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Brandon Miller PrideTime Reporter  On March 8th, at the Armory Indoor Track in New York City, well know McMahon student-athlete Justin Forde (‘19) finished his senior indoor track season with a national triple jump title. “This meant a lot, it was like a reassurance that all the work I put in wasn’t for no reason. I am a special athlete and I have to work really hard at everything I do to make sure I become the best high schooler to ever do triple jump and this was a major step into completing that goal,” said Forde.  This national title was a huge accomplishment for McMahon. It helped to show other students and staff at McMahon what their track program stood for. “This means so much to the McMahon track program because it is an indication that all of our student-athletes that are working hard are on the right path to where they want to be athletically.” said Track and Field coach Patrick Bradley. After winning the nationals Forde now holds three records for triple jump with 51.3 feet; one for McMahon, one for the state of Connecticut and one for New England which besides Connecticut includes Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.  The preparation and mindset before the match was very important for Forde who was coming off of an ankle injury just a few weeks prior. “Due to Forde being cleared just two weeks before the event the main focus in preparing was mentally letting him know that he is a top notch athlete and that he knows he can do it and just going out their and do it was the very important speech.” said Bradley. “My mindset going into the event was to go all in and give everything I had no matter the outcome because I wanted to walk away with no regrets,” said Forde. With the season starting on April 9th Forde and the rest of the rack program hope to come out with a bang. “The plan for the spring season is to break the national record and become national Gatorade player of the year,” said Forde.
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Kelete Sherald PrideTime Reporter  Troy Bardos (‘19) committed to Central Connecticut State University on March 7, 2019. You may see Bardos walking around the school with headphones in listening to music saying hi to a few people and going on with his day.  “I joined track because Albano made me. Plus, my dad was also influencing me to do it,” says Bardos. He went on mentioned that football used to be the sport that he wanted to do great in and never had any intentions of doing good in Track and Field because all of his focus was on football. His dad helped him by saying that doing track would help him a lot with football and soon the then freshman listened to his dad and joined track. At the time he had no idea that he would fall in love with the sport. Bardos explained that he chose to compete in jumping events because coach Rudy Matute knew of his father’s background. Troy's dad held the McMahon record for high jump for 32 years jumping a height of 6’7 ½ inches.  When asked if he wants to beat his dad's high jump record, Troy responded: “No I'm poop at high jump but I just want to strive to be the best jumper in the state and make it to nationals.”
Troy competes in high jump, triple jump, and long jump. He is pretty good at all three with a high jump personal record of 5’10ft, a long jump personal record of 21ft, and a triple jump personal record of 40ft. What keeps Bardos coming back is the hard work that he puts in and getting to see his results. Track and Field is one sport where if you do put in a lot of hard work you will see it pay off and Bardos loves that feeling of getting a new personal best and receiving a medal from all his hard work. Bardos explained that each jumping event has it's own art and he loves that about jumping. It’s not like you approach every jump the same way, like as if he were running. Bardos likes that fact that he has someone like Justin Forde (‘19) on his team because it motivates him each and every day to do better. Come support Bardo's jump on April 9, at Jack Casagrande field against Stamford High Black knights at 4:00. |
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February 2020
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