Photo by USTFCCCA
Last week, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the list and winners of the 2023 High School Track & Field State Coaches of the Year. This award is given out to recognize two coaches for their efforts and achievements dating back to the start of the indoor track and field season to the end of the outdoor track and field season.
Tedd Ginn, Sr. of Glenville was announced as the Boys' Coach of the Year, while Jeff Howard of Woodridge was announced as the Girls' Coach of the Year.
Ohio Boys' Track and Field Coach of the Year
Tedd Ginn, Sr., Glenville
Coach Ginn and the Glenville boys have been making noise all year in the oval office during both the indoor and outdoor season, making a statement by putting almost every single person that they have brought this year to the OATCCC D2/3 Indoor State Meet and the OHSAA Division 3 Outdoor State Championships on the podium, ultimately taking home both team titles in style.
Revisiting the indoor season, the Glenville boys were making things hot in the winter both on the track and in the field, with Bryce West and Jermaine Foster highlighting the crew by taking to the top of the podium at the OATCCC D2/3 Indoor State Meet with Bryce's 200m Dash and Jermaine's High Jump. Adding crucial points as well to the tally, they were joined by Micquan Gravely, Milique Herron, Jamari Townsend, and Warren Bloodworth to round out the boys.
Can't forget about the relays though, as they ended up taking home the crown in both the 4x200m and 4x400m Relay, both which put them OH #1 for D2/3 and OH #2 overall on the final rankings for the 22/23 indoor season.
To top things off with the winter season, Ginn has made quite the statement to the entire state the past few years, as this is actually his third year in a row leading his boys to a 3rd straight indoor state team title!
Carrying the momentum from indoors to outdoors, it was evident that Ginn was ready to make some noise fresh off of the indoor season, as Glenville quickly put themselves very high up on the early rankings, and kept the fire burning all the way to the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships, where every single one that took part in the competition ended up taking a spot on the podium:
Bryce West - 100m Dash - 3rd
Micquan Gravely - 100m Dash - 5th
Bryce West - 200m Dash - 3rd
Milique Herron - 200m Dash - 5th
Malik Davis - 400m Dash - 5th
Jermaine Foster - High Jump - 2nd
4x100m Relay, (Jordin Johnson, Micquan Gravely, Milique Herron, Bryce West) - 2nd
4x200m Relay, (Micquan Gravely, Jamari Townsend, Milique Herron, Bryce West) - 1st
4x400m Relay, (Isaiah McCallum, Jamari Townsend, Jacob Rice, Malik Davis) - 1st
Repeating what we saw during the indoor season with the relays, they ended up taking the top spot in the 4x200m Relay and the 4x400m Relay, and narrowly missing the triple crown with a runner-up finish in the 4x100m Relay.
Given that Bryce West, Micquan Gravely, Isaiah McCallum, and Jamari Townsend are returning next year, along with Rayne Williams potentially one to look out for in the High Jump to fill that spot that Foster is going to leave, we could potentially see Ginn's boys rack up a fourth-in-a-row state title during the upcoming indoor season, along with potentially a third-in-arow state title for the outdoor season.
Ohio Girls' Track and Field Coach of the Year
Jeff Howard, Woodridge
It's something special when a coach is announced to be the award winner for Track and Field Coach of the Year, but even more when that same coach has also previously won the Cross-Country Coach of the Year (2021).
Jeff Howard of Woodridge did just that with the announcement that he was the Girls' Track and Field Coach of the Year; this comes after recently leading the Lady Bulldogs to a state title at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships, where they secured crucial points in the 4x400m with a runner-up finish to seal the deal.
It's not often that you find a team that has quite the quality in both the sprints and distance events, but that was something that highlighted Woodridge this outdoor season at the State Championships, where every single lady that represented them ended up claiming a spot in the podium across the individual events along with relays.
Highlighting the bunch were Reese Reaman, Anna Rorrer, and Marissa Boone, who all placed in both individual events along with relays. Rorrer lead the bunch with her taking the top spot on the podium in the 300m Hurdles, which was also a personal best an OH #5 plus being apart of the 4x400m team that clinched the final points for the state title.
Marissa Boone and Reese Reaman made their own statements as well in the relays in which both of them played their part with the runner-up finish in the 4x400m Relay and third place finish in the4x800m Relay. Along with that, Eloise Willett and Joy Mcfarland were also a part of the relays for the title chase!
Reese Reaman - 800m - 2nd
Marissa Boone - 800m - 6th
Reese Reaman - 1600m - 3rd
Anna Rorrer - 100m Hurdles - 5th
Anna Rorrer - 300m Hurdles - 1st
4x400m, (Marissa Boone, Eloise Willett, Anna Rorrer, Reese Reaman) - 2nd
4x800m, (Marissa Boone, Joy Mcfarland, Eloise Willett, Reese Reaman) - 3rd
In terms of returners, Reese, Marissa, and Eloise will all be returning next year, so Howard's crew will be certainly one to look out for on the oval office.