CHS senior’s decision to concentrate on lacrosse pays off

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

Carmel High School senior midfielder

Tori Tomalia took the advice of her club lacrosse coach to give up basketball and focus on one sport.

“She said, ‘Tori, if (you) want to play lacrosse at the level you want to play at, you have to stick to one sport,’” she said “Honestly, it was the best decision of my life.”

Tomalia gave up basketball after her sophomore season.

“I realized I did not enjoy going to basketball practice as much as I did lacrosse practice,” she said.

Tomalia also realized how much more she wanted to play lacrosse in college.

“The second I switched over to playing lacrosse only, it opened a whole new world for me, and I just love the sport so much more,” she said.

Tomalia, who has signed to play for the University of Connecticut next season,

Favorite subject: English

Favorite athlete: Tamika Catchings

Favorite TV show: “Friends” plays club lacrosse for Major Force Lacrosse, which plays a national schedule.

“UConn has been my No. 1 school for a long time,” she said.

Greyhounds coach Josh Miller said Tomalia’s athleticism keeps improving.

“She’s a heck of an athlete up and down the field,” said Miller, who is in his eighth year with the program and has been head coach for four seasons. “Her work ethic is

100 percent all the time. She has a positive attitude that wears off on a lot of the other girls. She is the best player I’ve ever had as far as pure talent and athleticism. This is a team loaded with talent, and she’s leading us in every category.”

Tomalia was named the USA Lacrosse Player of the Week earlier this season.

Tomalia said her biggest improvement is her work on the draw, which is a 1-on-1 battle for possession at the start of each half and after goals.

“I’ve been working on doing a lot of different draws in high-pressure situations,” she said. “I think that’s been the most effective for us because we have a lot more possessions against some harder teams where we might have lost the draw last year.”

Tomalia, who has played lacrosse since third grade, said the team is hungry after losing to Guerin Catholic last year in the Indiana High School Lacrosse Association state championship.

“I’d say this is the most hard-working team and our most ambitious to win,” said Tomalia, who was on the Greyhounds’ state championship team in 2021.

Noblesville named as Tree City

By Matthew Kent matthew@youarecurrent.com

Noblesville has been named a 2023 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The designation was given in honor of the city’s commitment to effective urban forest management and marks the 33rd consecutive year that Noblesville has received the distinction.

Environment

“Being a Tree City USA member for over three decades shows the importance that the city and its citizens have for our environment and its sustainability year after year,” Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen said. “I also want to thank the Noblesville Urban Forestry Board for its overall care of city street trees and the educational outlet and projects it provides our residents.”

The Noblesville Urban Forestry Board is responsible for the development of a master plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, removal and disposition of street trees in the City of Noblesville, officials said.

According to the city, the Tree City USA program started in 1979, and only four cities in Indiana have participated as long as Noblesville. They are Bloomington, Indianapolis, Elkhart and Angola.

Officials said Noblesville received Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, as well as observing Arbor Day, which was April 28.

Jensen proclaimed it as Arbor Day in the city to celebrate the numerous benefits trees provide the community.

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