Award History
USTFCCCA XC High School State COY2021 USTFCCCA High School Cross Country State Coaches of the Year
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the state-by-state winners of its eighth annual High School Cross Country Coaches of the Year Presented by the United States Marine Corps on Thursday.
One boys coach and one girls coach from 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, were honored for their successes during the fall of 2021, as selected by a committee of experts from around the nation.
QUICK LINKS: Boys Coaches of the Year | Girls Coaches of the Year
State-by-state winners were selected based on their teams’ performances throughout the 2021 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.
Full lists of winners can be found below.
| State | Name | School |
| Alabama | Ann-Marie Cook | Bayshore Christian School |
| Alaska | Tara Edwards | Grace Christian School |
| Arizona | Brandon Southall | Northwest Christian School |
| Arkansas | Dennis Chaney | DeQueen High School |
| California | Sean Brosnan | Newbury Park High School |
| Colorado | Stan Lambros | Cheyenne Mountain High School |
| Connecticut | Bryan Kovalsky | Ridgefield High School |
| Delaware | Scott Davis | Salesianum School |
| District of Columbia | Desmond Dunham | St. John’s College High School |
| Florida | Francisco Ruiz | Belen Jesuit Preparatory School |
| Georgia | Mary Souther | Decatur High School |
| Hawaii | Aaron Kondo | Hawaii Baptist Academy |
| Idaho | Jeff Howard | Rocky Mountain High School |
| Illinois | John O’Malley | Carl Sandburg High School |
| Indiana | Karl Knerr | Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School |
| Iowa | Eric Walsh | Tipton High School |
| Kansas | Curtis Morgan | Buhler High School |
| Kentucky | Ian Johnstone | Conner High School |
| Louisiana | Rudy Horvath | Jesuit High School |
| Maine | Danielle Johnson | Hampden Academy |
| Maryland | Josh Alcombright | Severna Park High School |
| Massachusetts | Perry Pappas | Wakefield Memorial High School |
| Michigan | Jay Puffpaff | St. Louis High School |
| Minnesota | Todd Trutna | Big Lake High School |
| Mississippi | Shannon Knott | Brookhaven High School |
| Missouri | Jeremy Goddard | Kickapoo High School |
| Montana | Anders Brooker | Hellgate High School |
| Nebraska | Sam Jilka | Lexington High School |
| Nevada | Jim Parker | Reno High School |
| New Hampshire | Tom Cassetty | Bishop Guertin High School |
| New Jersey | Mike McCabe | Union Catholic Regional High School |
| New Mexico | Steven Montoya | Los Alamos High School |
| New York | Ray Lawson | Corning-Painted Post High School |
| North Carolina | Patrick Cromwell | Mount Tabor High School |
| North Dakota | Shane Wahlstrom | Williston High School |
| Ohio | Melissa Graham-Perkins | Marlington High School |
| Oklahoma | Mikey Eaves | Marlow High School |
| Oregon | Chris Johnson | Siuslaw High School |
| Pennsylvania | Josh Gavitt | Hughesville Jr./Sr. High School |
| Rhode Island | Jim Doyle | Bishop Hendricken High School |
| South Carolina | Lee Whitaker | Fort Mill High School |
| South Dakota | Tom McGough | Miller High School |
| Tennessee | Mike Wood | McCallie School |
| Texas | Rick Miller | Grapevine High School |
| Utah | Chris Brower | Farmington High School |
| Vermont | Michael LeVangie | Craftsbury Academy |
| Virginia | Lindy Bain | Western Albemarle High School |
| Washington | Matt Rexus | Kamiakin High School |
| West Virginia | Ed Frohnapfel | University High School |
| Wisconsin | Dominic Newman | Shorewood High School |
| Wyoming | John Bernhisel | Rocky Mountain Middle / High School |