Article from USTFCCA website http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/08/featured/fields-and-turnbull-named-inaugural-national-high-school-track-field-coaches-of-the-year

Fields and Turnbull Named Inaugural National High School Track & Field Coaches of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – Michael Fields of Hinds Agricultural High School (Mississippi) and Dave Turnbull of Summit High School (Oregon) were named Thursday the inaugural winners of the National High School Track & Field Coach of the Year award for boys teams and girls teams, respectively, presented by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

A panel of track & field experts from around the country selected Fields and Turnbull from among the state-by-state High School Coach of the Year winners announced earlier this month, deeming them this year’s most exceptional coaches based on their teams’ and student-athletes’ performances during only the 2014 track & field season.

"We are proud to name Michael Fields and Dave Turnbull our first-ever winners of the National High School Track & Field Coach of the Year award," USTFCCCA CEO Sam Seemes said. "There were so many deserving candidates for this inaugural award, which is a clear indicator of the excellent jobs being done by the thousands of high school coaches around the country. Both Michael and Dave personify that to the highest degree."

Both Fields’ and Turnbull’s squads turned in dominant performances at their respective state championship meets in Mississippi and Oregon to propel them to this national honor.

Michael Fields Hinds AHS (Mississippi)

"I’m so blessed," said Fields, who was a physical education instructor at Hinds prior to his retirement. "This award shows the camaraderie and the togetherness that the student body, the coaches and everybody that I worked with had. It’s a group thing, it takes more than one person to be that spectacular."

For Fields and his mostly underclassmen boys, this award comes on the heels of their third consecutive Mississippi (MHSAA) 1A state title – which is by far their most bittersweet.

Just one month after his Hinds team celebrated the state meet victory with a score of 197 – better than the second- through fifth-place teams combined – the school of fewer than 200 students was closed down as it was transferred into another district. Fields and his student-athletes did not learn the news of the closure until after the school year started.

"We were the two-time defending champions, and that group didn’t want to be the group that didn’t win it again," Fields said. "Then when they found out the school was going to close, it was just added motivation. They wanted to go out on top."

In the face of this imminent finality, his boys stepped up and made the most of their last appearance in their Hinds uniforms. Hinds AHS recorded 11 individual wins among the 17 events, including a sweep of all three relays, and 15 different student-athletes scored points for the Bulldogs.

Fields, who finished his 12th and final  year in 2014, guided three more student-athletes to runner-up finishes in their events. One of those was a second-and-third-place duo in the triple jump – the only field event his Bulldogs didn’t win. His boys also notched wins in both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, and at 400 meters.

En route to the state title, Fields’ boys handily won the district, regional and South State meets.

Dave Turnbull Summit HS (Oregon)

For Turnbull and his Summit girls, winning the Oregon (OSAA) 5A state title has become something of an expectation. The Storm made history with their eighth state track & field title in a row – the longest such streak by any Oregon high school at any classification for either gender – in Turnbull’s 13th year and they did it in equally historic fashion.

His largely underclassmen girls scored an all-divisions meet-record 125 points to claim the team crown, surpassing by nearly five points the previous all-time best score of 120½ by St. Mary’s of Medford in 2007.

"I think this award goes a long way to  reward the coaching staff and the kids for all the years of commitment to the program," said Turnbull, who teaches health, wellness and sports psychology at Summit. "An award like this isn’t just me. It’s the entire program. As much as people like to say, ‘You’ve got to take some credit for that’, the reality is that we’re extremely fortunate to have the coaching staff we have, the parental support, and the athletes who come into our area."

Powering the dominant team performance were four event victories, headlined by a state meet record to claim the 4×100 relay title. The Storm also claimed the 4×400 relay crown and earned individual victories at 800 meters and in the triple jump.

Overall, he had 15 different qualifiers in 17 events to the state championships – nearly all of whom finished among the top eight in their events. More than half of the events, nine to be precise, featured Summit girls who finished among the top three.

Of the 17 total events, the only two in which Turnbull’s girls didn’t score were the pole vault and the hammer throw.

"That balance is something we’d been struggling to achieve," said Turnbull. "This is the eighth year in a row they’ve won the state championship, but we’ve done that in the past with predominantly sprinters, jumpers and distance runners. But this year we were balanced across the board.

"Off of this team, a majority of kids are returning and we’re more balanced than we’ve ever been. It’s really exciting and really rewarding to know that the efforts have paid off getting the right coaches in the right areas."

The writing was on the wall for a historically dominant Summit performance following the district championships, at which his girls scored 286 points to win the title, prompting fellow coaches to call Turnbull’s squad the most balanced they’d ever seen.

The inaugural High School Coach of the Year awards for the cross country season will be announced by the USTFCCCA following the conclusion of the season.

Photos Courtesy: Jay Reese Sports, Vicksburg Post