Latest news with #Cross-CountryCoachoftheYear
Miami Herald
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
State track & field coaches of the year are from Miami. Plus basketball news
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named Ross 'Dylan' Hermelee of Miami Carrollton and Danny Areces of Miami Columbus the coaches of the year in Florida for for girls' and boys' track & field, respectively. That made them finalists for USTFCCCA national coach of the year honors. They did not win the national award, but to be a state winner and national nominee are quite the accomplishments. Hermelee led Carrollton to its first team state championship. The Cyclones edged Montverde Academy by half a point to capture the FHSAA Class 2A girls' track & field state title. He was named Miami Herald All-Dade Girls' Track & Field Coach of the Year and prior Miami Herald All-Dade Girls' Cross-Country Coach of the Year during the 2024-25 school year. Areces helped guide Columbus to the FHSAA Class 4A boys' track & field state title. He was named Miami Herald All-Dade Boys' Track & Field Coach of the Year. The USTFCCCA recently announced the state-by-state winners of its 11th annual High School Track & Field Coaches of the Year, presented by the United States Marine Corps. One boys' coach and one girls' coach from 50 states – as well as the District of Columbia – were honored for their successes during the spring 2025, as selected by a committee of experts from around the nation. State-by-state winners were selected based on their teams' performances throughout the 2025 outdoor track & field 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 their achievements. In the final national voting, Richard Anderson of Vestavia Hills (Alabama boys' track & field) and Alisa Seymour of Collierville (Tennessee girls' track & field) were named the USTFCCCA National High School Track & Field Coaches of the Year. Miami Senior High grad Jamir 'Jazz' Cook signed with the NCAA Division II Barry University women's basketball team. 'We're thrilled to add Jamir 'Jazz' Cook to the Barry University family,' new Barry coach Allison Bustamante said. 'Having coached against her the past few years, I've seen firsthand the talent and toughness she brings to the court. Signing a local star from Miami-Dade County is incredibly special, and I'm excited for the opportunity to now coach her and help her unlock her full potential. We're delighted to welcome Jazz to The Shores.' Bustamante joined Barry after serving as the girl's basketball coach at Miami Doral Academy, leading the Firebirds to back-to-back FHSAA Final Four appearances in 2023 and 2024, the first in school history. She compiled a 44-16 record and was ranked as high as No.2 in the state by MaxPreps. She was named the Class 5A-7A Miami Herald All-Dade Girls' Basketball Coach of the Year in 2024, after leading the Firebirds to a 23-8 record and the state semi-finals. Prior to Doral, Bustamante served as the head coach at Carrollton for six seasons, compiling a 68-32 mark. During her tenure, she transformed Carrollton into a winning program and led the team to its first district title. Cook played for the powerful Stingarees at Miami Senior High under coach Sam Baumgarten. She led them to the state tournament all four years, posting an 80-37 record. They played for the state title her freshman year, made the semifinals her sophomore year, the regional semifinal as a junior and the regional final her senior year. She earned Miami Herald All-Dade first team honors as a senior, averaging a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She shot 59-percent from the field and 59-percent from the line, adding 1.6 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. 'I chose Barry because it felt like the right place for me to grow on and off the court,' Cook said. 'I want to compete at a high-level while being somewhere that supports me as a student and an athlete.' The Buccaneers are coming off a 19-10 season and a Sunshine State Conference Tournament appearance. Bustamante played collegiately at Notre Dame and FIU, earning her bachelor's degree in hospitality management from FIU in 2005.
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.
