Mike McCabe of Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, New Jersey) has been named the 2018-19 ALL-USA Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year.
The ALL-USA Girls Track and Field teams for the 2018-19 season are coordinated by Fred Baer, the founder of Track and Field Writers of America. Girls selections are made by Mike Kennedy, the high school editor of Track and Field News.
Criteria included ranking on USA TODAY Sports and Track and Field News national lists and the number of top performances along with head-to-head competition during the regular season and in major postseason meets.
Girls T&F Athlete of the Year: Briana Williams, Northeast
Girls T&F Coach of the Year: Mike McCabe, Union Catholic
EVENTS: Sprints | Hurdles | Distances | Throws | Jumps
MORE: Girls Track & Field Second Team
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Mike McCabe
School: Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, New Jersey)
Mike McCabe’s Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, New Jersey) High School girls track and field team was dominant in 2019, going undefeated with a deep cast of athletes.
But that’s nothing new. The Vikings have now gone undefeated five seasons in a row.
As NJ.com stated in its 2019 New Jersey track team rankings, “Union Catholic was, once again, the team to beat in 2019 – and no one came close.” At the New Jersey Meet of Champions, Union Catholic led the state with most total medalists (eight), including all three relays. UC’s 4×800 meter relay had the top American finish at the Penn Relays and won the New Balance Nationals in June.
At sectionals, the team’s 240 points were more than the next four teams combined, according to NJ.com.
McCabe has been named the 2019 ALL-USA Girls Track Coach of the Year.
The 16-year head coach has won numerous county, state, and national titles. Last fall he was honored for the fourth straight season as New Jersey girls Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches Association. The list of athletes McCabe has coached in recent years includes 2017 ALL-USA Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year and Olympian Sydney McLaughlin.
This year, McCabe helped his team show strength all over, regardless of event or the age of the competitor. The senior class included Jerika Lufrano won six total races, including the 1600- and 3200-meters; Khamil Evans, who won five relays and had two top-5 shot put finishes; and Hope Handlin, who won her first two pole vaulting victories in her career and had three six top-three finishes this outdoor season, according to Athletic.net.
Evans, juniors Leena Morant and Chidumga Nkulume and sophomore Avery Jordan won the NJSIAA Group NPA Championships 4×400 relay. Lufrano, Morant, junior Ashleigh Patterson and sophomore Morgan Williams won the 2019 New Balance National Outdoor.
Junior Sydney Tucker finished first in the 100-meter prelims and finals for eight total times in a row over a four-event period in May and June, according to Athletic.net. She also competed in the 200-meter (three wins), long jump, and three different relays, including being on the first-place team in the 4×100 at the Meet of Champions and third-place team in the 4×200 New Balance National Outdoor.
Alexandra Kwasnik, another junior, won three high jump events, including the NJSIAA NP A South Sectional and Group NPA Championships.
Freshmen Abby Granrath qualified for the Meet of Champions in the 3200-meter.
For fielding a dominant, undefeated roster than had success all around the track from a large cast of athletes, McCabe has been named the 2019 ALL-USA Girls Track Coach of the Year.
PRESEASON: ALL-USA Preseason Girls Track and Field Team
LOOKBACK: 2017-18 ALL-USA Girls Track and Field Team
Boys T&F Athlete of the Year: Matthew Boling, Strake Jesuit
Boys T&F Coach of the Year: Stan Holloway, Oscar Smith
Boys T&F Teams: Sprints | Hurdles | Distances | Throws | Jumps