Impact
Records
Cassondra Hall
Warner Robins High School
Impact Statement
Cassondra Hall capped a decorated high school career with two first-place GHSA Class AAAAA individual titles.
Biography
Cassondra Hall capped a decorated high school career with first-place GHSA Class AAAAA individual titles in the 100 and 200 meters. She was also part of the Demons’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams, which finished second in the state meet, carrying Warner Robins to a state runner-up finish.
Hall will leave high school and head to run for LSU as a three-time 200-meter and four-time 100-meter state champion, and for the third year in a row, she is the Macon Telegraph’s All-Middle Georgia Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
While at LSU, Hall earned All American status three times during her three years as a Tiger. Hall transferred to UNLV to complete her final year of eligibility.
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Personal Honors
Homewood High School
“As a coach, you’re trying to maximize the potential of what you have.” -Tom Esslinger
“As a coach, you’re trying to maximize the potential of what you have.” -Tom Esslinger
Tom Esslinger
Homewood High School
Impact Statement
“As a coach, you’re trying to maximize the potential of what you have.” -Tom Esslinger
Biography
Esslinger led the Homewood girls to their fourth straight state championship in May. Led by sprinter Jasmine Griffin, who won three individual gold medals along with a relay gold, Homewood took home seven gold medals in individual events, plus one in the 4X400 relay. The state title was the tenth overall for Esslinger, who is head coach of the boys’ team as well.
Since taking-over in 2005, Homewood girls and boys have captured ten state titles with nine runner-up finishes. The track and field title gave the Homewood girls a three-peat this year under Esslinger. The Homewood girls also won the cross country and indoor track state titles during the 2016-17 school year.
Coach Esslinger is the second coach from Alabama to win the NHSCA National Girls’ Track and Field Coach of the Year award. Jim Tate of St. Paul’s Episcopal School won it in 2010.
Esslinger remained the coach at Homewood until he was hired as the head coach at Hewitt-Trussville High School in the spring of 2020. Over his tenure at Homewood, he coached 31 State Championships in Cross Country and Track and Field.
Esslinger has continued his winning ways at Hewitt-Trussville. In his first season, both the boys and girls won 7A Indoor State Championships. In the Outdoor State Championships, the boys and girls finished in second place.
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Records
Shelbyville Central High School
Kethlin Campbell captured three gold medals this past year by winning the 100- and 200 meter dash titles, plus the long jump at the Class AAA championships.
Kethlin Campbell captured three gold medals this past year by winning the 100- and 200 meter dash titles, plus the long jump at the Class AAA championships.
Kethlin Campbell
Shelbyville Central High School
Impact Statement
Kethlin Campbell captured three gold medals this past year by winning the 100- and 200 meter dash titles, plus the long jump at the Class AAA championships.
Biography
Kethlin Campbell captured three gold medals this past year by winning the 100- and 200 meter dash titles, plus the long jump at the Class AAA championships. Her winning jump of 20-feet 3.5 inches was the sixth best in the nation in the spring during the 2016-17 school year.
Campbell also won the Tennessee Indoor State Championship in the 200-meter dash and she’s the 60-meter state record holder. Campbell won over 30 medals during her scholastic career. Campbell, who owns a 3.98 GPA, is a member of the National Honor Society and National Society of High School Scholars. She’ll attend Duke on a track and field scholarship. Campbell was also Gatorade’s Tennessee Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
Campbell is the first Tennessee student-athlete to win the NHSCA Girls’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award.
Campbell was named Second-Team All-ACC as a Freshman at Duke. At the conclusion of the season, she declared her intent to transfer to the University of Arkansas. As a sophomore, she competed in 16 events. She won the SEC 400-meter with a time of 51.03, placing her second overall in the program’s history. In 2021, she was a member of the second place distance relay team. She is now a four time First-Team All American (2 indoor and 2 outdoor).
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Records
Professional Achievements
Personal Honors
Pioneer High School
“To say he went the extra mile with his students is an understatement. He was there for kids on the track as their coach, but he was so far beyond that.” -E. Claar, AD
“To say he went the extra mile with his students is an understatement. He was there for kids on the track as their coach, but he was so far beyond that.” -E. Claar, AD
Bryan Westfield
Pioneer High School
Impact Statement
“To say he went the extra mile with his students is an understatement. He was there for kids on the track as their coach, but he was so far beyond that.” -E. Claar, AD
Biography
“Bryan Westfield has had Ann Arbor Pioneer competing at the very top levels of track and field from coast-to-coast for the past two decades,” said NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro. “The NHSCA is proud to recognize Coach Westfield as the National High School Track Coach of the Year.”
Westfield has coached Pioneer High to 16 state championships and six runner-up finishes since 1985. He also has won three Cross Country State Championships and six runnerup finishes. Westfield has also won more than a dozen state high school coach of the year awards through the duration of his career. Individually, he coached 243 All-State Track and Cross-Country runner recipients and 59 All-Americans
Westfield was quite the athlete himself. He was a varsity letter winner in Track and Football, where he did both at Cornell University. He competed in the hurdles at the Olympic Trials and was a team member on the developmental squad for the New York Giants.
In 2009 the running track at Pioneer High School was named in his honor for his commitment to Pioneer and the community.
After completing his 37th season as coach, Westfield passed away in July of 2015 after a battle with esophageal cancer.
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Articles
Community Service
Bethel AME Church
NAACP
Mentoring program through the University of Michigan
Ann Arbor Youth Track Club
Records
Professional Achievements
Summit High School
Turnbull has continued to lead Summit to success on and off the field.
Turnbull has continued to lead Summit to success on and off the field.
David Turnbull
Summit High School
Impact Statement
Turnbull has continued to lead Summit to success on and off the field.
Biography
The school’s only track and field coach since Summit opened its doors in 2001, Turnbull’s boys and girls teams have won seven state team championships in less than a decade.
The Storm swept the 5A state titles last season. Now in his 23rd year of coaching, Turnbull led the boys team to its first 4A state title in 2005. His girls teams, after finishing second in 4A in 2006, are the five-time defending 5A state champions, and are heavily favored to win a sixth straight title this spring.
A Bend native, Turnbull graduated from cross-town Mountain View High School, and competed at Oregon State University, graduating in 1988. Turnbull was an All Pac-10 competitor, clearing seven feet in the high jump and also competing in the long jump, triple jump and the 4×100 relay. A strict disciplinarian, Turnbull administers random drug tests to his athletes and coaches, and forces parents to run laps for using profane language.
Still, nearly 200 student-athletes come out for his boys and girls teams each year. Also a professional musician, Turnbull formed the group “Count Zero” while still a student at Oregon State, and today operates Studio 7 DJ and Recording Services. A six-time Coach of the Year honoree by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association, Turnbull was named Northwest Region Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2006.
Since being honored, Turbull continues to lead at Summit.
Photos
Professional Achievements
William H. Hall High School
Curnias has had a successful career in multiple sports as she led the Girls’ Track & Field, Cross Country and Gymnastics.
Curnias has had a successful career in multiple sports as she led the Girls’ Track & Field, Cross Country and Gymnastics.
Susan Curnias
William H. Hall High School
Impact Statement
Curnias has had a successful career in multiple sports as she led the Girls’ Track & Field, Cross Country and Gymnastics.
Biography
The second NHSCA National Coach of the Year from William H. Hall in as many years, Curnias is the only woman to be named Coach of the Year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association (CHSCA) in three sports. She was 78-37 in nine seasons as Hall’s gymnastics coach and was named Coach of the Year in 1980.
In 27 years as Hall’s cross country coach, Curnias is 338-97-1, winning a Class L state title in 1987 and Coach of the Year honors in 1988. And Curnias is in her 34th season as Hall’s track and field coach. The 1990 Coach of the Year, her teams won Class L and State Open titles in 1986 and have finished second in state five times, including three straight Class LL runnerup finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and have won 11 Central Connecticut Conference Western Division titles. She also coached swimming for two years at another West Hartford school, Conard High School, with a 14-5 record.
Inducted into the CHSCA Hall of Fame in 2005, Curnias was named National Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 1992. The NHSACA named her Region Coach of the Year in track and field in 1991 and in cross country in 2004.
At the 40th annual Lindy J. Remigino (NHSCA Boys Track and Field National Coach of the Year in 2002) Outdoor Track and Field Invitational next month in New Britain, the women’s 100-meter hurdles has been renamed the Sue Curnias Women’s 100m Hurdles in her honor.
Curnias retired from teaching following the 2012 school year.
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Records
Professional Achievements
St. Paul's Episcopal School
“He is a great teacher, a great human being, and he made a difference in so many kids’ lives through the sport he loves.” -Steve Savarese, AHSAA
“He is a great teacher, a great human being, and he made a difference in so many kids’ lives through the sport he loves.” -Steve Savarese, AHSAA
Jim Tate
St. Paul's Episcopal School
Impact Statement
“He is a great teacher, a great human being, and he made a difference in so many kids’ lives through the sport he loves.” -Steve Savarese, AHSAA
Biography
A Mobile native, Tate came to St. Paul’s in 1978. He has been the boys’ and girls’ cross country coach and the boys’ and girls’ track and field coach ever since. He has built a resume that would warrant his selection as National Coach of the Year in any of the four sports.
Tate’s teams have won an incredible 56 state team titles – 17 each in girls’ cross country and track and field, 13 in boys’ track and field and nine in boys cross country.
In the 1980s and 1990s, it was his girls’ cross country teams that were setting the standard, setting a national high school record with 16 straight state titles from 1983 through 1998. All four programs have built title streaks lasting at least three seasons.
Tate’s cross country teams have won both the boys’ and girls’ state meets five times, and this year his track and field teams won both state meets for the 10th time. In the 1984-85, 1991-92 and 1994-95 school years his teams went a perfect 4-for-4, sweeping both the cross country and track and field state meets in those seasons.
Tate was named Girls’ Cross Country Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 1999, and he was inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. St. Paul’s also honored Tate by naming their track complex in his honor.
Since being honored in 2010 Tate has continued to lead St. Paul’s to state- wide dominance. His teams continued to excel under his direction.
In February of 2017 his team won his 100th State Title in Track and Field and Cross Country.
After 52 years of coaching, 42 of which was at St. Paul’s, Tate announced he would be retiring after the 2019-2020 school year. He retires with 102 State Championships in Boys’ and Girls’ Track & Field and Cross Country. His teams have also finished second 53 times.
As AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said: “He is what every coach should desire to become. He has led by example. He is a great teacher, a great human being, and he made a difference in so many kids’ lives through the sport he loves. He is truly a shining star in the education profession.”
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Articles
Records
Professional Achievements
Oak Ridge High School
“He was a great coach for me, and a lot of other athletes who ran under him can say the same thing. He meant so much for Oak Ridge.” -Odeika Bent, Oak Ridge Coach
“He was a great coach for me, and a lot of other athletes who ran under him can say the same thing. He meant so much for Oak Ridge.” -Odeika Bent, Oak Ridge Coach
Bill Stamper
Oak Ridge High School
Impact Statement
“He was a great coach for me, and a lot of other athletes who ran under him can say the same thing. He meant so much for Oak Ridge.” -Odeika Bent, Oak Ridge Coach
Biography
Stamper, 54, has coached the girls’ track and field team at Oak Ridge since 1979, and the girls’ cross country team since 1986. He also coached the boys’ cross country team from 1979-1996. Stamper’s girls’ track and field teams have won nine state championships, including three straight in Class 3A from 2006-08, and are five-time state runners-up.
This year’s team finished 10th. He has coached 19 All-American athletes, 20 state champion athletes, and 115 regional champions. Forty of his athletes have received college scholarships. He served as the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) district track & field chair for 13 years and was a member of the FHSAA Track and Field Advisory Committee.
He is a member of the FACA and Florida Track and Field Halls of Fame and is a three-time finalist for NHSACA National Coach of the Year. Stamper will be inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame this year.
Stamper retired from coaching in 2010.
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Records
Professional Achievements
Maggie L. Walker Governor's School
Holdren is one of the most accomplished Track & Field coaches in the nation. He is still adding to these accomplishments at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School.
Holdren is one of the most accomplished Track & Field coaches in the nation. He is still adding to these accomplishments at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School.
James Holdren
Maggie L. Walker Governor's School
Impact Statement
Holdren is one of the most accomplished Track & Field coaches in the nation. He is still adding to these accomplishments at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School.
Biography
Holdren has been coaching cross country and track for 43 years, beginning his career at the College of William and Mary while he was still a cross country runner on the team. The track and field rules interpreter for the state of Virginia, Holdren was named the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year in 1988 and the Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2006, the same year he was inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame.
Inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 1993, Holdren has compiled 1,227 victories at Thomas Jefferson High in Richmond and at the Governor’s School, including a 16-year undefeated streak in girls’ track. He is the state’s all-time leading winner in girls cross country and track. He has coached 10 national record holders, 51 All-Americans, and 115 state champions.
Since being honored in 2007, Holdren has continued to hold the reigns at the Governor’s School. After 53 years in the sport, he’s still at the top of his game.
In 2010 Holdren was honored with the inagural Gill Athletics National High School Track & Field Coach of the Year Award.
In 2015 Holdrens’ girls’ and boys’ teams literally ran away with the Indoor State Titles.
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Articles
Records
Professional Achievements
Central High School
Bowie is one of the most decorated coaches in Maryland history. His teams won a total of 41 State Tiles under his direction.
Bowie is one of the most decorated coaches in Maryland history. His teams won a total of 41 State Tiles under his direction.
Ed Bowie
Central High School
Impact Statement
Bowie is one of the most decorated coaches in Maryland history. His teams won a total of 41 State Tiles under his direction.
Biography
No Maryland girls coach has been more successful than Bowie. His team won the Class 2A-1A indoor track title this year, Bowie’s 16th indoor track title overall, and he was named Coach of the Year by the Washington Post. Six of his teams have scored state runner-up finishes.
Bowie’s outdoor track teams have won 13 state titles, including 12 straight from 1981-92, to go along with five runner-up finishes. Bowie also coached the boys’ outdoor team to five state titles between 1976 and 1985 and he has won a total of 41 state titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track.
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Records
Valley Christian High School
Kuiper led on the track and in the classroom. He has coached Valley Christian to 26 State Championships and was named 2019 Educator of the Year.
Kuiper led on the track and in the classroom. He has coached Valley Christian to 26 State Championships and was named 2019 Educator of the Year.
Dan Kuiper
Valley Christian High School
Impact Statement
Kuiper led on the track and in the classroom. He has coached Valley Christian to 26 State Championships and was named 2019 Educator of the Year.
Biography
Kuiper has built a small-school powerhouse in the Phoenix area. Last weekend his girls team won its 11th consecutive Class 2A state title and 14th overall since 1992. His teams also earned one runner-up and one third-place finish.
In 2002 Kuiper also assumed the boys head coaching duties and has led them to four titles in a row as well.
Since being honored in 2005, Kuiper continued to coach until 2014. Over the course of his career his teams won a total of 26 state track and field championships.
In addition to coaching, Kuiper has held a number of positions as an educator. He resigned after the 2014 coaching season to become Chandler’s Principal. In 2019 he became the Superintendent of Valley Christian Schools.
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Videos
Records
Personal Honors
Benson Polytechnic High School
McKenzie’s team motto: “ONE FAMILY, ONE HEARTBEAT”
McKenzie’s team motto: “ONE FAMILY, ONE HEARTBEAT”
Leon McKenzie
Benson Polytechnic High School
Impact Statement
McKenzie’s team motto: “ONE FAMILY, ONE HEARTBEAT”
Biography
Leon McKenzie of Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon is the NHSCA National Coach of the Year in girls’ track and field after the school’s dynasty status has been solidified with five straight Class 4A titles.
McKenzie has coached Benson for 34 years until his retirement in 2014. His teams have boasted 11 State Titles and seven State Runner Ups. He was named Oregon Coach of the year 15 times.
McKenzie was also an assistant coach in football at Benson for 15 years.
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Records
Professional Achievements
Regis High School
Bauer has led Regis to twelve state titles between Cross Country and Track & Field over his impressive career.
Bauer has led Regis to twelve state titles between Cross Country and Track & Field over his impressive career.
Michael Bauer
Regis High School
Impact Statement
Bauer has led Regis to twelve state titles between Cross Country and Track & Field over his impressive career.
Biography
“Michael Bauer’s consistent commitment to his athletes and the sport of cross country is an example for young coaches,” said NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro. “The NHSCA is proud to recognize Michael Bauer as the National High School Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year.”
Bauer has compiled an amazing cross country coaching pedigree across the past 27 years, including 25 district titles and nine state championships won by his girls’ teams as of 2003. Bauer has won numerous coach of the year awards at different levels of competition, including seven times being named Oregon Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Since 2003 Bauer has continued to build his legacy. In 2016 Bauer led Regis to their third Team State Championship with other titles won in 1979 and 2006, respectively. It is the 12th state title Bauer’s claimed between his track and field and cross country career over the last 42 years.
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Records
Northrop High School
Knudson had led teams to success on both the high school level and college level.
Knudson had led teams to success on both the high school level and college level.
Tom Knudson
Northrop High School
Impact Statement
Knudson had led teams to success on both the high school level and college level.
Biography
Knudson just completed his third season as Northrop High’s girls track and field coach, and presided over the three most successful seasons in school history as Northrop High won its third consecutive state team title. His team won this year’s title with depth, winning just two events but picking up 10 top-five finishes overall. Northrop High now has won five state championships overall in girls track and field – the first two coming in 1981 and 1991 – and became just the second school ever to win three consecutive state titles.
With a young team this year, Knudson stands a solid chance to become the first coach to win four in a row next season and he did just that. Knudson led Northrop to another state championship in 2003 and another in 2004. He led the Bruins to seven State titles and two state runner-up titles.
After 27 years coaching in the high school level, and 12 of those seasons at Northrop, Knudson resigned and became Trine Univeristy’s Director of Men’s Track & Field. Knudson took on a different role and is now the Meet Coordinator. Since going to Trine, the university has produced six NCAA Division III All-American performances.
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T.W. Andrews High School
Morris coached both the Girls’ and Boys’ Track & Field teams to a State Championship title.
Morris coached both the Girls’ and Boys’ Track & Field teams to a State Championship title.
Neal Morris
T.W. Andrews High School
Impact Statement
Morris coached both the Girls’ and Boys’ Track & Field teams to a State Championship title.
Biography
Morris led both the boys and girls teams from T.W. Andrews High to Class 3A state titles this season. The girls’ team won four events, scoring 76 points to win the title by 23; the boys team added three event victories and scored 52 points for a 12-point margin of victory.
Morris accomplished this while engaged in a personal battle of his own, undergoing chemotherapy treatments for testicular cancer, with which he was diagnosed in mid-March.
Morris passed away December 2, 2003 at the age of 39. There is a Invitational held each year in his honor.
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Records
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
“It’s not about money. It’s not about fame. When a youngster comes back and says thank you, that means more to me than a million dollars.” -Larry Colbert
“It’s not about money. It’s not about fame. When a youngster comes back and says thank you, that means more to me than a million dollars.” -Larry Colbert
Larry Colbert
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Impact Statement
“It’s not about money. It’s not about fame. When a youngster comes back and says thank you, that means more to me than a million dollars.” -Larry Colbert
Biography
“Larry Colbert is an outstanding example for successful high school track and field coaches,” NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro said. “They place a high value on the teamwork skills players learn for success in the classroom and on the field, and we are proud to be honoring him.”
Colbert led the Lady Raiders track team to its fifth consecutive Class 4A state team title in 1999. Prior to the state tournament Colbert made a key move that helped his team earn the title. After rival Largo High had twice defeated his 4×100-meter relay team, Colbert shuffled the order of the relay for the state tournament and they won the event to help earn crucial team points.
Colbert is much more then a coach. He is a visionary and an active member in his community. The Prince George County’s Sports & Learning Complex Track is named after him.
Colbert is still active in competing in Master’s divisions. In August of 2018, he broke the Maryland Senior Olympic record by running a 8.44 second 50 meter dash. Colbert holds two other records and numerous medals, awards and titles.
He is still very active in coaching. He is the assistant coach at Bowie State University in Maryland.
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Videos
