Skip to main content
Students Painting
Students on a hike
Senior Retreat
Halloween 2019
Track & Field » Track & Field Coaching Staff (2024)

Track & Field Coaching Staff (2024)

The coaching staff at Saint Mary’s is a veteran staff that has worked and coached together for over 20 years.

Jay Lawson (Sprints)

Coach Lawson (81’), in his 37th 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. In all, coach Lawson’s teams have won an incredible 28 straight league championships, 11 section championships and 3 top ten state meet finishes. Individually the statistics maybe even more impressive. Since 1987, 50 Saint Mary’s athletes have won section championships, along with 15 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), Taylor Lawson (CAL), Carly Sculz (CS Sacramento), Chloe Jenkins (UCLA), Avi Wilson-Perteete (UNLV), and Kenady Jackson (UC Riverside) 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. Coach Lawson has continued to compete as a senior track & field athlete, placing as high as 5th in the 400 meters at the World Master’s Championships.

Denis Mohun (Distances)

Coach Mohun has been a track and cross-country coach for the past 32 years. .  Formerly the head track and cross-country coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral in S.F., Coach Mohun came to St. Mary’s in 1998 and in his time he has coached some the finest distance runners in the North Coast Section.  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), Gabi Rios-Sotelo (CAL), Matt Duffy (Brown), Alice Baker (USF), Dan Maxwell (Claremont McKenna), Alex Choy (Saint Mary’s College), Duncan Calvert (U.C. Santa Barbara), Jovani Barajas (Occidental), and Owen Woo (Pomona Pitzer) have all trained under Coach Mohun before embarking on their collegiate careers . Mr. Mohun competed in cross-country and track at Chico State University and has been a vice principal, athletic director, and is currently a math teacher at Saint Mary’s.

 

Jeff Rogers (Jumps)

Coach Rogers joined the Saint Mary’s staff in 1997 and 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), Ed Wright (CAL), Sanjay Kettels (CAL), Kali Hatcher (Columbia) and Malcolm Clemons… while  State Championships have been earned by Ebon Glenn (Arizona State), Ed Wright (CAL), Ron Smith (San Diego State), Sanjay Kettels (CAL) and Malcolm Clemons (Florida). Other NCS champions and state medalists have included high jumpers Spring Harris (USC), Riana Shaw, and Maurice Spikes (UC Davis) and long jumper/triple jumpers Asokah Muhammad (Arizona State), Quiana Plump (CAL), Aziza Baker (CAL), and Ma’Ane Mosley (CAL).  In all, Saint Mary’s jumpers have won an incredible 25 North Coast Section championships since 1997.  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.  He currently teaches Social Studies and is the department chairperson at Saint Mary’s.

Ben Turman (Boy's Distance)

Coach Turman begins his 4th season as a volunteer assistant coach working with the boy's distance team. In his stint at Saint Mary's, Coach Turman helped guide Mateo Malko-Allen ('23) to a North Coast Section Championship and school record in the 1600m as well as big race wins at a number of major invitationals.  Coach Turman has been building a BTstrong group of younger athletes whose continued improvement and success prove that he has been a great asset to the Panther program.   Himself an athlete, Coach Turman has spent most of his life in the world of competitive running, having competed locally at Berkeley High School before becoming a Cal Bear.  While at Cal, Coach Turman served 3 times as the team's captain and graduated as one of the fastest Bears in school history - running 3:44 for 1500m.  After college, Coach Turman continued to compete and by his early 40's was one of the fastest masters 1/2 marathoners in the country.   Most recently, he was a member of the West Valley Track Club and helped their 50-59 age group team win the USATF National Championship in cross country. As a coach, he was the founder and leader of the post-collegiate Transports Adidas Racing Team (1996-2010) who were USATF Pacific Association Grand Prix road racing team champions between 2001-2008 and Cross Country Champions 2002-2004, 2006, and 2010. Having achieved so much succes, Coach Turman was named the USATF Pacific Association road runner of the year in 2000. Coach Turman has a masters degree in education from Cal and has also coached at El Cerrito High in 2015 and Korematsu Middle School in 2014.  On most days, he can be found running the trails in and around various East Bay parks and recreation sites.

 

 

 

Craig Sutphin (JV Boys Head Coach) - Coach Sutphin is entering his 5th year as the JV Boys Head Coach.  He is primarily tasked with working with newer and junior varsity sprinters but very often can be found instructing athletes on the finer points of block starts, weight training or plyometric exercises.  In his time at Saint Mary's, he has worked withcs most of the top sprinters and jumpers as they progressed through the program. A former 6'8" high jumper and basketball player in college and at powerhouse Mater Dei (83') high school in Southern California, coach Sutphin is not new to competitive athletics.  In his time at Saint Mary's, coach Sutphin has served as an assistant Varsity Basketball coach as well as an assistant coach for the Track & Field team.  A current teacher and head of the Epistemology Department at Saint Mary's, Coach Sutphin is a fitness enthusiast who enjoys training alongside his JV Team as well as running the streets of Alameda where he currently lives.