COACHES

Richard Gibbs- Head Coach

Coach Gibbs began his coaching career at Servite in 2002. Most recently, he led the Friars to a 3-peat winning Trinity League titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and a CIF-SS Championship in 2017. Following that season he was also named the OC Register Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year. During his time at Servite, the Friars have been CIF runner-ups twice and finished in the top ten eight times while winning six varsity and eight lower level championships. In addition, they have set more than two dozen school records and produced several CIF individual champions including Max Thomas in 2021 (100, 200).

Coaching Cross Country as well, Gibbs led the Friars to their first ever Trinity League title in 2015 and in 2004 his squad won the State title having the Southern Section Individual Champion as well.

He attended the University of Colorado, Boulder for undergrad and Cal State Fullerton for graduate school where he earned his Masters Degree in History. Coach Gibbs also teaches Health at Servite.

Thomas Caballero '03- Throws & Shot Put

A graduate from the Class of 2003, Coach Caballero was a two-sport athlete for the Friars playing Football and Track and Field. His senior year he advanced to the CIF Finals in the Discus before being recruited to compete for the UCR Highlanders where he earned a degree in Engineering. Coach Caballero returned to Servite in 2008 to coach track then began coaching football in 2010 before joining the Servite faculty as a math teacher in 2012. During that stretch he has had a CIF finalist in the Discus eight times, most recently Jeminai Leuta-Ulu in 2019. Coach Caballero is also the Head Freshman Football Coach. 

Brandon Thomas- Sprints

Coach Thomas began his college career at Long Beach State where he became a 5 time conference champion under the guidance of Coach Jerry Cablayan.  In addition, he still holds the Freshman 100 meter record and was a 1995 Junior All-American.  After 2 years at Long Beach State he transferred to UCLA, where he became a Pac 10 Conference Champion and All-American in the sprints.  His 4×100 meter relay team ranks 2nd all-time in the UCLA record books.

Coach Thomas has helped athletes reach their performance potential since 1998. He has coached many athletes at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, training CIF All-State and CIF Southern Section performers. Since 2010, Brandon has worked with Gary Cablayan to help athletes prepare for the NFL Combine. Through proper speed work and specific strength and power training, they have been able to build the physical qualities required to improve their times by an average of 0.2 seconds in the 40 yard dash.

Karson Hayden '11- Distance

Coach Hayden is a graduate of the Class of 2011 where he ran cross country and track and field for the Friars. While at Servite, he helped the 2009 cross country team to a seventh place finish at the California Division 3 State Meet. After Servite he attended the California State University of Monterey Bay where he ran for the Otters for four years. He returned to Servite in 2016 to coach cross country and track and also teach Biology and Chemistry. Since 2016 he has had two athletes make CIF Finals in the 800m and one in the 3200m as well as two CIF Finalist Cross Country teams. Coach Hayden also took over as the Co-Head Cross Country Coach for the 2019 season working alongside Coach Hills.

Randy Hills- Distance

Randy Hills joined the Servite coaching staff in 2018 to assist with cross country and track and field and took over as the Co-Head Coach of the Cross Country program in 2019. He is a graduate of St. John Bosco High School where he lettered in cross country and track all four years. He was a part of the first team in Bosco history to advance to the Cross Country California State Meet. Coach Hills earned All-CIF honors in both cross country and track. After his time at Bosco he attended California State University, Long Beach where he was a part of the cross country and track teams. Hills earned his degree in Liberal Studies and is currently the Physical Education Teacher at St. Pius V School in Buena Park. His coaching career started as an assistant coach at St. John Bosco, then he took over the programs at St. Josephs High School where he coached for seven seasons. Thereafter, he went to Bishop Amat where both Boys and Girls teams advanced and placed at the California State Meet. 

Laron Brown- Jumps

The 2021 season marked the 11th year Coach Brown has been with the Friars Track team. He comes to Servite from Cal State Fullerton where he was a student-athlete for the Titans competing in the Long Jump and High Jump. During his time at Fullerton, he was a Big West High Jump Champion (7' 1/2") and 3x NCAA High Jump Regional Qualifier and 1x National Qualifier. He also earned All-American Honors in the Long Jump finishing as runner-up at the State Championships. Brown has also coached at Azusa Pacific University, Fullerton Junior College and Mt. SAC and owns his own business- Premier Athletics Training that was established in 2013.

Larry Simms- Pole Vault

Coach Simms has been with Servite since 2007 helping to put Servite Pole Vaulters on the map. He has turned out 10+ CIF Finalists and one CIF Champion during that time as well as multiple state qualifiers. He has also helped prepare vaulters for the collegiate level including most recently- Ryan Riviere '14 (Fordham), Jesse Shank '14 (Notre Dame), Preston O'Connell '15 (Mt. SAC) and Landon Shank '16 (Notre Dame). He also coaches for Victory Athletics.

Varsity records