Belen’s Frankie Ruiz, Braddock’s Alex Shaw are Dade cross-country coaches of the year

Frankie Ruiz’s powerhouse boys’ cross-country program at MIami Belen Jesuit remains the standard bearer in South Florida. Alex Shaw’s girls’ team at Miami Braddock had the best finish in school history. Both teams ended their seasons competing at a national race.

That’s why Ruiz and Shaw are the Miami Herald’s 2022 Dade cross-country coaches of the year.

Ruiz’s Belen team stands alone in the state record book. The Wolverines’ Class 3A boys’ team state championship at Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park in November was their 14th overall team state title and their sixth consecutive Class 3A crown. The former accomplishment extends Belen’s state record already in place. The latter broke their tie with Tallahassee Maclay for the state record.

But Ruiz’s group — led by Dade co-boys’ runner of the year Joshua Ruiz’s runner-up finish and had all five point scorers finish among the top 12 — had far greater aspirations. The team competing at the Nike National Cross-Country Championship in Portland, Oregon, for just the second time in school history and finished 14th in the 22-team field, a six-spot improvement from the last time they competed in the event in 2011.

“It’s about helping the kids craft their own objectives,” Ruiz said. “Motivation is certainly something you’re always fine-tuning because your first state championship is the first one. Then maybe your second one is ‘OK. Let’s defend it.’ It starts to get a little more difficult, especially as the competition starts to focus on your back and that target gets more refined for competition.”

As for Shaw’s Braddock team, the Bulldogs finished second in Class 4A. That’s their best finish at state in school history after finishing third in 2017. Junior Annabella Cardona paced the team with a fourth-place finish (18:57.4) and the team’s top four runners were all in the top 30 of the 233-runner field to finish behind state champion Gainesville Buchholz.

Braddock then capped its season in Huntsville, Alabama, by participating in the Gold division of the Garmin RunningLane Cross-Country Championships. The team, competing under the name “Miami Vice Project,” finished 18th of 26 teams in the 5K race.

“This team just took it to a different level,” Braddock coach Alex Shaw said. “Buchholz, which ended up winning the whole thing, they were definitely the better team. We finished as high as we possibly could today. The good thing is that we bring back five of the six girls that ran today. It’ll be a great 2023 season.”

Both teams are in prime position to contend again next season. Only one member of each team that scored points at the state meet was senior.