Hayden Malone '24 Recruiting Profile

I love to compete and am a very competitive person even when I am just hanging out with my friends. Sports are a great way to get to compete and I am a three sport varsity athlete in cross country, basketball, and track. In these sports, I have learned many life lessons as I continue to grow throughout each season. Of the three sports that I have participated in, basketball is seen as the most team sport, but the team part of cross country and track are equally important. Even though you run your own race, the team still depends on you to come through and perform well to score the team points. Also, a big part of having a successful season, team, and culture is to have a group bond, so while cross country and track are definitely more individual sports, it is very important to still make sure that you are participating with the team. I got the chance to learn that as I have been a team captain for my cross country team, and the effects of being a team and having a positive energy around the team can be very apparent on how a teammate will perform. The most important thing that I have learned from my time as an athlete is that there are an untold number of hours that an athlete must dedicate to become better at his or her given sport. I have always felt that there are some who have an advantage in their sport because they have natural talent and are genetically gifted, but I firmly believe that hard work is a great equalizer and I try to implement that into my life. My favorite quote is “ Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” by Tim Notke. When I lose a race or fail to meet a goal, I never chalk it up to that person is just better or the conditions were not right, because you can not have those excuses, you just have to accept it and promise yourself to work harder so that next time you get the results you want.

Is one thing to just say things like that, but it takes good character to actually accomplish what you say you are going to do. I feel that this is something that I have as I was a captain during the 2022 cross country season and am a captain for the distance team in track for the 2023 season. Both of my captainships are in my junior year and I will be a captain again in both sports in my senior year as well. I have been in National Honor Society since middle school and have served in ASB a few times. I have been on the honor roll since middle school and have taken college level courses through Big Bend Community College through my high school’s running start program. I have participated in several clubs at the same time as my athletics and have maintained good grades throughout the whole time which takes effort and dedication.

My goal for my college years is to get to go and compete for a running program while working toward attaining my masters degree in business and finances so that after college I can become a financial advisor and help people make smart financial decisions for their future.