Yesterday’s Connecticut Middle School State XC Championship was the culmination of another great season for the Bolton Center School Boy’s and Girl’s XC teams. This was Debbie’s second year as coach. She and her assistant, Donald Rowe, make a great team. They have molded these girls and boys into athletes in every sense of the word.
Debbie weaves overall health into their training so they don’t just run. This approach includes nutrition, sleep, body work, and mindfulness. She uses many of the same techniques that have allowed her to run strong for more than 20 years.
On Friday night, for the second year, the Doyle Family hosted a “pasta dinner” which we hope becomes an annual tradition. On Saturday, we spent the day at Wickham Park in Manchester, which is the the best XC running venue…period. I was also at the park on Friday afternoon for the CIAC High School State XC Championship. I brought Shepard and we watched some awesome running.
After a week of rain, the course was damp, but not too muddy. There were spots where you had to be careful, but it was a faster track than last year. Even still, more than 10 kids lost their shoes (yep) yesterday even after being warned to “tie them tighter.”
Tiarnan Doyle had a huge improvement over 2018 and he was our standout individual runner finishing 10th overall. He deserve mention for his improvement and his strength. Hopefully he sticks with running and competes in high school next year.
Our teams didn’t have as good overall finishes as last year, but we lost some strong 8th graders to graduation. I see both the boys and girls getting stronger in the coming years, especially as Debbie builds an even better youth running culture in our town.
Life Adventures 