Coaching Staff
The coaching staff at Saint Mary’s is a veteran staff that has worked and coached together for several years.
Jay Lawson (Sprints)
Coach Lawson (81’), in his 26th year as the head track and field coach at Saint Mary’s, is one of the most respected coaches in the North Coast Section. Since taking over in 1987, Saint Mary’s track & field has enjoyed immense success and is widely regarded as one of the premier track & field programs in all of California.
Coach Lawson
In all, coach Lawson’s teams have won an incredible 25 straight league championships, 11 section championships and 3 top ten state meet finishes. Individually the statistics maybe even more impressive. Since 1987, 48 Saint Mary’s athletes have won individual section championships, along with 14 relay teams.
In one stretch (1995-2002), coach Lawson’s boy’s 1600m relay team won 8 straight section championships! Jafar Williams (U. of Washington), Denye Versher (UCLA), Halil Guy (C.S. Northridge), Tiffany Johnson (CAL), Danielle Stokes (C.S. Northridge), and Taylor Lawson (CAL) are all Mr. Lawson protégés. Mr. Lawson himself is a former 200/400 runner at U.C. Davis and still ranks among the top 10 on Saint Mary’s all-time 400/800m lists.
Denis Mohun (Distances)
Coach Mohun has been a track and cross-country coach for the past 22 years.
Coach Mohun
Formerly the head track and cross-country coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral in S.F., Mr. Mohun came to Saint Mary’s in 1998 and in that time has produced some the finest distance runners in the NCS.
In 2002, the Saint Mary’s Women’s Distance Medley Team was top ranked in California and one of the 5 best in the United States. Former Panthers Bridget Duffy (CAL), Sean Geraghty (U.C. Irvine), Rudy Vasquez (U.C. Irvine), and Gabi Rios-Sotelo (CAL), Matt Duffy (Brown), Alice Baker (USF), Dan Maxwell (Claremont McKenna) and Alex Choy (Saint Mary’s College) all trained under Mr. Mohun before embarking on their collegiate careers . Mr. Mohun competed in cross-country and track at Chico State University.
Jeff Rogers (Jumps)
Coach Rogers joined the Saint Mary’s staff in 1997. In his time at Saint Mary’s, his athletes have enjoyed considerable success. High School All-American honors have been awarded to Jerriod Mack (U.C. Berkeley), Solomon Welch (Stanford), and Ed
Coach Rogers
Wright (CAL)… while State Championships have been earned by Ebon Glenn (Arizona State) and Ed Wright (CAL).
Other NCS champions and state medalists have included high jumpers Spring Harris (USC), Riana Shaw and Maurice Spikes (UC Davis) and long jumper/triple jumper Asokah Muhammad (Arizona State), Quiana Plump (CAL) and Aziza Baker (CAL). Coach Rogers was himself a jumper.. having competed in the high jump at U.C. Berkeley, where he earned All-American honors and is still the school’s high-jump record-holder.
Michael Lee (Hurdles)
Coach Lee begins his 8th year coaching at Saint Mary’s. A graduate of the class of 1983, Coach Lee has a distinguished background in hurdling. As a student, Coach Lee was one of the finest hurdlers in the North Coast Section, having run a personal best of 14.0 in the 110m hurdles and making it all the way to the State Meet finals in the 300m hurdles, where he finished 6th.
His career continued at Sacramento State where he enjoyed a fine collegiate and post-collegiate career, competing around the U.S. Europe and Asia. Most recently, Coach Lee competed in the 60m hurdles at the 2011 US Indoor National Championships.. finishing 7th.