Kerrigan honored as Vermont’s top girls XC coach

Jan. 21, 2022  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

Harwood Union Cross Country Coach John Kerrigan (second from left) checks out the leader board with team members at the 2021 Meet of Champions at the Hard'Ack Recreation Area in St. Albans. Photo by Anne Zetterstrom

Harwood Union High School Cross Country Coach John Kerrigan has been named one of the best in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. 

The group last week announced its state-by-state winners of its eighth annual High School Cross Country Coaches of the Year accolades presented by the United States Marine Corps. 

One boys coach and one girls coach from each state and the District of Columbia were recognized for their team’s performance in the fall 2021 season. Kerrigan was named the top girls team coach for the state; Craftsbury Academy’s Michael LeVangie was named Vermont’s top boys coach. 

Among the  criteria were team score and placement at the state championships, margin of victory, performance against rankings if available, individual championships, and how their teams’ performances stacked up to previous years (e.g. first title in school history, consecutive titles, etc.).

Kerrigan coaches Harwood boys and girls cross country teams. The girls team went the distance in the fall 2021 season, winning the state Division II championship and the Vermont Meet of Champions. In their final meet of the season, the team finished in fifth place at the elite New England XC Championships, the best a Harwood team has placed in that competition and the strongest of any girls D-II team at that annual event, according to Kerrigan. 

Craftsbury coach LeVangie’s boys team had a similar winning fall 2021 season, capturing the Division III boys cross country state title for the second year in a row.  

For more than 40 years, Kerrigan has been part of the Harwood coaching staff with the cross country, track and field, and Nordic skiing programs. Together his teams have amassed 45 state titles with the most by the cross country teams: 27 state championships, 14 for girls and 13 for boys. That record makes him the winningest high school XC coach in Vermont history. 

Kerrigan also taught biology at Harwood for 38 years, retiring from the classroom in 2015. That year, the Vermont Legislature recognized him for his coaching and teaching careers. In 2019, Kerrigan was inducted into the RunVermont Hall of Fame.

Each state honoree will receive a trophy from the coaches association and the state winners will be considered for the coaches association’s annual overall National High School Cross Country Coach of the Year award to be announced later this month. The group will choose one boys and one girls coach from the state winners.