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As the group of teens made their way through farm fields in Marana to the town’s regional airport, they were often greeted by community members, who offered a quick hello or even some water.

“They're super nice and it just feels like a big community,� Toy said. “They don't care that we're shirtless, we're sweaty, we look like we're dying and have snot on our faces. But they don't care at all. They're always with open arms.�

These summer training sessions are some of his favorite runs, mostly because of the interactions with the Marana community. 

But Toy wasn’t always toying around with the idea of being a runner, despite being a multi-sport athlete.

He grew up playing baseball and basketball, but only began taking running somewhat seriously during his sophomore year.

At first, it was more for fun and socialization. However, by the time his junior year rolled around, he was all about the sport.

“It was like, ‘I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself to do this.’ But then I ended up really liking it and now I put a lot of pressure on myself,� Toy said, adding, “We had a new coaching staff and a lot of my friends, we started maturing together. I think it helped a lot. It built a lot of progress, and I started really improving in the sport. I started taking it more seriously with new training plans and whatnot. And I started to excel. … Then after doing track last year for the first time, because we had a good season, I was like, ‘I think running is what I want to do. I think it's definitely my passion.’�

That passion has led him to have one last memorable season as a Tiger.

Last week, Toy set a personal record of 16:42.7 in the 5,000 meters at a meet with Canyon Del Oro and Mountain View Marana, where he finished in second place.

His new PR earned him the second spot on Marana’s boys cross country season bests in the 5,000 meters.

Since fully committing to running, the raw competition has become Toy’s favorite part of the sport.

“In other sports, there are a lot more external factors that are going to influence how you play,� he said. “Like the pitcher for baseball, he could be throwing 95 miles per hour, so you're at-bats are gonna be a lot harder. In basketball, you might be going up against a really good recruit, but in running, it's always you against your competitors, and you're going to run either way.

“You're going to put one foot in front of the other. It's up to you how much you're actually going to want to put out on the course. And there's not a lot of factors they're going to entertain because everyone's running on the same course in the same conditions. And I love the idea of just being able to have that competition at a base level without too many other factors.�

Toy and the rest of the Tigers have a couple more opportunities to indulge in competition as they wrap up their regular season with two invitationals.

Ahead of the regular season coming to an end, along with his high school running cross country career, Toy says he’s feeling good in the moment.

“I never really thought I'd be running my first year of high school,� he said. “I’ve always liked baseball and I always enjoyed basketball more. So, I never really viewed myself as a runner. … But I'm running with people I enjoy and I enjoy the coaching staff. We're like a brotherhood on the team, which makes it a lot better.�

'Representing a community'

Marana boys cross country head coach Joe Schaaf is only in his second full year of coaching the team, but right from the beginning, he saw Toy make an impact on the program.

He was the first athlete to “buy in� to Schaaf’s coaching system and philosophy for the program, Schaaf says.

“He didn't really ask too many questions negatively, a lot of positive questions on his part, especially because I know he wanted to improve and it seemed like he wanted to just be a better person because of running,� Schaaf said. “When I first took over, he'd be one of the first people there. He would help lead drills, help lead stretching and make sure the guys were doing their runs correctly. So, immediately, he stepped in as a leader for me and bought in. And it's made a world of a difference for a lot of the young guys because he's sort of evidence that what we're doing works and it's good to have a cornerstone like that in any program.�

Even outside of cross country, his “tenacious, honest and determined� personality has made an impact in school, according to Schaaf.

During school, Schaaf has seen Toy picking up trash around the campus (and even beyond school at local cross country meets) and guiding new students to their classes.

“He captures our Tiger pride perfectly,� Schaaf said. “We read our team goals every day and one of the things in there is ‘Tiger pride’ a few times and often when we go places or when we're traveling as a team or doing things together, he's one of the people that sort of keeps us grounded in ‘We're doing this not just for ourselves.’ Every time we put on a Marana jersey, we are representing a community. We're representing a whole group of people beyond ourselves.�

Toy takes representing Marana and his community in a positive light seriously. 

In school, he’s a part of Marana’s philosophy club, National Honor Society and a member of the school’s student-athlete leadership team. All on top of holding a 4.5 GPA.

Balancing it all can be challenging at times, but Toy says he tries not to put too much pressure on one thing. Instead, he focuses on the task at hand, giving each his undivided attention and energy.

When he’s not giving all of his energy to school and athletics, he loves to spend time outside. Whether that’s going fly fishing (something he picked up from his grandfather) or playing golf or his most recent hobby, frisbee golf.

Once he graduates this upcoming year, his goal is to go to pharmacy school at the University of Arizona.

Pharmaceutical sciences will allow him to utilize his passion for chemistry, along with interacting with community members.

While he plans to shift his focus from running to settling down in college upon high school graduation, there’s still a chance you could find him on those warm summer morning runs, going through Marana, the town and community that brings him so much joy.

“It's been an absolute delight (coaching him),� Schaaf said. “He has all these intangible qualities that most coaches would kill for. And having him on the team has been important because it seems like a lot of the young guys, they hear the coach sometimes and they're like, ‘Oh yeah, coach is talking’ and that's important but to have an athlete like him, that's sort of the tangible proof, and they're able to say, ‘OK this guy has started to walk the walk and we know that he's improved dramatically. So we know that we can, too.’ 

“And it's starting to happen for a lot of the other young guys, too, because they're starting to realize, Andrew has been helping us. Andrew has been a good light for us to follow through with this program. So, it's been incredible to have him.�

Fast Five with Andrew

Who’s your favorite baseball team?

Philadelphia Phillies. My parents are from Pennsylvania, and my mom's from near Philadelphia, and they're die-hard Phillies fans.

What’s your pre-race routine?

We all use this stuff called Tiger Bal,m and there's this nostalgic smell you get from it. If I don't smell that before a race, I don't know it's go time. (Tiger Balm contains menthol and cinnamon, creating a minty yet spicy scent.)

What kind of music is on your running playlist?

“Could You Be Loved� by Bob Marley, some early 2000s hip hop, and pop, like Katy Perry.

If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you go?

If I could run anywhere in the world that I haven't been to, probably either Hawaii, because of the low elevation and you can run around the mountain, or Japan would be really sick, if I was doing the Japan marathon and just the people there and how crazy they get would be insane.

What’s your current favorite class?

My current favorite class is AP Statistics. It has a lot of real-world components to it, and I really enjoy that I can apply a lot of the statistical significance and probability of things I see in my life.