SHERMAN, Texas – Gilbert Villarreal and Polly Thomason have been named the 2018 winners of Austin College's Kedric Couch Alumni Coach of the Year Award, athletics director David Norman has announced. The awards will be presented at Austin College's annual Legends Weekend celebration on August 4.
Villarreal, a 1997 graduate of Austin College, coached the Reagan High Rattlers boy's soccer team in San Antonio to a state championship appearance, finishing the year with a record of 19-2-7 as the UIL Class 6A runner-up. The Rattlers ended the year ranked No. 4 in the nation in the USA Today Winter Soccer Top 25.
Thomason, a 1999 graduate of Austin College, led the University of Texas-Dallas women's basketball team to an overall record of 24-5 and a berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, advancing to the second round. Thomas was named the American Southwest Conference East Division Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career.
The Kedric Couch Alumni Coach of the Year Award is bestowed annually to distinguished alumni who have excelled in the field of coaching at the high school, college, or professional level for the last academic year. Past recipients include Larry Fedora, Danny Henderson, Kenneth Loyd, Jeff Riordan, Larry Tidwell, Mark Kellogg, Kirk Thor, Ross Reedy, Michael Bardgett, and Claude Webb.