By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA
January 21, 2026  
Coaches love winning – especially when athletes execute a plan to perfection.
That was the case this past fall for Columbus North (Ind.) boys coach Rick Sluder and Bridgeland (Texas) girls coach Tom Kennedy, who guided their teams through dominant postseason runs to state titles. On Wednesday, the pair were named the National High School Cross Country Coaches of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and will be feted in December at the annual USTFCCCA Convention.
Earlier in the season, Kennedy’s Bears tested themselves on the national stage by finishing fourth at the historic Woodbridge Cross Country Invitational. When the postseason arrived, Bridgeland steamrolled district and regional competition, winning by an average of 44.5 points. Bridgeland swept places second through eighth at the District 16-6A Championships, then placed four runners in the top eight at the Region II-6A Championships ten days later.
That set the stage for a heavyweight showdown with five-time defending champion Lewisville Flower Mound at the UIL Class 6A Championships in Round Rock. Bridgeland returned six of seven athletes from its 2024 runner-up squad, including top-15 finishers Susana Rawls and Rowan Saacke, and also benefited from the meteoric rise of Hope Smith out of its JV ranks.
Bridgeland and Flower Mound battled over the 5k course at Old Settlers Park. The Jaguars held a two-point edge at the one-mile split and stretched it to eight by two miles, but the Bears responded. Led by top-ten finishes by Saacke (fifth), Smith (sixth), and Rawkls (ninth), Bridgeland surged late to claim its first state title in program history by a three-point margin.
Sluder’s Bulldogs were ferocious throughout the season, going undefeated in the lead-up to the IHSAA State Finals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. Columbus North claimed team titles at The Southern Showcase and the Nike XC Town Twilight, two of the nation’s premier prep invitationals. At The Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama, the Bulldogs topped national powers McCallie (Tenn.) and Belen Jesuit (Fla.), the latter led by 2024 National High School Coach of the Year Frankie Ruiz.
Columbus North delivered its opus at the IHSAA State Finals, scoring 58 points and beating runner-up Noblesville by 71. The 58-point total was the meet’s lowest winning score since 2003, while the margin of victory ranked second-largest since 2010 – both previously achieved by the Bulldogs en route to their second and fourth team titles in program history, respectively.
Sluder’s squad capped the season by claiming the NXR Midwest Regional crown with 131 points – on the same course where it won the state title – and finishing eighth at NXN Nationals.
