San Francisco State University Women's Track

Ahlbeck worked with both the mens and womens distance teams, where he coached multiple athletes to the national stage.  On the Track in 2015, Ahlbeck developed and produced a promising crop of athletes ranging from the 800m through the 10,000m.  In just his first six months as the womens assistant distance coach, Ahlbeck produce four all-time top-10 athletes in school history. In 2012, Ahlbeck assisted the mens cross country team to a 22 place finish in the country, which was the first time in school history that the Gators had qualified as a team to the National Championship meet.  Standouts include Bruk Assefa who finished 45 in Joplin Mo. Ahlbeck came to SF State after spending a year as an assistant coach under Drew Wartenberg with the UC Davis cross country and track and field programs.  During his tenure with the Aggie track squad, Ahlbeck aided the development of 15 Big West Conference meet scorers, including Jonathan Peterson, who captured individual titles in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters in 2012, along with Calvin Thigpen, the reigning league champion in the 10,000 meters.   Out on the cross country course, Ahlbeck helped coach three All-Big West honorees, two NCAA All-Region performers and one All-American in Peterson, the conferences male runner of the year who placed 14th at the NCAA meet in 2010.   Prior to his appointment at UC Davis, Ahlbeck was a standout distance runner at Washington State where he was a three-time PAC-10 scorer in track & Field, as well as, a qualifier for the 2009 NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing 17th in the nation at Fayetteville, Ark. Ahlbeck also competed in three West Regional meets for the Cougars cross country program and served as team captain in the fall of 2009.   A native of Renton, Wash., Ahlbeck earned his bachelors degree in humanities from WSU in 2010 with a concentration in communications studies, administrative business and anthropology. Sam Ahlbeck, Assistant Coach Cross Country/Assistant Distance nd th

Lyons enters his 12th year as head coach of the SF State mens cross country program.  During his tenure at SF State he has also been the head coach for the womens cross country team and served as the interim head coach for the womens track and field team. Over the past 12 years, Lyons has coached eight NCAA Division II All-Americans in Josh Babiak (cross country) and Anna Bretan, Tiana Wills, Janesha Anthony, Maya Cabiness, Ashley Black and Hilary King in track.  In 2005, Babiak finished 38th at the national meet, crossing the finish line in 32:59.80.  Bretan finished third in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, breaking her own school record with a time of 16:56.62.  Wills took second in the Nationals in the high jump in outdoors in 2013 and was named an All-American in the indoors in 2014.  Anthony, Cabiness, Black and King were part of a stellar relay team that finished eighth in the 4x100 relay in the 2014 Nationals.    Under Lyons direction, Gator cross country teams have produced nine All-West Region honorees, 20 All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competitors, one CCAA Freshman of the Year, one CCAA Newcomer of the Year and one Academic All-American.  This past season, the Gator men's cross country team took fifth at the NCAA Division II West Regionals after taking third at the CCAA Championships. In the classroom, under Lyons the mens and womens cross country programs have garnered nine USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards, with over 30 athletes earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual awards. In 2014, the Gators built a strong core in both the mens and womens team.  The women took fifth at the CCAA Championships with two runners, Paxton Cota and freshman Cori Harral earning All-CCAA honors.  On the mens side, the Gators took third as a team, and had three runners earn All-CCAA honors.  Leading the charge was red-shirt freshman Drew Feldman who was named the CCAA Male Newcomer of the Year.  Feldman later earned All-Region honors as he finished 16th overall guiding the Gators to an eighth place finish at the West Region Championships. As the interim head coach of the womens track and field team in 2014, Lyons led the Gators to a fifth place finish with three athletes earning All-CCAA honors.  Cabiness was named the CCAA Female Track Athlete of the Year.  During the Indoor season, Lyons saw senior Tiana Wills earn All-American honors by placing third in the high jump.  Lyons would accompany Wills at the USTF Indoor National Championships where she placed second in the high jump with a school record mark of 1.88 meters.  Wills would finish her career at SF State being named the USTFCCCA West Region Field Athlete of the Year for the Indoor Season. The 2012, the Gators soared to new heights.  The men, led by three-time All-CCAA honoree Bruk Assefa, finished fifth at the CCAA Championships.  Two weeks later, the deep Gator squad placed fourth at the NCAA West Region Championships earning the programs first ever birth at the NCAA Division II Championships.  Assefa was placed ninth at the West Region Championships to earn All-Region honors.  He once again led the Gators at the NCAA Division II Championships, taking 45th overall, as the Gators finished 22nd out of 32 teams. In 2011, Lyons oversaw a breakthrough campaign for the SF State mens squad, which captured four-consecutive meet titles during the regular season, followed by a second-place finish at the CCAA Championships.  Individually, the Gator men boasted two all-conference performers in Assefa and Ernesto Rodriguez, while Zuleima Jimenez and Paxton Cota accomplished the feat on the womens side.  In addition, Jimenez was named the leagues Female Newcomer of the Year and later collected all-region honors after placing 17th at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships. In addition, Lyons teams have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction on six occasions with a team grade point average among the highest in the nation for cross country programs. Individually, six Gator runners, including Zuleima Jimenez, Paxton Cota, Kendall Dye, Brian Trejo, Alicia Trujillo and Ryan Woods received All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA following the 2011 campaign. In the spring of 2009, Lyons helped stage the inaugural San Francisco State Track & Field Distance Carnival. Athletes from around the country enjoyed a fantastic day of distance racing as Lyons vision of hosting a top-level race under ideal weather conditions at the Gators top-flight track facility came to fruition.  Then in 2010, the SF State Distance Carnival witnessed a 50 percent increase in the number of entrants, as over 60 teams were represented a meet which is now established as a great spring season opener for distance runners. Lyons has served as meet director for a number of other events as well.  In his first season, the Gators played host to the 2005 CCAA Championships at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, while the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships were held at the site in 2009.  In addition, Lyons oversees the annual SF State Invitational during the fall, which is typically held at the Speedway Meadow course, too. Prior to his arrival at San Francisco State, Lyons served as boys' and girls' cross country head coach at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif., from 1994-2004. While at Redwood, he also was the boys' and girls' track and field head coach from 1994-99 and assistant track and field coach from 2000-01. In 1999, Lyons was received Redwoods Coach of the Year Award. Overall, Lyons Redwood cross country program had 54 first-team all-league runners and sent 56 athletes to the state championship meet. In 1997, the Redwood boys' teams began a run of six consecutive state meet appearances. The 1998 and 2000 teams were CIF North Coast Section Division III champions, placing third and fifth, respectively, at the state meet. As the head track and field coach, Lyons guided the Redwood boys' and girls' squads to four league championships and 33 individual/relay titles. Redwood had seven state qualifiers on those teams, while the 1999 boys squad won the North Coast Section Redwood Empire meet. In 2004, the North Coast Section recognized Lyons as an Honor Coach for the sport of cross country. In 2005, he received the prestigious CIF Model Coach Award for his positive contribution to high school cross country in the state of California. In 2006, Lyons was inducted into the Marin Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame based on his coaching career at Redwood. Lyons graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut, where he was a cross country and track & field letterman as well as a Big East Conference scholar-athlete. He currently competes in bike races with the Marin-based ThirstyBear cycling squad, one of the nations top Masters race teams, winning the overall team title in 2015.  Lyons also runs for the Tamalpa Runners in races from 1 mile to 100 miles. In 2002, he placed 12th at his favorite race, the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, in 19 hours, 18 minutes. Lyons resides in Fairfax with his wife, Chris, and two children, Dean (18), and Otis (15).  Dean is a freshman at UC Santa Cruz, while Otis is a sophomore at Drake High School.       Tom Lyons enters his 12th year as head coach of the SF State mens cross country program.  During his tenure at SF State he has also been the head coach for the womens cross country team and served as the interim head coach for the womens track and field team. Over the past 12 years, Lyons has coached eight NCAA Division II All-Americans in Josh Babiak (cross country) and Anna Bretan, Tiana Wills, Janesha Anthony, Maya Cabiness, Ashley Black and Hilary King in track.  In 2005, Babiak finished 38th at the national meet, crossing the finish line in 32:59.80.  Bretan finished third in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, breaking her own school record with a time of 16:56.62.  Wills took second in the Nationals in the high jump in outdoors in 2013 and was named an All-American in the indoors in 2014.  Anthony, Cabiness, Black and King were part of a stellar relay team that finished eighth in the 4x100 relay in the 2014 Nationals.    Under Lyons direction, Gator cross country teams have produced nine All-West Region honorees, 20 All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competitors, one CCAA Freshman of the Year, one CCAA Newcomer of the Year and one Academic All-American.  This past season, the Gator men's cross country team took fifth at the NCAA Division II West Regionals after taking third at the CCAA Championships. In the classroom, under Lyons the mens and womens cross country programs have garnered nine USTFCCCA All-Academic Team awards, with over 30 athletes earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual awards. In 2014, the Gators built a strong core in both the mens and womens team.  The women took fifth at the CCAA Championships with two runners, Paxton Cota and freshman Cori Harral earning All-CCAA honors.  On the mens side, the Gators took third as a team, and had three runners earn All-CCAA honors.  Leading the charge was red-shirt freshman Drew Feldman who was named the CCAA Male Newcomer of the Year.  Feldman later earned All-Region honors as he finished 16 overall guiding the Gators to an eighth place finish at the West Region Championships. As the interim head coach of the womens track and field team in 2014, Lyons led the Gators to a fifth place finish with three athletes earning All-CCAA honors.  Cabiness was named the CCAA Female Track Athlete of the Year.  During the Indoor season, Lyons saw senior Tiana Wills earn All-American honors by placing third in the high jump.  Lyons would accompany Wills at the USTF Indoor National Championships where she placed second in the high jump with a school record mark of 1.88 meters.  Wills would finish her career at SF State being named the USTFCCCA West Region Field Athlete of the Year for the Indoor Season. The 2012, the Gators soared to new heights.  The men, led by three-time All-CCAA honoree Bruk Assefa, finished fifth at the CCAA Championships.  Two weeks later, the deep Gator squad placed fourth at the NCAA West Region Championships earning the programs first ever birth at the NCAA Division II Championships.  Assefa was placed ninth at the West Region Championships to earn All-Region honors.  He once again led the Gators at the NCAA Division II Championships, taking 45 overall, as the Gators finished 22 out of 32 teams. In 2011, Lyons oversaw a breakthrough campaign for the SF State mens squad, which captured four-consecutive meet titles during the regular season, followed by a second-place finish at the CCAA Championships.  Individually, the Gator men boasted two all-conference performers in Assefa and Ernesto Rodriguez, while Zuleima Jimenez and Paxton Cota accomplished the feat on the womens side.  In addition, Jimenez was named the leagues Female Newcomer of the Year and later collected all-region honors after placing 17th at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships. In addition, Lyons teams have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic distinction on six occasions with a team grade point average among the highest in the nation for cross country programs. Individually, six Gator runners, including Zuleima Jimenez, Paxton Cota, Kendall Dye, Brian Trejo, Alicia Trujillo and Ryan Woods received All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA following the 2011 campaign. In the spring of 2009, Lyons helped stage the inaugural San Francisco State Track & Field Distance Carnival. Athletes from around the country enjoyed a fantastic day of distance racing as Lyons vision of hosting a top-level race under ideal weather conditions at the Gators top-flight track facility came to fruition.  Then in 2010, the SF State Distance Carnival witnessed a 50 percent increase in the number of entrants, as over 60 teams were represented a meet which is now established as a great spring season opener for distance runners. Lyons has served as meet director for a number of other events as well.  In his first season, the Gators played host to the 2005 CCAA Championships at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, while the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships were held at the site in 2009.  In addition, Lyons oversees the annual SF State Invitational during the fall, which is typically held at the Speedway Meadow course, too. Prior to his arrival at San Francisco State, Lyons served as boys' and girls' cross country head coach at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif., from 1994-2004. While at Redwood, he also was the boys' and girls' track and field head coach from 1994-99 and assistant track and field coach from 2000-01. In 1999, Lyons was received Redwoods Coach of the Year Award. Overall, Lyons Redwood cross country program had 54 first-team all-league runners and sent 56 athletes to the state championship meet. In 1997, the Redwood boys' teams began a run of six consecutive state meet appearances. The 1998 and 2000 teams were CIF North Coast Section Division III champions, placing third and fifth, respectively, at the state meet. As the head track and field coach, Lyons guided the Redwood boys' and girls' squads to four league championships and 33 individual/relay titles. Redwood had seven state qualifiers on those teams, while the 1999 boys squad won the North Coast Section Redwood Empire meet. In 2004, the North Coast Section recognized Lyons as an Honor Coach for the sport of cross country. In 2005, he received the prestigious CIF Model Coach Award for his positive contribution to high school cross country in the state of California. In 2006, Lyons was inducted into the Marin Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame based on his coaching career at Redwood. Lyons graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut, where he was a cross country and track & field letterman as well as a Big East Conference scholar-athlete. He currently competes in bike races with the Marin-based ThirstyBear cycling squad, one of the nations top Masters race teams, winning the overall team title in 2015.  Lyons also runs for the Tamalpa Runners in races from 1 mile to 100 miles. In 2002, he placed 12th at his favorite race, the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, in 19 hours, 18 minutes. Lyons resides in Fairfax with his wife, Chris, and two children, Dean (18), and Otis (15).  Dean is a freshman at UC Santa Cruz, while Otis is a sophomore at Drake High School.      

Reimer has been named the head coach for the SF State womens indoor and outdoor track and field program as announced by Director of Athletics, Charles Guthrie.  Reimer comes to SF State from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps where she has coached the Stags and Athenas mens and womens track and field programs since 2010.    "It is a great indication of the potential of this program for us to be able to attract a coach of Kendra Reimer's caliber," Guthrie said. "Her proven success as a collegiate student athlete, as well as being a head coach and an assistant track coach within the CSU system, has been impressive. We look forward to seeing our track and field programs grow under her direction."   Reimer brings with her an impressive resume, in 2013 she was named the head womens coach for Team USA, she was twice named the West Region Coach of the Year by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in 2011 and 13.  In 2009, while at Cal State L.A. she was named the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009.   While at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Reimer has guided the mens program men to a 51-9 record and the women to a 53-7 record.  Reimer has coached nine All-Americans at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps including the sixth best triple jumper in NCAA Division III history (41-8).  39 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps track student-athletes have earned All-Academic honors.  She coached both the Stags and Athenas to two conference championships and one meet conference championship.  Her men and womens team are four-time All-Academic Team selections.    35 of her student-athletes were conference champions and 153 were All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performers.  13 set school records at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.  This is an exciting time for SF State Track & Field, said Reimer. I am honored to join the team as Head Coach and feel privileged to work under the leadership of President Wong and our Athletic Director Charles Guthrie. It is clear this administration is passionate about supporting our student-athletes. I am committed to winning and ensuring that our team succeeds on and off the track; most importantly as students first then as athletes and productive members of our community.    Prior to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Reimer was the assistant men and womens track and field coach at Brown University from 2009-2010.  She coached the jumps and multi-events, which seven were All-Ivy League performers.  Five also were NCAA Championship-East Preliminary Round Qualifiers.    Before moving to the East Coast, Reimer was on staff at Cal State L.A. where she was the jumps, throws and multi-events coach for the Golden Eagles from 2006-2009.  She assisted in coaching eight All-Americans and two Academic All-Americans.  Reimers student-athletes were 17 NCAA Qualifiers and 18 received NCAA Provisional Qualifying Marks.  Nine were also All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champions and 12 were All-CCAA selections.   She also coached a student-athlete to a ninth place finish at the 2009 USA Junior National Championship.    Reimer also coached for the VS Athletics Track Club in Los Angeles in 2009.  During that year, her athlete was ranked 12 th in the nation by USA Track & Field and competed in the USATF National Outdoor Championships.    While at Texas A&M, Reimer was an All-American in 2001 and held the school record in the pentathlon.  Her mark is currently fourth in the heptathlon and eighth in the pentathlon at A&M.    She graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station, Tex., in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.  Reimer also has her Master of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University.  

DeSomber is entering his first season as a member of the SF State Gator track and field coaching staff.   He comes to SF State from City College of San Francisco where he was the Assistant Throws Coach from 2005 to 2006.  DeSomber also assisted with the Cal Throwing Clinics from 2000 to 2002. DeSomber graduated from UC Berkeley in 2007 and has a degree in Paralegal Certification.  While at Cal, DeSomber earned numerous honors including being an All-American in the Shot Put in 2001.  He also placed in the top 5 in back to back years including a third place finish in 2001.  He currently owns and operates several businesses in San Francisco.  

Chew enters her first season as an assistant coach for the womens track and field team.  Chew is overseeing long jump and triple jump. In her first season on staff, Chews jumpers are already making an impact.  In the Indoor season, four ladies made their way onto the All-Time performance list in the long and triple jumps.  In the Gators second meet of Outdoor season, the long-time standing long jump record was reset by Hilary King.  This mark is also a NCAA provisional mark.    Chew joins the Gators after serving as an assistant coach for Clayton Valley Charter for the 2014 season.  Before that she served as an assistant coach for track at Hayward High School from 2009-13 where she taught PE and Health.   During her time as an assistant at the prep level, she had California State qualifiers in four-straight years from 2010-13. One of those athletes being Jonte Grant (HHS 11), a redshirt Junior now competing for UC Berkeley.  During his high school career, Grant achieved State qualifying marks in the long jump-246, triple jump-4811.25 and high jump-68.  Grant has been able to continue his success. In 2014, Grant was a NCAA competitor in the triple jump and placed 14 th overall with a jump of 5111.75.  Most recently, in 2015, Grant finished 5 th (244.25) in the long jump and 2 nd (512.25) in the triple jump at the MPSF Indoor Championship.    Chew has achieved the highest level of education via USATF in the Jumps, Level 3.  She is one of a small group who has been able to attend the course at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.  Simultaneously, Chew was able to be awarded a Level 5 certification via International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in the Jumps.  There she was able to get one-on-one mentoring from elite and international coaches.  Chew is also certified in several different event groups by the USATF.   Coaching at SF State is a homecoming for Chew, who was a two-time letter winner for the Gators track team in 1999 and 2000.  She competed in the long jump and triple jump for the Gators.    The Bay Area native grew up in Concord, Calif., where she attended Ygnacio Valley High School.  She earned her BA in Kinesiology and Physical Education from Cal State Long Beach in 2003, she earned her single subject teaching credential in 2004.    Chew has two children Rylee, 8 and Shawn, 7.