Belen, Columbus, Carrollton coaches are Dade Track and Field Coaches of the Year
It had been close to two decades since the Belen Jesuit track and field team had won a state championship.
Longtime rival Columbus hadn't waited nearly as long to win a boys' title, but didn't want to share the crown this time.
And for Carrollton's girls, it was a brand new experience when they stood on the top step of the podium for the first time ever.
The coaches of those three programs all led their respective squads to state championships this season. And so, Belen's Victor Arrieta, Columbus' Danny Areces and Carrollton's Dylan Hermelee are this year's Miami Herald Miami-Dade County Track and Field Coaches of the Year.
Hermelee wins the Girls' Coach of the Year honors after leading Carrollton to its first team state championship.
For Hermelee, it's his second coaching honor within the same school year as he was also the Dade Girls' Cross-Country Coach of the Year this past fall after leading the Cyclones to a fourth-place finish at state.
There was no settling for anything short of first place in track season, and every point was needed.
With a group of nine competitors overall which was led by individual state champions Arianna Garcia and Grace Aldrich, Carrollton edged Montverde Academy by half a point to capture the Class 2A state title.
On the boys' side, Arrieta and Areces split the Boys' Coach of the Year honors.
Arrieta led the Wolverines to their first state championship since 2007 as their squad found the balance needed to edge some of the state's best teams in Class 3A. Arrieta had watched prior Belen teams come close, but just short to a title in recent years as the Wolverines finished second in 2021 and 2023. Belen's distance runners, led by Tiago Socarras and Marcelo Mantecon, propelled the team to the top spot.
A season after sharing the team title, Areces helped guide the Explorers to an outright victory in Class 4A. Columbus' sprinters such as Alec Cruz, Shaddai Carter, Bryce Fitzgerald and Zamarion Lawson, under the guidance of veteran coach James Hardwick, led the way. But the Explorers' depth in the field events with top performers such as javelin state champion Remington Goins made a huge difference.
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