Running into retirement
Cumberland’s Kenwood ready for next step
“I will say (that) it was always fun. The kids were great, and I’m proud of the fact that approximately 40 people have gone on to coach (high school) track or cross country at one time or another.” – Retiring Cumberland track coach Tom Kenwood
CUMBERLAND — When legendary Cumberland High boys’track & field head coach Tom Kenwood arrived at Brown Stadium early on Saturday morning, June 3, for the start of the R.I. Outdoor Championships, he admittedly felt some heaviness in his heart.
It was natural, of course, as this was to be his 43rd – and final – go-around as the Clippers’ pilot at a state meet.
He experienced the same a week later in Norwell, Mass., the site of the New England Championships.
“It was fleeting, but – yes – I did think about it,” stated Kenwood, who had decided to retire a month or so before. “I thought about all the kids I had in the past, all the great careers they had.
“I’ve had the pleasure of having a lot of really nice kids come through the program, and I still see some of them at the (annual Fourth of July) Arnold Mills Road Race,” he added. “In fact, some of the kids I coached years ago now have their children come to our summer track program (affiliated with the Cumberland Parks & Recreation Department).
“I told a lot of the kids on the bus going to the Freshman State Meet in Westerly (on May 30) that this would be my last season, and a lot of them congratulated me. When I told the varsity team the day of states, some of them – like (junior standout hurdler) Chris Choquette – said, ‘But, Coach, you can’t! Go one more year!’
“It’s never a good time (to retire) because there’s always a freshman or sophomore who you’ve seen do well, and you want to keep coaching them, but eventually, you’ve got to make that decision.”
The good news for Cumberland’s male cross country squad: Kenwood will serve as mentor this coming fall.
Rick Marshall, the director of the R.I. Track & Field Foundation, and Tom Mezzanotte, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League executive director, recognized one of the longest-serving head coaches in state history at the end of the championships at Brown.
“Alot of people applauded, and a lot of folks – coaches and others – congratulated me,” Kenwood said in his typical dulcet tone. He never was one for being recognized; he only cared about getting the best he could out of each and every individual he served.
When asked why he’s choosing to hang up his sneakers now, at least for indoor and outdoor track, he responded, “I’ve got a beautiful new grandson, Bryce, who’s eight months old. He’s my daughter Michaela (George’s) son, and (my wife) Kathy and I want to babysit him. We’ll be doing that three days a week.
“The second thing? I was also getting tired,” he continued. “A lot of people don’t know how much time goes into coaching. I retired from teaching seven years ago, and I have no idea how I combined that with three (coaching) seasons a year, and also coaching all of my three kids’ youth sports teams.
“I will say (that) it was always fun. The kids were great, and I’m proud of the fact that approximately 40 people have gone on to coach (high school) track or cross country at one time or another.”
He then rattled off a roster of venerable names from his mentoring past at CHS; among them Joyce Bonner, Steve Mazzone, Matt Carpenter, (the former) Michaela Kenwood, son Mark, Trevor Crawley, Sean Laverty and Jerry Bonner, to name more than a few. Still, there were so many more. “My fondest memory? I don’t have one, but – most recently – Sean ran at Dartmouth College as a freshman, and he was very successful,” he noted. “He traveled to the NCAA National Championships in Wisconsin with the (Big Green’s) cross country team, but didn’t compete. Still, being one of the school’s top eight (harriers) as a freshman was quite an achievement.
“Then there was Mike Coppolino, who finished top-six in the country in the hammer throw and was named All-American; he’s now at Brown,” he added. “And Trevor, who was an All-State and All-New England selection in cross-country, indoor and outdoor, just finished a terrific career at Providence College. Both Sean and Trevor were tremendous, even as freshmen, and they got better every year. Sean still holds almost all of the school’s varsity distance records.”
Bonner, the son of former Clipper Joyce (who later spent years as the girls cross-country and track chief), provided Kenwood with one of his most satisfying and bittersweet memories over the past 43 years.
“He’s someone who might have held and continue to hold those records,” Kenwood offered. “He won the 2001 Class A indoor championship in the 1,500 with a spectacular time of 4:01.4, which then was a new school record. He was so good,
“It was one of the greatest races I ever saw. Jerry beat Jon Kielszak of Hendricken by a tenth of a second, but Jon went on to win the state title (in that event).”
Mere days later, Kenwood insisted it was hours, Bonner had been diagnosed by doctors with right ventricular fibrillation.
“That meant is heart was racing out of control even at rest, and they told him he had to stop running, which was devastating,” he confided. “He was only a junior when it happened. Think about running at the old (Community College of Rhode Island-Lincoln) track, which was a slippery surface and it was 11 laps to a mile.
“Jerry was a big kid at 6-3, so it slowed him down trying to maneuver those tight turns, but he won it anyway. There’s at least a 10-second difference between that track and the new field house at (the Providence Career & Technical Academy, located next to Central High in Providence.
“That was really tough on all of us, but Jerry also went on to coach, and he’s doing great.”
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In 1969, Kenwood graduated from Tolman High, where he represented the school’s cross country, swimming, basketball and track teams.
He moved on to Rhode Island College and competed on the cross-country and track squads. As a mere frosh, he helped the latter team claim the New England Small Schools Athletic Conference title in 1970, then began his coaching career under the guidance of heralded former Anchormen’s head coach Ray Dwyer shortly after graduating with a Bachelor’s of Physical Education.
The following year, he was hired to coach the CHS indoor and outdoor teams, and began teaching at the Mendon Road institution in 1978.
Over the years, he’s mentored not only his mainstay sports but also girls’ gymnastics, and has posted over 600 dual-meet wins, not to mention 40 division championships. Kenwood collected his first and only indoor track state title in 1977-78, and the gymnastics crown in 1984.
Exactly two decades later, his Clippers snatched the R.I. cross-country championship.
It gets better: Over at least the past 10 years, CHS has never lost a Northern Division title in cross-country, indoor and outdoor track.
“We had finished as runner-ups the previous three years with the gymnastics team (before ‘84), but that was very difficult because I was coaching the indoor track team and teaching,” Kenwood laughed. “How did I do it? With the love and support of my wife. I never could have done it all without Kathy.”
Incredibly, for all these years, he continues to serve on the town’s Parks & Recreation commission; fashions youth track meets in the summer at Tucker Field; and organizes the Cumberlandfest 5-Kilometer Road Race (for 27) and Arnold Mills event (for a whopping 40).
He also had aided in the management of the town-wide Cumberland Learning Community’s annual 5-K to benefit middle school sports; the Franklin Farm 5-K; the Bobby Doyle Classic; and the George Nasuti Memorial “Novans’ Pride” Road Race.
Put all that together, and it’s little wonder why Kenwood has been recognized by the R.I. Track Coaches Association’s “Coach of the Year” on several occasions; and been inducted into the same group’s Hall of Fame, not to mention the RIC Athletic Hall of Fame. He recently was inducted into the RIIL’s hall, and has been recognized by the Cumberland/Lincoln Rotary Club for his devotion to volunteering.
Kenwood and Kathy have three adult children, Chris (35), Michaela (33) and Mark (31), all of whom are former athletes for them. In fact, Michaela now is an assistant coach at Barrington High.
“The biggest secret, which is no secret at all, is the support of my wife,” he stated. “She’s been like an assistant for me since almost the beginning. She helps us out with scoring at dual meets, drives to meets out of state if need be, and is just a big fan of the Cumberland programs.
“Our kids always competed in indoor and outdoor, so – of course – she was always involved,” he continued. “Another big reason for our success in track and cross country is the great assistants I’ve had, including Harry Gederman and Varnum Elliott, who was with me for over 25 years. Another is Roland Roy, who’s been a volunteer assistant for 20.
“I retired from teaching seven years ago, and I have no idea how I combined that with three (coaching) seasons a year, and also coaching all of my three kids’ youth sports teams.”