals do you have for the outdoor season?
For the outdoor season, I 100% want to shoot for the moon and I want to try and hit 7 feet but if I don’t hit 7 feet, then I’d want to land amongst the stars and at least PR. I want to try and uphold that number 1 in the state title and possibly win the [outdoor] Meet of Champs.
