Warwick High track coach earns New York Coach of the Year honor

Warwick High boys track and field coach Mike Potter earned statewide recognition for a season that lifted the Warwick Valley program beyond Orange County and into New York’s top tier. Potter was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association’s New York boys track and field Coach of the Year after the Wildcats’ strong 2026 outdoor campaign.

The honor carries added weight because each state and the District of Columbia selects only one boys coach and one girls coach for the award. A national committee chooses the winners using a broad set of criteria that includes team performance, state championship placement, margin of victory, results against ranked opponents, individual state champions and comparison with previous seasons. For Warwick, that means Potter’s recognition reflected more than one standout meet. It pointed to a season of sustained success from start to finish.

Potter said he was deeply honored by the selection and made clear that the award belonged to the athletes as much as to him. He credited the collective effort inside the program and thanked his assistant coaches, the athletic director, parents, district administration and the Board of Education. That acknowledgment fit the way Warwick’s track success has been built: through a network of support around runners who keep raising the standard from year to year.

The award also placed Potter in line for possible national recognition, since state Coach of the Year honorees remain under consideration for the overall national award. For Warwick families and school supporters, the milestone provided a concrete sign that the program has reached a level of consistency that draws notice well beyond the local conference. It also gave the district a rare positive headline centered on a public-school team whose work on the track has turned Warwick into a statewide standard.