‘Not one person did this alone’: 5 coaches, 1 assistant win coach of the year awards
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Under the tutelage of Chris Carroll, the Zuni T-Birds repeated as state champs last fall with a team score of 23 points. Carroll earned the Boy’s Coach of the Year award from the New Mexico High School Coaches Association.
WINDOW ROCK
Last week the New Mexico High School Coaches Association doled out its annual coach of the year awards.
Five head coaches and one assistant were honored as this year’s recipients.
“I’ve won several awards and from the outside looking in I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special,” said Zuni cross-country coach Chris Carroll, who earned the association’s 2019-20 Boys Cross-Country Coach of the Year.
“This is not really about me,” he said. “I work with some really good kids and running is something they have always loved to do. It’s important that my assistant coaches, managers and runners know that they are a part of this. Not one person did this alone.”
Under Carroll’s direction, the T-Bird boys’ cross-country team captured the New Mexico Class 3A state title with a team score of 23 points after placing six runners in the top 10.
Zuni repeated as state champs last fall and it gave the school its 18th state title, including six under Carroll’s tenure.
This was the second time Carroll has earned the distinction of coach of the year, having won the girls’ division during the 2010-11 season.
Carroll is up with eight finalists for the national coach of the year award but, due to the pandemic, the award ceremony has been postponed until next year in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In girls’ basketball, Navajo Prep’s Rainy Crisp earned the distinction of the organization’s coach of the year.
“This is a huge honor because we have some great coaches in our state,” Crisp said. “A lot of them have been coaching for a long time and over the years I have looked up to them. It’s just an honor to be selected as one of the best coaches out there.”
Not only did she receive an award, but Crisp’s assistant, Jessica Nez, was also recognized as assistant coach of the year.
“She is very deserving of this award,” the longtime Navajo Prep coach said. “Jessica is my second pair of eyes and she’s been with the program for five years. She started as the C team coach and she worked her way up. She’s grown so much and for her to be also recognized is pretty amazing.”
Crisp credited her entire staff and the players on the team for receiving this honor as her team capped the season at 28-2 overall after capturing the New Mexico Class 3A state title.
“This award is because of them,” she said. “I attribute this to them because the players were the ones out there on the court, working hard and putting in the sweat and tears.
“I have to acknowledge my staff, too, because without them we wouldn’t have won a state title,” she said.
Other coach of the year recipients from the area include Piedra Vista’s Greg Ruybalid (boys wrestling), Miyamura’s Nate Sellers (girls wrestling) and Bloomfield’s Bob Allcorn (football).
Under Ruybalid, Piedra Vista captured the large school state wrestling title with 183 points while Sellers coached the Lady Patriot wrestling team to its first-place finish with 88 points.
Allcorn, meanwhile, coached Bloomfield to a second-place finish in the Class 4A state playoffs. The Bobcats finished the season with a 12-1 record.
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