One of the area’s most respected track coaches will be getting a long-deserved honor this week as Nashoba Regional High’s Don Gribbons will be inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Gribbons will be honored at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lantana Restaurant in Randolph for the second annual MSTCA Awards Night. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased by calling Frank Mooney at (508) 336-8291 or Lou Tozzi at (781) 837-5185. “It’s been a wonderful ride,” Gribbons said. “I’ve been blessed.” After graduating from Doherty High in 1968, Gribbons ran for Worcester State College and was looking for a job after graduating in 1972. “The reason I took the job at Nashoba in the first place was because of coaching,” Gribbons said. “I didn’t even know where Bolton was.” Nashoba coach Ley Ricker started coaching track at the school in 1969 and took over the head reins in 1972. Gribbons came aboard that same year, and now is enjoying his 36th year with the Chieftains. Ricker and Gribbons have been together ever since, coaching track and field and cross country and keeping Nashoba in the mix every season. “There’s no part of my life the coaching hasn’t affected,” Gribbons said. “I went there to coach and it’s been where I’ve spent my entire teaching career at. It’s where I met my wife, my kids all went there and ran for me. It’s been an ideal existence, and I’ve been so fortunate.” Starting so young has benefited Gribbons, who has maintained relationships with players from his first year of coaching. “What’s interesting is the kids from the beginning years are now my contemporaries,” Gribbons said. “I was 21 and they were 18, so those kids are actually friends of mine and those relationships have actually changed over the years. I see those kids all the time.” Gribbons becomes the fourth Nashoba Regional track coach to be inducted, joining Everett Ingalls (1989), Robert Cali (1993) and Ricker (2001). “Don is just such a workaholic with those kids,” Ricker said. “The time he puts in and the precision he has them do and the understanding on when they need to rest and when we need to ease back.” While Ricker has the head coach title, he’s quick to point out that Gribbons is just as much a head coach as him, and has groomed the distance runners consistently into one of the best groups each year. “You just know that from everything from the 400 on up, he’s taking care of it,” Ricker said. “He’s made himself a very good field events coach, too. He’s known for his distance work and does a fantastic job there, but he’s worked very hard with the kids at every level and every event so he’s ready to step in there, and the time he’s spent is valuable.” The duo led Nashoba to the state title at the Division 3 championships this winter, and last month Nashoba’s distance team of Anthony Raduazo, Joe Doyle, Brendon Ayalaian and Coby Horowitz placed fifth in the nation in the 4-mile relay at the National Interscholastic Track and Field Championships in New York City. “The kids haven’t changed a bit,” Gribbons said. “They’re busier now, but they’re as dedicated now as they ever were. They work as hard as any kids I’ve ever had, and they’ve always been a pride of that school.” Gribbons’ children, Devin and Megan, both came through the program as well. Devin is now at Notre Dame and Megan is working in San Francisco. Gribbons said it’s difficult for both to get back for his induction, but he knows they have a special bond. “I said to them, ‘It’s different because you guys were a part of this,’ ” Gribbons said. ” ‘It’s not like you were a bystander going to watch their dad get something. You guys were part of the reason I’m getting this.’ ” Ricker and Gribbons still coach cross country and indoor track for Nashoba, but recently ceded the spring track duties to Jim Nosel and Dan Glover. Gribbons was more than happy to give two others a chance to grow their own Nashoba legends, and said he has no plans to quit anytime soon. “We gave up the spring because there were younger people in school who wanted it and they were more than capable of taking it,” Gribbons said. “It was just time to let a new tradition begin. It’s nice to see it turning over to a new generation.”
Inducted: 2008