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2005 West Coast Conference Co-Coach of the Year (Men's) 2004 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year (Women's)
Helen Lehman-Winters enters her third season as the head men's and women's cross country and women's track coach at the University of San Francisco. In just her second season on the Hilltop, Lehman-Winters propelled the Dons to their most successful season in program history in 2004 and has the squad poised for another successful season. During her first season on the Hilltop Lehman-Winters began the transformation of a perennial second division finisher and in only her second season has accelerated the complete rebuilding of a program ready to challenge for an upper echelon showing in the demanding West Coast Conference. USF's women established a record-setting second place finish at the 2004 WCC Championships, while the men matched its best showing at fifth place. Under her instruction, Jeannine Hagedorn not only placed second at the WCC championships - the best overall finish in school history, but also turned in the top time at the NCAA West Regional at 21:26, just missing a NCAA individual berth. Cheyne Inman also flourished, and posted the top time in program history (26:00) and place (sixth) for the Dons at the WCC Championships. Lehman-Winters, who serves as the WICCA Western Regional Representative, brings an exceptional coaching resume to the Hilltop with a history of building successful programs from the ground up at the prep level and also coached at the nationally elite collegiate level. Coaching the National Elite: Before arriving at USF, Lehman-Winters spent three successful seasons working at UCLA where she worked primarily with distance runners in both the cross country and track programs. While in Westwood, the Bruins qualified for back-to-back berths in the NCAA Cross Country Championships (2001 & 2002) and Lehman-Winters assisted UCLA's Distance Medley Relay team to the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championship. In addition, Lehman-Winters served on the coaching staff for the Bruins' 2001 NCAA Indoor Championship team. Building A Prep Dynasty at Carondelet: Prior to arriving in Westwood, Lehman-Winters built dominant teams from scratch as head coach of the cross country and track and field programs at Carondelet High School, an all-girl's school in Concord from 1989-2000. A highly decorated coach, Lehman-Winters earned the 1998 Contra Costa Times Women of the Year Merit Award, was selected as North Coast Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1996 and was named American Athletics Coach of the Year in 1991. In 11 years as the Carondelet head cross country coach, Lehman-Winters guided the Cougars to a 76-4 league dual meet record, four consecutive North Coast Section titles (1994-97) and her squad captured eight straight Bay Valley Athletic League (BVAL) crowns. No stranger to competing at the state and national level, Lehman-Winters propelled CHS to nine berths in the California State Meet and the Cougars captured the 1996 State Championship. Lehman-Winters coached the top runner on her 1996 squad, Kristen Gordon, to the 1996 Footlocker Western Regional and National Championship individual titles. Gordon posted a 17:01 (5K, fourth all-time) on the Woodward park course in 1996. Lehman-Winters track and field squads enjoyed even greater success, posting an unprecedented 81-1 league dual record slate, four consecutive North Coast Section team titles and 10 straight BVAL titles (1991-2000). Carondelet achieved national recognition earning a #11 team ranking in 1997 and a #24 rating the following year. The Cougars first burst into national prominence in 1996 when the distance medley relay team won the National High School Indoor Championship title. Lehman-Winters' 1997 outdoor track squad achieved #4 national rankings in the Distance Medley Relay, 3200 Relay and the 4x1600 relay. While at Carondelet Lehman-Winters coached 13 distance runners to California State meet berths, eight of which earned top-four finishes and no fewer than 19 student-athletes went on to compete at the NCAA Division I level following their prep careers. On the track, Lehman-Winters coached prep Kristen Gordon to four California State Meet medals where she posted personal bests of 4:46.17 (1600) and 10:19.84 (3200). Gordon went on to become a collegiate three-time All-American. Lehman-Winters also coached Tiffany Roberts, a runner up at California State Championships in 1995 (2:11.81) and a three-time California State Meet Qualifier in three different events. Roberts was Olympic Gold Medalist for the United States women's soccer team in 1996. In addition to her duties with cross country and track at Carondelet, Lehman-Winters served as the director of athletics from 1993-96 and served as the State Track & Field Rules Interpreter for the California Interscholastic Federation. Building Champions at El Cerrito: Before building Carondelet into a powerhouse, Lehman-Winters spent four seasons as the head coach of the men's and women's cross country and track programs at El Cerrito High School, beginning in 1985. Lehman-Winters led the Gaucho men's and women's cross country teams to the 1985 North Coast Section titles in her first season. As head track and field coach, Lehman-Winters coached 10 male and female distance runners to California State Meet Championships and led the women's team to three top-three showings at the North Coast Championships. In addition to her prep and collegiate coaching duties, Lehman-Winters served as a AAF Track and Field Clinician (2000-01 & 2004) and was a member of the North Coast Cross Country and Track Management Committee for 12 years (1988-2000). Lehman-Winters competed in cross country and track at UC Santa Barbara, before graduating from California in 1987. In addition, Lehman-Winters earned her Master's Degree in sports psychology from John F. Kennedy University in 1997. Lehman-Winters and her husband, John were married in July of 1996 and have two children - Miles (3 years) and Mathias (16 months). |
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