Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 4:30 AM
Arthur Mack
Press-Register
Jim Tate has been selected as the National High School Coaches Association’s 2010 Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year after a season that saw his girls’ team win a fifth straight AHSAA Class 5A state title.
Tate, who has coached at St. Paul’s since 1978 and was inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, has coached boys and girls track and cross country through his 32-year stint at St. Paul’s.
“I’m really flattered and honored,” Tate said. “It’s one of those things that’s a credit to the community, and that’s something that everybody has a part in.”
Tate has now won two national coaching awards. He was named the 1999 Girls Cross Country coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. Counting this year’s victories in 5A boys and girls’ track and field, Tate’s squads have won 56 titles -- 17 each girls cross country and track and field, 13 in boys track and field and nine in boys cross country.
All four programs have built title streaks lasting at least three seasons.
From 1982 through 1998, his girls cross country teams set a national high school record with 16 straight titles. In 1985-86, 1991-92 and 1994-94, Tate’s teams went a perfect 4-for-4, winning boys and girls cross country as well as boys and girls outdoor track and field.
© 2010 www.al.com. All rights reserved.