Trina Painter
Flagstaff High School
Impact Statement
“You couldn’t ask for a better coach and we are just so fortunate to have someone like her as part of our program. I tell you the real beneficiaries are our students. They gain so much from her.”
-Jeannine Brandel, Flagstaff’s Athletic Director
Biography
While Painter is being honored for her work with the Flagstaff girls’ cross country program, she could also win the award for leading the boys’ program. This past season, the Flagstaff girls won their fourth straight Division II state title. The boys’ team also won its fourth straight state team championship. Painter’s girls have won seven of the last eight titles with ten overall state championships since 2003. Painter is the 2018 U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association’s Arizona Coach of the Year and the National Cross Country Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations Coaches Association.
In 2011, Painter, who just missed making three straight United States’ Olympic teams as a distance runner, was inducted into the Arizona Runner’s Hall of Fame. In 1995, Painter set an US record with a time of 1:07:06 in the 20k championships that were held in New Haven.
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