NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday the state-by-state winners of its fourth annual High School Coach of the Year award for cross country.
One boys coach and one girls coach from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia - as seen in the lists below - were honored for their successes during the fall of 2017, as selected by a committee of experts from around the nation.
State-by-state winners were selected based on their teams' performances throughout the 2017 cross country season. Among the factors taken into consideration were team score and placement at the state championships, margin of victory, performance against rankings if available, individual championships, and how their teams' performances stacked up to previous years (e.g. first title in school history, consecutive titles, etc.).
Each honoree will receive a trophy from the USTFCCCA recognizing his or her achievements.
The winners from each state are in consideration for the association's National High School Cross Country Coach of the Year award. One boys coach and one girls coach from among all the states will be selected by a panel of experts and be announced later this month as the national winners.
Coach Ray Lawson - Corning Boys - 2017 New York State Champs
Coach Ray Lawson wins the Boys Coach Of The Year Title for the second year in a row, after their first State Title last year.
In 2017, the Corning boys took home their second straight title, winning by two points. In the past decade, only Manlius (2013 - 37, and 2014 - 24) and Shenendehowa (2008 - 30) had lower point totals than the Corning team for the Class A State Title this year, at 38 points. They then went on to take second at the NXN-NY Regional, becoming the first Section 4 team to ever make it to the event. Once at Nationals, they placed 12th. In addition, Quinn Nicholson took 3rd overall in the Class A title race, as well as 5th at the Regional.
Coach Bill Aris - Fay-Man Girls - 2017 New York State Champs
Coach Bill Aris reclaims the title as Girls Coach of the Year, after winning the State and National titles in 2014 and 2015.
In 2017, the Fayetteville-Manlius Girls' team went on to win the Manhattan Invitational, their 12th consecutive State Title, their 11th overall National Title, and their third straight undefeated season. With a win of 24 points in 2017, they now average a State Meet Score of 27.25 over their 12 year streak, and an average of 23.64 point average over the last decade. In addition, Claire Walters won the Eastern States Races at the Manhattan Invite, 3rd at both States and Regionals, and then 5th overall at Nike Cross Nationals.