Head Track and Field Coach Richard Nila
Head Coach Richard Nila begins his second season at the helm of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Program, and his fourth with the program.
Prior to taking over the program, Nila spent the previous two seasons as an assistant with the Citrus program, and has been in charge of the Citrus sprinters and jumpers. This past season Nila helped lead three relay teams and four individuals to SoCal Prelim berths.
Prior to his stint at Citrus, Nila served as the Head Track and Assistant Football Coach at Walnut High School. Nila spent 10 seasons at Walnut, helping lead several individuals to CIF qualifications.
Nila is an accomplished athlete himself. Out of high school, Nila attended Whittier College where he played football, earning 2nd team All-SCIAC honors in 1981 and 1982. In addition, Nila served as the Team Captain of the 1982 Whittier Football team.
Nila earned his BA from Whittier in 1983, and went on later to receive his MA from Azusa Pacific University in June of 2008. Along with his coaching duties, Nila has worked in the education field for a number of years, serving as a PE instructor in a number of local high school districts.
Assistant Coach Sam Unheheir
Coach Unheheier begins his sixth season 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.
Assistant Coach Nicki Shaw
Assistant Coach Nicki Shaw, begins her sixth season with the Citrus Track and Field program, and her first as an assistant. Shaw helmed the Fighting Owls from 2006-2010, stepping aside to take over the cross country program in 2010. Shaw will stay on with the program working with the Citrus throwers.
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.