Fan Vote: Boca Raton Christian's Hindle Captures Boys XC Athlete Of The Year Honors


(Photo by Cedric Gillette)

Over 7,500 fans voted in our boys cross country athlete of the year poll and the verdict came down to the final hours between Boca Raton Christian School senior Tucker Hindle and Sarasota High School senior Adam Bradtmueller. Hindle, the 1A Cross Country Finals champion, came away victorious capturing nearly 50% of the vote! (3,743 votes, 49.33%). Bradtmueller, who won 3A was runner-up in the poll with 2014 4A champion Joshua Jacques, 3A champion Steven Cross, and 2A champion Chas Cook rounding out the top five. See what Tucker had to say after finding out he won.

"It's always nice to know you have people who follow your career. When I saw that people were voting for me and then ultimately being selected, it showed me that there are a ton of people who support me and want to see me excel in the sport which boosted my confidence heading into track."



While most of the other runners on this list are used to the spotlight and headlines, Hindle was not. The Boca Raton Christian senior was 11th at the 1A Cross Country Finals in 2014. In 2015, he raced every single weekend and sometimes twice in one week. Of the 13 meets he competed in he was first in six of those and in the top ten in every single race except for the Foot Locker South Regional. The Lee University signee capped off his high school career with his first ever state championship, winning the 1A crown in a THIRTY second personal best time of 15:56.01. 
He describes this season as INSANE.

"Starting out, I was discouraged from not having teammates or a training partner for tw years. Half way through, I saw a huge jump in fitness which resulted in some key wins. Then I capped it off with district, region, and state titles! My coach peaked me for the state meet as the target, which caused people to have no idea how fit I actually was and never expected me to be a sub 16 guy. I took off 30 seconds because I never competed at competitive meets like Pre-State in the regular season and because I wanted to run my best where it counted at state rather than in the early season. All in all, I met every single goal I had this season and couldn't of pictured it any better! Can't wait to continue competing in cross country with such an awesome team next year at Lee University!"

Major Victories

XC
5K15:56.01FHSAA Cross Country State Finals
5K16:40.19FHSAA 1A Region 4
5K16:26.75FHSAA 1A District 13
5K17:05.70PBC South Conference Championship/Boca Raton City Championship
5K16:45.00Southwest Invitational
5K16:51.64Ferguson Falcons CC Invitational

Straight From The Coaches' Mouth


Coach Alan Crate has high praise for his senior standout.

"He's a very humble young man and runs for God's glory. He gives him all the glory for his success. He may have come further than anyone this year. He suffered from asthma and due to an attack I believe he was dead last at the district meet in the 8th grade. (before I was coach). Tucker played basketball and tennis and did not run track that year."

"He is the only boy in our school that runs distance, so it's been a lonely road last year and this year. By the state meet he had the belief level that he could win and he told me he thought he could win it a week before state. He ran with the eye of the tiger. He almost quit this summer but persevered and is running better now than prior to state and God willing could have a great track season."

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