Q&A with Track Senior Jesse Magalon

At the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, it became evident to me that there were certain people in certain sports that were simply standouts. Talking to new cross county head coach Brian Sullivan, he immediately pointed out Jesse Magalon as one of two senior leaders on the boys team.

"Our success with the boys starts and ends with Jesse and ," Sullivan told me.

Magalon has made his way through his career running distance in hopes of winning a state title. He's made appearances in the district and state tournaments in relay races, along with O'Such, and as a senior, is looking to finally get the gold before he graduates.

LRSC Patch Editor Kevin Haslam and Magalon took some time to chat about Magalon's track career, his future and wrapping up his high school career in this week's Q&A.

LRSC Patch: Let's start out at the beginning. When did you decide you would start running track, when did you fall in love with it and when did you realize you were actually really good at it?

Jesse Magalon: It all started in eighth grade. I decided to run track after being cut from the baseball team. My dad was really into track, so I was like 'Hey, I might as well try it.' I was pretty good at the 800. Then, freshman year I played football. In winter track, I ended up running a 5:08 mile, which coach told me was pretty good. And in the spring, I ended up running [under 5:00]. They said anything sub-five as a freshman is pretty good. So I stuck with it.

Going into sophomore year, I was thinking if I want to be a better runner, I might as well try out cross country. You know, train for the track instead of riding the bench for football all four years. I ended up being pretty decent at that. But then, after that I was injured. That put me out for the winter and spring, which cut back on my training a lot.

Junior year, cross country came around and that's when we were just shy of the PAC-10 title, fell short. Really, junior year winter track is when I realized how much I loved track. Our 4x800 ran up in New York, hit an 8:10, qualified for states and we ended up in the indoor state championships. We medaled in that. That carried on to the spring and we tried to qualify for the Penn Relays. That didn't work out for us, but then, we ended up putting it together strong in districts, taking second overall. Then made it all the way to state and fell short of medaling there.

Cross country this year, we had another shot at the PAC-10 title and fell short. Winter track, and I wanted to focus on individual events. We were working hard. We both ended up state qualifying. Now we're here and I guess I first fell in love with track knowing I could be competitive in it and potentially the top of the state at relays and individual events, which is what got me to where I am today.

Patch: How much influence did your dad have on you with track? And how do you compare yourself to him? Are you guys similar or did he run completely different events?

Magalon: We're definitely more similar. He was top of the state in cross country. He's a sub-4:20 miler, a sub-10-minute two-miler. He's a 1:50-800 guy. I'm always trying to compare myself to him and trying to hit his times, especially this year. I'm running in college, but I really want to try to beat his high school times. He state qualified in multiple events in high school track, made it to states three years in a row in cross country. He wants me to break his times, because he sees where I can be in the future. We're very similar in that aspect.

Patch: Was he a guy?

Magalon: No, he went to Academy Park.

Patch: Track's not as much of a team sport as the rest of the sports, but tell me about you and Joe as teammates, but also you're kind of competing with him at the same time, and you guys were trying to get up to the Millrose games together in the winter. So, what's your journey with him been like?

Magalon: The journey with Joe... When we both came in freshman year, he was all sprinting and I was all distance. We thought we were going to come up and he was going to be the sprint all-star and I was going to be the distance all-star. But then, last year, he decided he wanted to try out a mile. He did and ran a 4:30. To be honest, I'm not the standout distance kid anymore, but having Joe is better for us both. We race each other in workouts. It's a closer connection. He's definitely one of the closest teammates I have and being able to do the workouts with him has made me that much better.

Patch: Being a senior, wow, less than a month and a half to go until you're out of here, right? What are your goals athletically and academically before you graduate?

Magalon: I'm definitely trying to keep my grades up above a 90 so I can graduate with a little gold honors tassle. But, in track... We ran a 4x800 in Penn Relays and ran a 7:58. We're trying to get that to states. I'm also trying to get to the state meet as an individual. I qualified for districts in the 1600, but this Friday at Henderson, I'm trying to improve that, as well as get the school record, which is 4:25.9. Hopefully, if I can get that, it will be a real positive aspect going into PAC-10s and into districts and hopefully I can make district finals and states.

Patch: Any plans for college at this point?

Magalon: I swore into the Air National Guard. I go into basic in the summer time and then tech school. Then I'll work and then fall semester of 2013, I'll be running at Shippensburg.

Patch: Congratulations. What led to that decision? It's kind of an unconventional path.

Magalon: At first, I wanted to get scholarship money for track for running. But that's kind of falling into place, but not quite. I went to a college fair at Spring-Ford here. I talked to an Army National Guard guy and he said they pay full tuition. But, I'm kind of interested in airplanes and flying. That led me to the Air National Guard.

Patch: So what do you think you're going to end up doing eventually, career-wise?

Magalon: Well, I want to major in engineering and physics. I'm hoping the Air Force can get me there. I definitely want to stay true to running. A lifetime goal would be a sub-four miler and train with Olympians, but that's kind of a high-reaching goal.

Patch: That's cool. That's really good. So, wrapping up your career, are there any specific memories you have here that are your favorite?

Magalon: Definitely winning PAC-10s last year was probably the highlight of my track career. Working hard and going undefeated throughout the season. Winning that title and seeing the look on our seniors' faces knowing we won it for them and that they can go off knowing that they did something great.

Patch: Speaking of seniors... With you being a senior, is there anything you're trying to impart upon the younger kids on the team to help continue the success of this program for years to come?

Magalon: Right now, some kids are starting to get a little bigheaded. We're 8-0 and up against Pottstown for our last meet. Some kids think we have the PAC-10 title already. Really it comes down to that day specifically. So, really if you want to keep this dynasty going, you really have to keep kids coming to practice every day, go really hard in workouts, do small things like pushups in drills. Don't step away from the small stuff that got us to where we are now, because that will get us to where we want to be in the future.

Patch: Last one. If you could go back to your freshman year and talk to yourself... give yourself some advice on how to be who you are today - make things easier in the journey - what would you say?

Magalon: I would definitely tell myself not to skip out on some of the long runs. When I first came in freshman year, I hung out with some of the sophomores and juniors and we would go for a long run and go to Wawa and get slushies. I would definitely tell myself to stay true to the workouts. Knowing where I am today and maybe where I could have been if I did all the workouts throughout my high school career, I definitely could have benefitted a lot more in the younger years.