Salute to Seniors: Will Mardo, Cumberland
In his final season of track & field, Cumberland's Will Mardo literally saved his best for last. The Assumption College-bound runner achieved all his personal bests during his senior year. In a highly-competitive 1,500m race at the Class A Championships, he was fifth with a PB of 4:02.50. He's also clocked under two minutes for 800m and has run a time close to nine minutes for the 3K distance.
Q. What was your most memorable performance?
A. I think my most memorable performance would either be getting the 4x800m relay school record my junior year or winning three events my senior year of outdoor track to lead Cumberland to its 16th Division title in a row. After running the 1500 and the 800 I had to anchor the 4x400m relay and I came from behind in second place to win the event for my team.
Q. What was your most difficult obstacle to overcome?
A. I think my most difficult obstacle to overcome would be recovering from my Achilles Tendinitis injury junior year. It was tough to recover since this was my first injury I ever had and I had to stop running for five weeks. Coming back from that was difficult and accepting that my junior cross country year was not going to be very successful.
Q. What advice would you give to younger athletes?
A. To never give up on your goals. I've set forth on many obstacles/difficulties in all of my years of running and they were tough to get around. I've learned from my middle school coach to Empty the Tank meaning that you have more in you... to give it your all at the finish. I've been using that motivation for me ever since I started running.
Q. What will you miss most?
A. I will miss both of my coaches TK and Roland, who are always there for me. I will miss my teammates, but especially Sean and James. Sean has been my running teammate since sixth grade and has always motivated me to try to push myself harder than I ever thought I could. I will also miss mentoring the younger teammates.
Q. What are your future plans?
A. I plan to attend Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. I will continue my Cross Country and Track career there at the D2 level. I will be majoring in Physical Therapy (Human and Health Services/ Rehabilitation Studies).
Q. What influence has your coach (or coaches) had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
A. My Coaches TK and Roland introduced me to track and field my freshman year. In middle school, we didn't have a track team so I wasn't familiar with the sport at all. However my coaches set workouts for me to quickly adjust and perform well in each event. They gave me various workouts that either dealt with speed or distance. They told me they loved how they can stick me in any event and I'd still perform well. With the workouts, they helped me achieve my goals such as breaking two in the 800 and getting close to 4:00 in the 1500. Without these workouts and their help, I wouldn't have achieved my goals.
Q. Who would you like to say Thank You?
I would like to thank a lot of people. I want to thank my brother Ryan who always pushes me to go faster and yells at me if I fall off the pace. I would like to thank all of the teammates and coaches I've been with who have always believed in me to perform to my best ability. Finally, I would like to thank my mom who has given me advice since 6th grade. She was the one who told me to try out for cross country; to condition myself for all my other sports and we quickly realized I could excel in it. I wouldn't be the successful runner I am today without her.
