Westminster’s Lindbergh and Dillard’s Gill are Broward Cross-Country Coaches of the Year
Davidson Gill has built a perennial state championship contender in both cross-country and track and field with his girls teams at Dillard.
Brad Lindbergh is at the helm of a Westminster Academy program, which has experienced that kind of success in the past and hopes to build back up to it soon.
And so, Gill and Lindbergh are this year’s Miami Herald Broward County Cross-Country Coaches of the Year.
Gill led this year’s Panthers to a state runner-up finish in Class 3A. It is the third consecutive season in which Dillard places in the top two as a team after winning a state championship in 2023.
Led by eighth-grader Shynah Collins, who placed sixth at state individually, the Panthers had their top five runners place in the top 35 at state. They also swept districts and regionals with dominant performances. And with only one senior - Latiah Gore - among those top runners, Dillard is positioned to challenge for a state title again next season with some of those same competitors ready to vie for a track and field championship this spring.
Westminster Academy won five state titles in the 1980s, which still gives it the most of any Broward boys’ cross-country program. Lindbergh led Westminster to a fourth-place finish in Class 1A this season with a group that was senior-led primarily by Broward Runner of the Year Jonathan Pena and twins Tanner and Tyler Pritchard.
Pena won four races this season and placed in the top 3 in nine overall while running Broward’s fastest time of 15:14 at the New World Fall Spectacular. The Pritchard twins have each signed with Stetson.
Lindbergh is confident the returning group led by a strong core of juniors will be ready to follow where this year’s pack left off.
