Head Coach Nicki Shaw
Head Cross Country Coach Nicki Shaw is entering her second season at the helm of the cross country program. Shaw also previously served as the Head Track and Field Coach for four years at Citrus College after a storied career as an athlete herself. Shaw attended and participated as an athlete at Mt. Holyoke College a prestigious All-Women’s school and NCAA Division III competitor on the East Coast. While competing for Mount Holyoke, Shaw was named MVP during her Indoor Track and Field season and an NCAA All-American. During competition Shaw was the runner-up in the hammer throw at the Baystate Games and the ME USATF hammer champion. Shaw also holds the hammer/weight record at Mount Holyoke.
Shaw graduated from Mount Holyoke with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in 1996, and went on to become an Assistant Coach at her Alma Mater for 1 year, and coached 2 NCAA qualifiers one in the shotput and the other who participated in the hurdles.
After Mount Holyoke Shaw moved onto Smith College where she was the Assistant Women’s Coach, where she again led another thrower onto a great career coaching a shot-putter to an NCAA All-American honoree. While coaching at Smith, Shaw completed her Masters Degree receiving a M.S. in 1999.
Upon leaving Smith, Shaw once again garnered an Assistant Men’s and Women’s Track Coach position at Bowdoin College in Maine. While a coach there she led yet another shot-putter to an NCAA qualification, as well as hammer thrower, and a discus thrower, who went on to become an All-American.
When Shaw left Bowdoin, she took a couple of years off coaching to develop curriculum for living and learning communities (2 years at Columbia University & 3 at UC Irvine). Shaw is a certified yoga instructor and is also a photographer.
Assistant Coach Sam Unheheir
Coach Unheheier begins his second season with the Citrus College Cross Country team, and has spent the last six seasons with the Citrus College Track and Field program working with the Citrus jumpers and distance runners. In 2009, Unheheier coached the High Jump Conference Champion for the Fighting Owls.
Prior to Citrus, Unheheir spent four years at Elsinore High School as the pole vault coach. In his time there, Elsinore won four men’s league titles and two women’s league championships. In addition Elsinore boasted six CIF qualifiers and one CIF finalist.
Unheheir prepped four years at Elsinore where he still holds the school record in the pole vault, and was a two time CIF qualifier and league champion. Unheheir was also an accomplished wrestler at Elsinore, earning two trip to the CIF Division I wrestling championships.
Unheheir graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with his B.S. in Liberal Studies in 2010, and lives with his Wife, Marla, son Isaac, and daughter Abigal in Ontario.