Mansfield City Schools recently honored five dedicated individuals as inductees to The Castle Wall. Lemarco Robinson, Tyree Shine, Chuck Riley, Laurie Romano and Jeff McCoy were acknowledged during the football game on August 20.
The Inductees
Robinson began serving at John Simpson Junior High in 2002, assisting athletics with running the clock at boys and girls basketball games. He soon began doing the same for Malabar Intermediate. Throughout the years, Robinson has been a dedicated volunteer, collecting tickets at the gate, managing concession stands and working as a clock operator. He is a familiar and friendly face at many Tyger athletic events.
Coach Shine is a 1974 graduate of Malabar High School, where he was an All-Ohio standout in track and field who later ran at Ohio State University. In the late 1970s, he began his career as a track and field coach with MCS, serving over 40 years with our student-athletes, guiding over 70 athletes who have competed in the State Track and Field Championships. He is the founder of “Blessed To Run Track Club” a non-profit AAU track club and serves as an Elder and Youth Department Director at Maddox Memorial Church of God In Christ. He is currently the head coach of the boys and girls track teams at Senior High.
Riley entered Tyger nation as a member of the All-Sports Booster Club in 1981, continuing to serve for 27 years - 23 of which he served as Treasurer. He continues to volunteer over the years at various events including the Mehock Relays and the JC Gorman Wrestling Tournament and serves with the football chain crew, operates scoreboards and countless other services and tasks as needed.
Romano started with MCS in 1982 as a Health and Physical Education teacher. She has coached middle school basketball, high school volleyball and served as assistant athletic director under Dick Windbigler prior to becoming the athletic director. In this role, she was an academic advisor, mentor and role model to Tyger students. With over 40 years of experience, Romano formally retired in 2016 but continues to be a pillar and source of dedication.
McCoy is a 1987 graduate of Senior High. He began serving as a volunteer coach in 1994 for the freshman boys football and basketball teams. He became the boys junior varsity football coach with a record of 55-5 in three years, including a perfect record of 21-0 in his first year. McCoy went on to become the varsity basketball assistant coach, mentoring hundreds of student-athletes. He is the co-founder of “Hoops for Youth,” a non-profit organization that has provided basketball skills, character building and prioritizes academic success to Mansfield’s youth for the last 17 years.
About The Castle Wall
The Castle Wall was constructed in 2011, named in honor of Doug Castle, a long-time Mansfield City Schools teacher, administrator and coach who died after a fight with brain cancer. The wall is made from limestone blocks extracted from the perimeter of the Senior High at its previous location of West Fourth and Bowman streets. That is the same limestone wall that was in place when John Simpson Junior High occupied the site - where Castle was principal.