Judge athletic director is named West Sectional Coach of the Year

Intermountain Catholic

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Dan Quinn

SALT LAKE CITY - Judge Memorial Athletic Director Dan Quinn was named the West Sectional Coach of the Year in Girls' Track and Field earlier this year. The honor is the result of being named the Utah High School Athletics Association (UHSAA) Coach of the Year.

In the fall of 2009, the UHSAA staff met to nominate and select coaches of the year in each of the 21 sports that are sanctioned. Coaches were nominated based on their 2008-2009 year. Awards are sponsored in part by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHA). At that fall meeting, Quinn was selected as the 2009 Girls' Track Coach of the Year.

As a result, he became eligible for the regional award. Early this spring, representatives of the West Region, comprised of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah, met to make their selections. Quinn was selected. These awards are presented in acknowledgement of a coach's passion and dedication to the high school youth whom they serve. Both the UHSAA and the (NFSHA) feel that coaches selected exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and moral character. In addition to enjoying a rich history of success coaching track and field at Judge Memorial, Quinn modeled positive behavior for his athletes to follow.

"They look specifically at your last five years and your overall coaching career, and grade it based off of success ratios," said Quinn, who graduated from Judge Memorial in 1982. "Over the last five years, our girls' teams have been exceptional putting numerous kids into colleges, and as a result of that I was nominated and selected. But this is a great honor for Judge athletics; it's great to see our students are doing well."

Quinn ran track and field for Judge before going to play football for the University of Idaho, then competed in the decathlon in track and field at the University of Utah; he graduated in 1986. He started coaching track at Judge Memorial from 1984-1986, and then went on to get a master's degree in sports medicine. He started teaching and coaching in 1992.