Only a handful of female coaches in the history of Florida high school cross country have ever coached boys teams to state team titles. First-year Viera head coach Samantha Gerrits joined that shortlist becoming the fifth-ever female head coach to lead a group of boys to be the last team called up onto the state meet podium with her squad winning the 4A state title on a sixth runner tiebreaker over Creekside.
Gerrits also helped coach Michael Toppi to qualify for the Eastbay XC Nationals (formerly Foot Locker) and run a state all-time best of 14:41 individually at the RunningLane Championships. Their squad was consistently ranked among the top 2 teams in the state of Florida all season long, winners of numerous major invitationals including Cecil Field Summer Classic and Spanish River Invitational (against Belen Jesuit), and ultimately delivered on their pre-season expectations in their program's first-ever state title.
Vote for the deserving coach for the title of Florida boys cross country coach of the year following the 2021 season. Poll closes at 9 PM on Friday, December 17th.
Interview with Coach Ruiz (Belen Jesuit)
Interview with Coach Rivera (Bolles)
Interview with Coach LaBrant (Indian Rocks Christian)
