Latest news with #Boys'CoachoftheYear
Miami Herald
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
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.
Miami Herald
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas' Crowley and Stein are the Broward Lacrosse Coaches of the Year
At St. Thomas Aquinas this year, a familiar face led the boys' lacrosse team to yet another state championship and a new face helped the girls' lacrosse team stay among the top teams in Broward County. Now, Terry Crowley and Kristina Stein the Miami Herald's Broward County Lacrosse Coaches of the Year. Crowley is the Herald's Boys' Coach of the Year for the fifth straight season after hoisting his fourth state championship trophy with the Raiders. Crowley also led St. Thomas Aquinas to state titles in 2016, 2017 and 2022, and he also took the Raiders to the title game in 2015, 2019 and 2023. In 2024, St. Thomas Aquinas went into the region playoffs with a losing record before making a run to the final four and that experience primed the Raiders for a return to championship form in 2025. St. Thomas Aquinas brought another trophy back to Fort Lauderdale by blowing out Ponte Vedra, 13-4, in the Class 2A title game May 10. Along the way, the Raiders lost only one game to another Florida team—an overtime loss to Benjamin in April. Stein is the Herald's Broward County Girls' Lacrosse Coach of the Year after sustaining the Raiders' status as one of the top teams in the county in her first year as coach. St. Thomas Aquinas reached the Region 4-2A championship, making a deeper run in the postseason than any other Broward team, and went undefeated against county rivals. In the region playoffs, the Raiders won their first three games each by at least nine goals, only to narrowly fall 7-6 to Vero Beach in the 4-2A championship May 2. Stein, who spent the last two seasons as the coach at Stoneman Douglas, was previously an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas and is off to a good start in building on the Raiders' legacy of recent success that includes a state title in 2021 and a trip to the state championship in 2023.
Miami Herald
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Cypress Bay's Brunt and Heritage's Croke are the Broward Tennis Coaches of the Year
Both American Heritage's Toby Croke and Cypress Bay's Michael Brunt have presided over two of the premier tennis programs in the state in recent years. For Croke, it had been a little bit since one of his Patriots' squads had finished the season at the top. That changed this season when American Heritage's girls secured the Class 2A team state championship. On the boys' side, Cypress Bay didn't come away with a state team title. But the Lightning maintained their standard with top performances both individually and as a team in Class 4A. As such, Croke and Brunt are the Miami Herald's Tennis Coaches of the Year for Broward County. Croke wins the Girls' Coach of the Year honors after leading the Patriots girls to their first state title since 2021 and their seventh overall. Senior Tina Liu and junior Angelina Lin led the way as a doubles team and at the top of Heritage's singles' rotation. After losing in districts to rival Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, American Heritage bounced back with a huge team win over the Panthers in the rematch a week later to secure a regional title. Heritage carried that momentum to the state meet where it swept Orlando Lake Highland Prep and followed that with a 4-2 win over Naples Barron Collier to secure the championship. Brunt wins the Boys' Coach of the Year honors after leading Cypress Bay to the Class 4A state final four. Although the Lightning lost in the state semifinals to eventual state champion Orlando Lake Nona, Cypress Bay dominated the competition throughout the season in Broward County. The Lightning won district and regional championships led by Pablo Alunni-Cobo at the top of its singles rotation. Alunni-Cobo then teamed up with senior Rolando Torrellas and sometimes with junior Sebastian Elias to win some clutch matches throughout the season.
