GAINESVILLE – Caleb Pottorff, a senior at Lincoln Park Academy, and Bailey Hertenstein, a junior at Riverview High School, have been named the 2016 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. and Miss Cross Country in a vote by the state’s district cross country chairmen.
In addition, Winter Park Trinity Preparatory School’s Kenneth Vinal, the 2015 winner, and Pine Crest School’s Paul Baur have been named the state boys’ and girls’ Cross Country Coaches of the Year.
Pottorff captured the Class 2A state title in boys’ cross country with a winning time of 15:08.12 for the 5K event, crossing the finish line more than 22 seconds faster than any of the other three state champions.
Hertenstein repeated as Miss Country by running away with the girls’ Class 4A title for the second straight year, winning the championship race in a time of 17:40.36, 40 seconds faster than any other Class 4A runner and four seconds faster than any of the other three state title winners.
The other three state champions on the boys’ side, senior Matthew Doyle of Winter Springs (4A), junior Michael Phillips of Tallahassee Chiles (3A), and sophomore Gabriel Curtis of Mt. Dora Christian Academy (1A), were named Runner-of-the-Year for their respective classifications. The other girls’ state champions, freshman Alyson Churchill of Tallahassee Lincoln (3A), junior Caitlin Collier of Jacksonville The Bolles School (2A), and junior Grace Blair of Gainesville Oak Hall School (1A), were named Runner-of-the-Year in their classifications.
Trish Butler of Fort Lauderdale Aquinas (4A), Eric Frank of St. John’s Creekside High School (3A) and Kenneth Key of Westminster Academy (1A) each claimed Coach-of-the-Year awards for their respective classifications in boys’ cross country while Ladd Baldwin of Steinbrenner (4A), Jamie LaFollette of Niceville (3A) and Edwin McTureous of Gainesville’s Oak Hall School (1A) won Coach-of-the-Year honors in the other girls’ classifications.
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This marks the 25th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
