Brent Arckey and Tina Sue Bates Named Top Swimming Coaches
GAINESVILLE (Jan. 4) – Brent Arckey of Sarasota Riverview and Tina Sue Bates of Buchholz (Gainesville) have been named the 2015 Florida Dairy Farmers Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming Coaches of the Year following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of prep swim coaches.
Arckey, who was earlier named the Class 4A Boys’ Coach-of-the-Year, guided Riverview to its second straight state title, overwhelming the rest of the Class 4A field with 324 points, nearly 200 points ahead of runnerup Clearwater Countryside (138 points). Arckey won the overall coaching award over Class 3A COY Cathy Silviera of Doral Academy Charter, Class 2A COY Nobutaka Tan of American Heritage and Class 1A COY Sergio Lopez of Bolles (Jacksonville), all of whom led their schools to state titles.
Bates, the Class 4A girls’ coach-of-the-year, led the Bobcats to their first state title since 2009 and the sixth in school history, with a solid team performance that included a sweep of the three relay championships plus a pair of individual titles.
Buchholz (Gainesville) was also named the state’s mythical state champions for all classes by the Florida Swim Network.
The other class coaching award winners, who all led their teams to state championships, included Class 3A COY Rob Ramirez of Gainesville, Class 2A COY Jeff Poppell of Gulliver Prep and Class 1A COY Sergio Lopez of Bolles (Jacksonville).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 24th year of these awards honoring the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
