The Texas Girls Coaches Association honored Jerry Sutterfield, longtime Highland Park High School girl’s cross country coach and the district’s Director of Athletics for Women, for both career victories and back-to-back state championships at an awards luncheon in Arlington on Wednesday.

Sutterfield was named 4A State Championship Coach of the Year in girl’s cross country by the 5,000-member TGCA as well as a Career Victory Coach in cross country by the organization — the largest association for coaches of girl’s athletics in the U.S.

The HP girls cross country teams are legendary, having a team or individual in the state meet every year since cross country meets began in 1975. Sutterfield has been coaching at Highland Park for 27 years.

Since 1994 Sutterfield teams have won the state championship eight times, were runners-up three times and won third place twice. Out of 251 teams in Texas, HP has medaled 23 times in the 35 years of state competition. Last year, Sutterfield was named the TCGA Cross Country Coach of the Year. Among his numerous awards over the years, he was named the National Federation of High Schools Girls’ Cross County National Coach of the Year in 1999.