Longyear to Helm Owls Cross Country

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Athletic department announced Wednesday morning, that Alicia Longyear will take over the helm of the Citrus College Cross Country program. Longyear takes over the reins of the program from Nicki Shaw, who led the Owls' cross country program the previous three season and steps down to accept an academic position on the Citrus College campus.

"We are excited to have Alicia take over our cross country program," said Citrus College Dean of Kinesiology and Athletics Jody Wise. "We know our athletes will be in good hands, and will continue to be competitive in one of the toughest conferences in the State. We appreciate Nicki's contributions to the program over the last three years, and are excited for her to continue to represent the Kinesiology Department across campus."

Longyear takes over the Head Coaching position after being away from coaching the past five years. Prior to that break, Longyear had served as an assistant coach with the Citrus College Track and Field team as the distance coach. Longyear also served as an assistant track and field and cross country coach at Claremont High School from 2003-2007. In 2004, Longyear helped helm the Pomona Pitzer College Track and Field team while the head coach was on sabbatical. Longyear's coaching career began at the University of La Verne where she was a graduate assistant to the Leopard cross country and track and field teams while she earned her Master's Degree.

"Now that my children are a little older I feel ready and excited to get back into it.  I have missed the sport," Longyear said. "As a committed lifelong distance runner, I have continued to train on my own but being part of a cross country team is truly an extraordinary experience.  There is something special about a group of people pushing each other to their utmost limits." 

Longyear was an accomplished runner herself. Her running career began as a junior at Claremont High School, where she picked up the sport and never looked back. Longyear continued to run collegiate, earning varsity letters in both cross country and track and field all four years at the University of Redlands where she completed her undergraduate education.
Along with her coaching duties, Longyear as serves as the Citrus College Athletic Counselor, a position she has held for the past nine years. Longyear holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology from Redlands, and a Masters Degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Athletic Counseling from La Verne.

"My coaching philosophy is that each runner has individual training needs to reach their full potential, and my goal is to help foster that growth while they participate in cross country at Citrus College.  If they have goals of running at the university level, then it would be an honor to help them reach that level athletically as their coach and academically as their athletic counselor," Longyear said. "If they do not have goals of running collegiately post Citrus College, then I hope to instill in my team an eternal passion for distance running and invaluable life skills such determination, perseverance, and mental toughness that they can apply to all areas of their life." 

"I want to thank our Dean and Athletic Director Jody Wise for giving me this opportunity to coach for Citrus College again. She is a professional and personal role model of mine and it means a great deal that she trusted in and encouraged me to take on this new responsibility on campus," Longyear said. "I also want to thank Nicki for helping make this transition smooth. I wish her the best of luck in her new academic role."

Longyear has two children, Cooper and Tatum, and resides in Rancho Cucamonga with her husband Dave.