Belen’s Ruiz and Lourdes’ Aguas are the Dade Cross-country Coaches of the Year
Under Frankie Ruiz, Belen Jesuit’s boys’ cross-country team has become one of the best in the nation and the most dominant in Florida history.
On the girls’ side, Lourdes once enjoyed a similar dominant run on the state level. Bobcats’ coach Danny Aguas’ squad is hoping to restore their program to that level soon.
After another successful season for each, Ruiz and Aguas are the Miami Herald’s Cross-country Coaches of the Year for Miami-Dade County.
Ruiz and the Wolverines’ trophy case continued to get more full as Belen secured its state-record ninth consecutive state championship and state-record 17th overall.
The Wolverines’ efforts translated into another nationally-ranked season as they and junior Marcelo Mantecon qualified for nationals following the season.
Belen swept through the regular season and postseason meets, spearheaded by Mantecon, who repeated as Class 3A individual state champion and earned Miami Herald Boys’ Runner of the Year honors once again.
With the Wolverines graduating only one of their top six runners at state, expect them to continue to be among the nation’s best in 2026.
Aguas led Lourdes to a fourth-place finish in Class 3A, which was tied for the best finish by any Miami-Dade team at the state championships. But the Bobcats’ 1:38.35 top team average time at state was the best by any Dade team.
Lourdes once won five state championships including a run of four in a row from 2001-2004 under former coach Ary Montalvo and posted another four state runner-up team finishes from 2005-2007 and 2010.
The Bobcats return two of their top three runners and five of their top seven next season, giving them a chance to improve upon this year’s success and perhaps put them in position to end an over two-decade title drought.
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
