After winning
their second state championship in the last
three years, Cerritos College women's track and
field coaches Michael Allen and
Lloyd Higgins were rewarded by
being names the California Coaches Women's Head
Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the
Year, respectively. The Falcons, who had two
state champions and two finish in second place,
compiled 101 team points to win the state title
back in May.
Allen, who
completed his eighth year as the women's head
coach, also garnered the award after the Falcons
won the state title in 2006. Additionally, Allen
has coached 18 state champions during his
tenure, while 88 individual or team records have
been broken since he has taken over the program.
As for
Higgins, he helped coach the five throwers who
combined to finish in the top five of seven
events at the state championships, including one
of the state champions. He coached sophomore
Whitney Ashley to the state
championship in the discus, while a trio of
athletes placed in the top five of the shot put.
In other track
and field news, longtime Falcon track coach
Gary Gaudet, who coached the
women's team to the 1981 state championship,
will be inducted into the California Community
College Track and Field Hall of Fame at a
ceremony in Las Vegas in December. Gaudet
coached track and field at Cerritos from 1976-94
and has been working with the team since
his return in 2000. He was named the state's
women's Assistant Coach of the Year after the
team won the state title in 2006. After leading
the team to their first state title during the
1981 season, Gaudet was also named the
California Coach of the Year in 1982. Gaudet is
the second Cerritos track coach to be inducted
into the Hall of Fame, joining the late
Dave Kamanski, who was inducted in
1994.
