Runners to Watch: Sam Toolin, North Kingstown

The cross-country season will soon be here and once again we have a plethora of talented athletes that will traverse the courses this season. The early-prognosis - and from what we heard from several coaches over the last few month - is that East Greenwich and La Salle Academy are the favorites to win this year's boys' and girls' team titles at the State Meet, scheduled for Nov. 4 at Ponaganset. Who are the top athletes that we should keep our eyes on for individually supremacy? During the next week, we'll let you know who we feel are the strongest contenders this fall.

Here's our latest...

Sam Toolin, North Kingstown

The first time that we talked to this Skipper standout was at the Ocean State Invitational last September after he easily captured the freshmen race. We asked the young harrier about his goals for his inaugural high school season. He bodily stated that he wanted to finish among the top five individuals at the State Meet and run a time in the 15:30 range for the 5K distance. Despite his success as a middle-schooler, was he being a little too over-confident for an incoming frosh? Not at all! Sam eventually placed fourth overall at the states and would run a personal best of 15:39 at the Class A meet the week before. He has not stopped since in surprising us with superlative performances. Sam wrapped up one of the strongest freshman season by any R.I. high school  runner by finishing among the top competitors in the middle distances at the indoor and outdoor state meets and running some of the nation's best times for freshmen in a numbers of events, including personal bests of 4:13 for the mile and 1:55 for 800m. We're guessing Sam will be one of our leading contenders for another top finish at the State Meet. Can he challenge two-time defending champion DJ Principe for individual supremacy? We know he'll give it a shot?