For the last 17 years, Doug Wells has served at the Director of the Cerritos College track and field program. Last year, he helped guide the Falcon women’s program to their second state championship in school history, with the first coming in 1981. He helped celebrate the championship with women’s head coach Michael Allen after the team came within four points of winning the title the year before and settled for second place. In addition to the championship, the track program is getting a brand new surface, as well as throws area, which is the goal Wells had been working on for years. In addition to the success of the women’s program and the new surface, he also saw the men’s team place ninth at the state championships. The success of the women’s program the last two years has also seen them win back-to-back Southern California and South Coast Conference championships for the first time in school history.

                At the conclusion of the track season last year, Wells was chosen to serve as the Head Manager for the U.S. National Track and Field Team and guided them at the NACAC Under-23 Team, which was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was selected by a special staff selection meeting of the International Competition Committee at the USA Track and Field National Convention.    

                In addition to running the track and field program and serving as the men’s cross-country coach for the past seven seasons, Wells also spent 10 years as a Falcon assistant football coach, until retiring from the gridiron eight years ago. Wells has had a great deal of success as a track and field coach, especially at Taft College. In 10 years at Taft, he guided his teams to a state championship and seven conference titles, while Wells was named the California Coach of the Year twice. At Cerritos, he was named the California Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, while he was awarded the Coach of the Year honor by the California Track and Running News five times.

                Wells attended Porterville Union High School, where he was a football and track star. He transferred to the University of Utah, where he competed in the NCAA Championships and was an All-American as a decathlete in 1970, while also playing fullback on the football team. Wells continued to compete in track events and won several shot put and discus National Championships in Master’s competition. Wells earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Physical Education from the University of Utah.

                In his eighth season as the Falcons women’s track and field coach, Michael Allen saw his team finally reach their goal of wining the state championship, as they collected their second title in school history. It was one year after the team placed second and missed the title by just four points. In his eight seasons, Michael Allen has coached 16 state champions, including two last season. With the state title, Allen was named the state’s Women’s Coach of the Year. In his tenure as the women’s track and field head coach, Allen has led his team’s to a second place finish in the State Championships as well as two third places, a fourth place, and two fifth place finishes. In his first year at the Norwalk campus, Allen also served as one of the defensive line coaches on the football team.

                Twenty new school records have been set during Allen’s tenure, including April Brown, who became just the second person to win the 100-meters at the State Championships two seasons in a row back in 2002-03. In addition, Allen has coached 26 South Coast Conference individual champions in the last two seasons and have won the conference and Southern California Championship two seasons in a row. Along with the other accomplishments, 86 different running and field marks have cracked the school’s top five in the past six years, while three more school records were broken last season.

                Allen came to Cerritos after spending eight years (1991-98) at Banning High, where he helped lead the Pilots to the 1991 LA City Championship. Prior to coaching at Banning, Allen coached at Los Angeles Harbor College from 1980-87 and guided them to five Western State Conference championships and a 45-0 dual meet record.

                Allen, who was an All-Marine League selection in football and track and field at Banning High, was also a two-time All-Conference selection in both sports at LA Harbor. Allen went on to earn All-Conference honors for two years at Long Beach State, while he also qualified for the NCAA Championships two years in a row. Allen earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Long Beach State and also works full-time for the County of Los Angeles Probation Department.

                Although he officially retired from coaching after last season’s women’s state championship, Gary Gaudet will still be involved with the Falcon track program; something he has done since 1976 when he was named the women’s head coach. Last year was culminated by not only winning the state title, but Gaudet was selected as the women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Although he will not be a part of the day-to-day activities with the track program, Gaudet will still be involved with the program. He spent the majority of his career with the women’s program until 1994, when he left the college. He returned in 2000 and spent six years as an assistant and the track program has picked up with his presence. Back in 1981, he helped lead the Falcons to their first Southern California championship, as well as their lone State Championship, while he was named the California Coach of the Year in 1982.

                Prior to coming to Cerritos, Gaudet was a coach at St. John Bosco High School from 1965-73 and was also a coach at Long Beach City from 1974-76. Gaudet recently retired after serving over 30 years as a teacher and administrator.

                A former football player and track athlete for the college, Gaudet transferred to Long Beach State, where he competed in track and field. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Long Beach State and Master’s Degree in School Management from the University of LaVerne.

                Debbie Jensen came to Cerritos College in 1995 as the head women’s soccer coach and assistant track and field coach. She is no longer with the women’s soccer program, but was instrumental in the Falcon women’s team winning the state title, as well as the Falcon men’s program winning two individual state championships last year as the program’s jumps coach. In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Jensen also teaches P.E. classes and is in her sixth year as Athletic Coordinator assisting Jeff Smith, the Athletic Director.

                Jensen will begin her eighth season as the men’s and women’s assistant track and field coach for the Falcons and works primarily with the jumps and throws. In her tenure at Cerritos, Jensen has coached 22 state finalists which include two state champion in the men’s high jump and men’s long jump, as well as one men’s and women’s long jump, women’s triple jump, women’s high jump and men’s and women’s javelin.

                Jensen also spent 1999-2002 as an assistant track coach at Vanguard University, where she coached two All-Americans, one in the women’s Indoor 400m and one in the men’s Indoor High Jump. Jensen also had five other national qualifiers in the men’s long jump, women’s Indoor 55m, men’s Indoor 60m hurdles, Outdoor women’s high jump and women’s 400m. In 1999 Jensen coached the conference champion in the women’s heptathlon.

                Prior to her arrival at Cerritos College, Jensen spent two years in Louisiana, attending attended Louisiana Tech University (1993-94), a Division I school, as a graduate assistant for the men’s and women’s track and field team. There, Jensen worked closely with the assistant coach in the sprints, hurdles, jumps and recruiting. The next year Jensen moved to Lafayette, Louisiana where she taught P.E. and was the head girl’s cross country and track coach at Acadiana H.S. Jensen coached two girls who qualified for state finals in the discus and javelin.

                From 1989-93 Jensen taught P.E. and coached at Corona High School as the head boy’s and girl’s track and field coach for three years and an assistant for one year. Her girl’s teams were league champions three years in a row and the boy’s were league champs one year. In her three years as head coach, Jensen coached two state finalists, two state prelim qualifiers, and 25 league champions. Jensen was named Mt. View League Coach of the Year four times.

                Jensen received her Bachelor’s degree and teaching credential in Physical Education from Cal State Fullerton. She then earned her Master’s degree in Health, Physical Education from Louisiana Tech University. Jensen ran cross country and track for the Southern California Cheetahs and Arcadia High School, then  ran cross country for Citrus College. Jensen is a certificated member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.