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West Los Angeles College is committed to building one of the top Cross Country and Track and Field programs in the state and helping our student-athletes become successful. Our Track and Field team is quickly being recognized as a program on the move. Our experienced coaching staff has a proven winning record and our 2007 team roster boasts some of the finest athletes in the state. West Los Angeles College is sure to challenge for the California State Title in 2008. If you are an athlete looking for an opportunity to compete, while getting a great education at a college where you will not get lost in the shuffle like so many other schools and programs – Choose West LA College.
The West Los Angeles College campus occupies 70 acres in the hills of Culver City. Our athletic facility is state-of-the-art, including a new 9-lane Mondo surface track, complete with new hurdles, pits and field turf. We are in the process of building a new throwing facility that will be similar to the one that allowed West LA College to host the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games’ hammer throw competition. Our facilities and environment are such that many of the elite athletes that live in the greater Los Angeles area, including several Olympic and World Championship medalists, train side by side our West LA Track and Field athletes.
HEAD COACH: DAN FITZPATRICK
Dan Fitzpatrick, a familiar name in Southern California track and field circles, begins his first year at West Los Angeles College as the head cross country and track and field coach for both the men's and women's teams. Fitzpatrick most recently was the head track and field coach at Gahr High School in Cerritos since 1997, and head track and field and cross country coach at Rio Hondo College in Whittier since 2003. He is well known for his ability to produce championship teams, and looks to do the same for the Oilers.
During his 10 years at Gahr High School in Cerritos, California he has led the Gladiators to 3 CIF titles and 11 San Gabriel Valley League Championships. Fitzpatrick has a reputation as one of the top multi-event coaches in the state. Under his tutelage, members of Gahr's team have produced 97 league champions, 15 CIF champions, 21 state finalists, 2 national team members, 2 national records, and 1 national athlete-of-the-year award.
In three seasons at Rio Hondo College, Fitzpatrick guided the Roadrunners to one Foothill Conference Championship, and had three conference runner-up finishes. A year ago his athletes broke 16 school records, on the way to qualifying for the Southern California Championships in 15 different events, making Rio Hondo College one of the most improved teams in the state. In his first year at Rio Hondo, Fitzpatrick was named Foothill Conference Coach of the Year for cross country.
Fitzpatrick served as an assistant to U.S. Olympic coaches, Brooks Johnson and Terry Crawford at Cal Poly, before taking on his own program. Fitzpatrick prepped at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach where he was a CIF runner-up at 800 meters, and a member of Track and Field News prep top 10 list. He then went to Long Beach City College running for current USC coach Ron Allice, and was a member of two state championship teams, before attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. There he was an All-Conference selection for a Mustang team that won back-to-back conference titles.
Fitzpatrick was honored in 2001 as a California state honor coach, and was named "Dream Team" Coach-of-the-Year by the Long Beach Press-Telegram in 2002. He received a master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2002. He taught Physical Education at Vanguard Learning Center in Compton from 2000 to 2003. Fitzpatrick is the co-director of the "Raise the Bar" track and field camp and is the president of Future Elite Incorporated. Future Elite is a non-profit organization whose prime objectives are the fundamentals of leadership, which are promoted and encouraged through competitive track and field for economically and socially disadvantaged youths.
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