Well Decorated

Twenty-two years later, it remains the most dominant and incredible performance in Indiana high school track and field history - boys or girls.
Three events. Three victories. And three state records which still stand.
"Yes, that was a great moment in my career," recalls Maicel Malone, now the head women's track coach at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. "And I like to re-live it from time to time."
Representing North Central in the 1986 state meet at the IU Track & Field Stadium at IUPUI, Malone won the 100 meters in 11:52 seconds. She won the 200 meters in 23:12 seconds. And she won the 400 meters in 52.42 seconds.
Then again, it was not unexpected. In fact, it was more like a final coronation for the all-time queen of Indiana girls track. That's because Malone was the 100 meter champion all four years of high school, the 400 meter champion her last three years and the 200 meter champion as a sophomore and senior.
"I was just blessed with a lot of talent," she says. "I first began to realize it as a little girl in the summertime when we'd go to visit my grandma and we'd go to the YMCA. I was always racing against the boys and pretty soon, I was beating most of them."
Malone, who also earned the IHSAA mental attitude award as a senior, earned a full ride to Arizona State and continued her outstanding career. She won three 400 meter NCAA Indoor championships in a row (1990-'92) and was the 400 meter NCAA Outdoor Champion in 1990. She also was a member of two of ASU's relay teams that won NCAA National Championships in 1988.
In the 1990 Penn Relays she ran the fastest 400 meter split in the meet's 96-year history.
She still holds the indoor collegiate record in the 400 meters and earned all-American distinction 10 times during her college career. She is also in ASU's athletic Hall of Fame and earned her bachelor's degree in 1992.
But the best was yet to come. After winning three World Championship gold medals, Malone capped her career in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games by winning the gold medal in the 4x400 relay.
"I don't look back on that often because as a coach, my focus now is trying to get my athletes to that level," she says.
Malone began her coaching career full-time as an assistant at Florida State University from 1999-2005. In October of 2005, she was named head women's track coach at Florida A&M.
"Coaching is great," she says. "It's been enlightening to have the opportunity to inspire young female athletes and try to help them grow and become both outstanding athletes, but outstanding women in society as well."
Malone, who grew up on the city's northwestside side near Westlane Junior High, returns to Indianapolis occasionally. Her parents, Patricia Barker and Homer Malone, as well as a sister, still live here.
In addition to coaching, however, there is another reason to stay close to her Florida home. Her 15-year-old son, Jaylyn, is a budding football star.