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Robinson High Team In It For The Long Run

Photo by KELVIN MA/staff

The Robinson cross country team does a warmup 1/2 mile before practice on Oct. 31, 2007. After climbing to a second place district finish last season, the team doubled this season, thanks to the leadership of coach Mark Altimari.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

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SUN BAY SOUTH - Run every second of every minute of every race.

That's the motto of Robinson High's cross country team. And for Mark Altimari, who volunteers as assistant coach for the boys' team, dedication and consistency are the keys to success.

"He's a tough coach, but he knows what he's talking about," junior Darrin Gibson said.

A former standout cross country runner at Leto High, Altimari started helping the Robinson team when his son, Matt, was a freshman. Now a senior and team captain, Matt said his dad is not only his coach, he's also his mentor.

"Even at home he's a coach," he said.

Father and son got matching winged-foot tattoos while on vacation in Tennessee this summer.

"He had placed fifth in the state meet in the 4-by-800-meter relay," Mark Altimari said. "It was our way of celebrating that."

The Robinson team has been something of an unknown in previous years. Transient coaches and inconsistent participation left the program "more like a club instead of a sport," Mark Altimari said.

The girls' team suffered the same problems but is turning it around, too. Girls' head coach Manuel Montero, a Robinson alumnus and science teacher, said his team is about a year behind the boys' progress.

Altimari said the combination of leadership, active parents and dedicated runners is helping the boys' team mature. It placed second in the district and 16th in the state in Division 2A last year and expects a similar show this year.

The team place second in district competition last week, advancing them to the regional meet set for Friday in Estero. The state meet is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Dade City.

"You have to have leadership to grow," Altimari said, talking proudly of the leader his son has become.

"They look to him for guidance," he said. "It's nice to have 'that' kid, no matter who it is."

Regular workouts and year-round training have proven key to the team's success.

"We've not only grown in numbers but in our talent," Mark Altimari said. "We have a lot of raw talent, and we have quite a few solid years ahead of us."

During the season, the boys practice about two hours every day, logging 25 to 35 miles weekly. Off-season isn't as rigorous, but the boys get acquainted with Bayshore Boulevard, learning where all the sidewalk cracks are and which high-rises will let them use their restrooms.

"Our goal was to make this a five-star team," Altimari said of Coach Raven Lewis. "I'm not done. As many hours as it takes, I'll do it. It's my passion."

Altimari, a Tampa police corporal, fell in love with cross country as a teenager.

"I like the camaraderie," he said.

"I like this," Altimari said, pointing to the two dozen youngsters stretching, talking and sharing music at a practice before the district meet.

"I love the team aspect," he said. "If you understand how cross country works, how it is scored, it has to do with team running. ... If you accomplish your own goals, you can advance your team."

His tenacity doesn't faze the boys.

"He's tough but effective," sophomore Riley Parks said. "He knows how to make us go the extra mile, or rather extra 5k."

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Robinson High's cross country and track teams will begin raising money after Thanksgiving to resurface the school's track with rubber. For information, call the school at (813) 272-3006.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 835-2114 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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