Fredonia Cross Country Mentor
Larson Chosen 1989 Coach Of The Year

Executive Director Skip Morris of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) has announce that Fred Larson, Fredonia High School’s Cross Country Coach, has been selected as 1989 Cross Country Coach of the Year for NHSACA Region 1.

Coach Larson has also been nominated to receive the “National High School Coach of the Year” award in his sport. Outstanding cross country coaches were nominated from throughout the region, but Larson was selected by the Wilson National Awards Program Committee to be one of the eight coaches nominated nationwide for the 1989 National Award.

Nominees for the national and regional awards are evaluated on criteria such as tenure, championship years, and won-loss percentages.

Morris said that 16 sports are included in the 1989 national awards program. The nominee from each state receives a NHSACA Award Certificate.

Coach Larson will be honored with a plaque at the 12th Annual NHSACA National Awards Banquet on June 24 in Phoenix, Arizona. The national coaching awards winners in each sport, for which Larson is a cross country nominee, will be named and honored.

Larson’s teams have represented Section VI at the state cross country championships 12 times since 1966. The 1973 runner-up team was Fredonia’s best finisher in New York State Class C competition.

The Fredonia coach has won 17 straight county championships (1966-1983) and has won 21 division titles in the past 22 years. Fredonia’s league track record during Coach Larson’s tenure is 446 wins and 17 losses. Fredonia holds the present national record of 250 straight wins from 1971 through 1983. The string was broken in 1984, giving Fredonia a 349 and 1 record from 1966 to that year.

In 1979, Coach Larson was honored as Coach of the Year at the 50th anniversary of Section VI. Fredonia was recognized as the top team in Section VI throughout the 70’s.

“The citizens and sports fans of his community and state must be proud of the great job that Fred Larson has done with its youth through athletics,” commented Morris, “for this achievement is a compliment to the school system, student body, faculty, coaching staff and his family,”