2019 -- H 5529

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LC000887

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING JEFFREY M. ROSE, HEAD COACH OF THE GIRLS' CROSS

COUNTRY TEAM PORTSMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL ON RECEIVING THE NATIONAL

FEDERATION OF STATE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS' 2017-2018 RHODE ISLAND

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

     Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Canario, Edwards, Donovan, and Shekarchi

     Date Introduced: February 26, 2019

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, The National Federation of State High School Associations' (NFHS) is the

national body that writes the rules of competition for almost all high school sports and activities

in the United States. More than 19,500 high schools in the United States belong to the NFHS; and

     WHEREAS, Jeffrey M. Rose has been coaching and teaching at Portsmouth High School

since 2010. In his capacity as the head coach of the Portsmouth High School Girls' Cross Country

Team, he has led them to consecutive Rhode Island State Championships. Under his leadership

and guidance, standout Senior Elizabeth Sullivan won the Girls’ individual title, the first such

accomplishment at Portsmouth High School since 1997; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Rose expertly led a team that had suffered from injuries throughout

the season. Team leader Elizabeth Sullivan had to battle back from an injury that forced her to

miss all of the outdoor competition last spring, teammate Nike Merrill had to miss the early part

of the season due to a hip injury and still was not one hundred percent at the State Championship,

and fellow senior Olive Allen also suffered from a recent health scare and also was not

completely healthy at the title meet. Yet despite the injuries and obstacles the team had to

overcome, and despite how difficult it is to repeat as champions, Coach Rose kept the team

focused and their spirits up, and together they found a way to repeat as state champions and,

incredibly, crushed second-place finisher Barrington High School by forty points; now, therefore

be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates Jeffrey M. Rose, Head Coach of the Portsmouth

High School Girls' Cross Country Team, on being named the 2017-2018 Rhode Island Coach of

the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations'. We thank him for being

an excellent teacher, coach and role model, and wish him much continued success as both a

teacher and coach at Portsmouth High School; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Jeffrey M. Rose, Head Coach of the

Portsmouth High School Girls' Cross Country Team.

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