Tobin's running at States and Captain news

I am a bit behind in posting this. I had been using my "down-time" in the late evening to keep up with the blog. I recently went to the library to pick up requested books and found a few for myself. As a result, reading took precedent and thus delaying this post.

The Shrewsbury Cross Country team qualified to run in States by placing 2nd in Districts. The three teams from Central Mass that qualified to run in states had an advantage of having just run the same course the week before for Districts.

Tobin personally had a busy and some-what crazy day. District Band auditions and the Cross Country State meet are always scheduled on the same day. We decided to request an early time for him to audition on the french horn because he was concerned that he would not play well after running the race. We woke up early drove to North Middlesex, a 50 minute drive, notified the administrators he was coming earlier than his school and he auditioned. Next, we drove another 40+ minutes to get him to Gardner, MA before 10am so he could warm up for a 11:00 race!

Pictured below are many of the past and present runners that came to cheer on the team. It is impressive to have a number of past runners, all who run at their prospective colleges, come out for a State's meet! Tobin is holding the cross country flag in the picture. It is now in my attic, waiting for next season!

I had to take a photo of a number or guys dancing around in neon suits.  One other school's mascot join in on the fun too.  I later learned that this was the Pembroke team in neon.  They ran well at State's.  Tobin loved these body suits.  He has ordered one to wear at the Junior class Neon dance this coming Saturday!  He has guts!

At 11, the race began and John Murray was in the lead.  A lead he never lost.

It was extremely crowded near the ropes for the beginning of the race.  I just kept the shutter button down and let it take many pictures.  Luckily I found this one of Tobin in the crowd.  I don't think I can say enough about how much I treasure my camera.

Here's Tobin and CJ just after the 1 mile marker.

This is a cool spot in the race.  The runners have just gone down a huge hill to climb back up another one and around a tree.  It is nearing the 2 mile marker.

If you look in the background you can see how crowded the roped off area was near the finish.  I could only get back pictures of him because I was only able to stick the camera out through the crowd and push the shutter button.

Kurt Gustafson, a SHS XC runner who graduated in 2003 took this picture of him on the final stretch.  When I mentioned that past runners come to states to cheer on current runners I was not kidding!  Kurt never ran with Tobin, yet came to States and photographed those who ran.  We were able to get this photo from Facebook.   

Tobin ran well at State's.  He finished in 15:05, but it was logged as 15:15 due to pushing and an odd way to log times.  Shrewsbury ranked 8th, the best they have ever done.

Nettie, Russ, Luke and Sophie came to cheer him on.  Nettie found Tobin before the race and said "good luck".  I know it meant a lot to him. 

A few runners from North Andover were in the race so Nettie wore her Knights sweatshirt and added Tobin onto her back!

Jenna and Sierra came too.

So did Aidan and Isaac.  It was a cold day; 37 but sunny.

Tobin saw all his fans briefly after the race.  I know that it meant a great deal to him that relatives came to see him run. 

Tobin is pictured here with the MA State champion!  John Murray set a new state record, running the course in 14:15!  He won states by 13 seconds.  The record for states had been held for 12 years until John blew it out of the water.  This is incredible for this is a race among the fastest in all the schools of MA!  John was interviewed by many reporters that day. 

They have a tradition of drinking chocolate milk after a race.

This season of cross country has been amazing for Tobin.  He has worked hard since the summer and it paid off.  It was an honor, priveledge and inspiration for Tobin to run and work with John this season. 

Tobin has been given the honor as one of the captains of next years cross country team.  It is a title he takes seriously and looks forward to working with many of the same guys and hopes to add a number of new freshman and other classmen to the team in the fall. 

Cross Country is where Tobin's passion lies.  I know he will strive to run well in indoor and outdoor.  His progress this season has earned him a letter from UMASS Amhurst looking at him as an athlete.  Time will tell where all of this will lead.  I know it has helped to develop a driven son who can accomplish many things when dedication is placed into it. 

District All Star

I have to get this blog out before Tobin runs in States on Saturday! 

Many of you read that Tobin finished 7th overall in Districts.  Here is a bit of the days story:
Shrewsbury Cross Country boys team placed second in the District race Saturday October 13! They were only 5 points behind the 1st place team. That is a very close scoring for cross country.

Here they are holding their second place trophy. I have several other pictures of the team with the trophy, but since every guy had a hand on the trophy I couldn't see faces too well.  This informal picture captures many of their faces and also the pride they had winning this trophy.  Last year they tied for 2nd, but their 6th man finished behind the other team's 6th man giving them 3rd place.  Even though only three teams from the District race move onto States a trophy is only given to 1st and 2nd place.  This year the cross country team brought home a trophy for Shrewsbury High.

Here is a picture of the girls team.  The girls race a great race.  They placed fourth.  Only the top three teams move to states.  Individuals can race in states if their times were fast enough.  Two girls from Shrewsbury will run in Saturday's states race:  Becca and Nicole. 

Now for the race itself.  The race began and John Murray was out leading and he never gave up the lead.  He finished first! Shrewsbury's uniform is mainly gold with navy shoulders and sides.   

As I edited the photos I noticed that on the left of the above picture you can see five of the six runners from Shrewsbury.  Coach has been preaching the effect of the pack mentality.  Shrewsbury used this in Districts.

I had to include this great picture of Tobin at the start of the race.  I find his legs muscles incredible.

The Shrewsbury XC flag was held high at the race.  Here are some of the teammates that were there to cheer on the varsity at Districts.  I overheard some other kids saying "Hey, we need a flag like that!". 

There were a few spots on the course that I ran to take pictures.  This tree marks a turn in the course after a long downhill.  John was in the lead and moving quickly.

Tobin came around strong and near the front.

I have a picture of CJ at the same tree.  I did not stay at this point to take more pictures because I wanted to see John and Tobin finish.

John finished first with a time of:  14:15.5.  He broke the course record that was set 12 years ago!  He broke it by 9 seconds.

Tobin finished 7th with a race time of 15:00:0!  This makes him a Telegram and Gazette All Star.  He will have a nice dinner and interview with the newspaper.  They always make quarter page write ups for the top seven runners from Districts.  This will be displayed in the High School for his junior year!  What an honor to be all star for two consecutive races!  Tobin improved his time from last year by 48 seconds.

CJ and Curtis placed 14th and 15th with times of 15:21:0 and 15:21:7!

Mike Bodden had been the JV star.  Because of his finish during the last game of the season, Bodden was given the 7th man spot for Districts.  He gave everything in this race and finished 5th for the team!  Wow, great job.

Dan is a sophomore and his first year on the team. He finished with a great time of 16:13.

Branden Cramer finished on fumes the last mile and was great for the team.  Nice going!

Chris Favulli came to the race to cheer on the guys. He is picture on the right.  Chris ran with the team last year. He is now running for UMASS Lowell.  It was great that he came to see this race.  Tobin felt dizzy after the race, but recovered fine later that day.

Medals were given to the top 15 runners.  Here Tobin and another top finisher are congratulating the other runners.  Many of them know each other by first name.

Coach Smith was beaming with pride holding the trophy and walking with John.

Curtis Beals and Coach Smith

Captured a picture of Coach Smith and Tobin. 

When I dropped Tobin off at the HS to catch the bus, I told him it was a great day for a run.  It was a great day.  The sun was out, a bit warm for a fast run, just a great day for a run.  Saturday should be similar.  There will be wind though, but the States race is on the same course as Districts this year.  Should be another great day for a good run.  Shrewsbury is going for 1st place.  I know they will run hard and do well.  I will keep you posted.

fall sculptures and Halloween

Two weeks ago I had a morning to shop with the girls; a rare opportunity. Soccer games were in the afternoon. We stopped at a local farm on our way home to pick up a pumpkin for Carmen's project and discovered these crazy gourds. Sarai had a great time arranging them for this picture.

On Halloween, my mom and Lawrence came over to carve pumpkins with us. 

Carmen joined in too.

Rachel loves scooping out the seeds with her hands.  The girls picked out large pumpkins to carve.  Rachel's pumpkin weighed 25 lbs!  They were 2-3 inches thick inside.   

Here is a picture of the pumpkins my mom and Lawrence carved.  My mom found glow-in-the-dark teeth for pumpkins.  Pretty neat! 

This is the pumpkin Carmen carved.  She used some of the teeth too.  I tried to lit them inside the house.  The effect is best in the dark (those pictures are coming up). 

On Saturday, the day before Halloween, Sarai went to her boyfriend's house to carve pumpkins.  She carved the owl.  I am impressed. 

This is the one she carved at our house, a werewolf. 

Rachel and I made this owl in a tree pumpkin.  I usually don't make one by myself because for years I have had to help a child.  I think those years are numbered.  Rachel dug out the pumpkin and carved half of this one.  I know it was a challenge to cut through thick sides.  

Here's a better picture of Carmen's pumpkin lit.

Halloween has changed in our house.  This year, the older three all went to parties the night before Halloween.  Neither Tobin nor Sarai trick-or-treat.  I missed getting a picture of Sarai's costume because I was at my last soccer game for Rachel's team when she left for her party.  Carmen dressed up as a pink zebra!

Carmen did not plan on trick-or-treating until she received a call on Halloween from a friend.  Quickly she came up with: pega-zebra-corn; part Pegasus (the wing part), unicorn (the pink cone) and zebra clothes!  I do believe she has a great imagination to see this inspiration in her closet. 

I have sewn costumes for years for the kids.  Now, Rachel has taken over.  She made her own costume this year.  She was trying to be the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.  We bought material, I cut the pieces and told her how to sew it and she made it!  She is also a fast and precise sewer. She made the skirt Saturday evening and the boot covers Sunday before mass. Impressive. 

Another change in Halloween is that now Rachel has great stamina to continue ringing bells for hours!  A few years ago she would get tired quickly, but not this year.  She went out with a friend, Teresa Meyer.  They had a great time together.  Here you see them trading their loot.

Tobin and Sarai passed out the candy.  This allowed Abram and I to walk around with Theo, Teresa's dad while the girls ran from house to house.  Halloween was busy, as many days are here, but it was fun and we enjoyed everyone we saw that day.  Hopefully, we can do the same next year.

League All Star and End of Outdoor Soccer

Tobin is a League All Star for 2010. He finished fourth in the race with a flat 17:00 time. Times vary from course to course. This course was more hilly than Brown's.

Here is a picture of the League All Stars in order of finishing in the race. Back left is John Murray, his teammate, who finished 1st. The Bennie brothers in 2nd and 3rd from Wachusetts, Tobin in 4th, CJ in 5th and Curtis in 9th.  Shrewsbury narrowly lost to Wachusett in this race by a few points. 

The start of the race was a bit harry.  the officials wanted to begin the race 5 minutes early, but the guys did not know this.  They had just returned from their warm-up run to find everyone else lined up and the officials giving them 2 minutes to get shoes on and lined up.  (During the race most runners wear flats, but warm up in their running shoes.)  The day was 43 degrees outside, overcast and raw.  As you can see from this race no one is wearing under armor; just their thin, sleeveless shirts and running shorts.  Tobin did admit that he felt cold during the race.  That's with a sub 5 minute pace for the first mile!

The race was at the Marlboro country club.  This course doubles back onto itself several times, enabling me to take pictures often.  This was within the first mile.

Here you see John in the lead and Tobin right between the Bennie brothers.  The Bennie family has three boys.  All of which are fast runners.  They  have been key competitors for Shrewsbury since Tobin was a freshman.  He wanted to stay with them for the entire race.  The pace was a bit fast, but he held with them for at least a mile and a half and never let them out of his site.  This drive with the brothers impressed many of the runners and parents at this race.

As I looked through my photos from the race I thought this one was interesting.  The man on the right is Mark Murray, John's father and Tobin's distance coach for winter and spring track. The woman in the foreground is affectionately called "Mrs. Coach". She is Coach Smith's wife.  Coach Jim Smith is the cross country coach. 

Here he is at the finishing stretch.

Sarai came with me to the race.  We briefly congratulated him, while many others came up to do the same.  I heard many girls comment how impressed they were with his time and running so long with the Bennies!

Here are some words from Coach Smith about this race and Tobin:

Right behind the two Bennies was Tobin knocking a whopping 47 sec off his own PR on this course (4th, 17:00). I believe that he would have been under 17 had he continued to push the last 10 yards. Something to work on. Tobin’s improvement and very fine 4th place is a testament to his hard work and attention to detail. Tobin challenged the Bennies and will have another shot at them at Districts!

Outdoor soccer ended on October 30th, while indoor soccer begin that weekend too.  I went directly from Tobin's race in Marlboro to coaching an indoor soccer game for U14, Carmen's age group.  I am also co-coaching the U10s, Rachel's team in indoor.

Carmen played striker again for her last game.  It was a cold, fall morning.  Her team finished with a winning season.  She will be playing with many of them over the winter in Marlboro on a 11 v 11 field.  The other team Carmen's plays with is has only 6 players on the field at a time and walls to play off of.  It is the same place I play my co-ed soccer games at.

Here is my U10 team for the fall season.  Ten of these girls are playing indoors with me.  Chris is on my right, he coached with me this season and is who I am coaching with for both indoor teams.  I began coaching with him last winter in indoors.

Not only is Rachel playing indoor soccer with this team, she made travel basketball for the winter and a few girls from this team will be playing with her in basketball.  Both Carmen and Rachel are playing with three teams for the winter.  Rachel is playing for two basketball teams and one soccer.  Carmen is playing for two soccer teams and one basketball.  Tobin will run indoor track.  He runs long distance, the 1 or 2 mile.  Sarai is hoping to make the high school basketball team.  She is also playing at Girls Inc for basketball.  It is the organization she has played for for three years and the place Carmen and Rachel are playing with.