Andrea Gaston Position: Head Coach Experience: 11th Season

Many coaches can only dream about winning a national title. For Andrea Gaston, it became a reality.

Now, just three years removed from a wire-to-wire 15-shot victory in the NCAA Championships, Gaston has become a champion not only as a player, but also as a coach. Very few coaches in any sport anywhere can claim that distinction.

It was just a matter of time until the two-time California State Amateur champion (1993-94) transferred her playing success at the highest level of amateur golf to blazing achievements at the collegiate coaching ranks. Her Women of Troy golf teams had finished in the top seven at the NCAAs four times since 1998. Then in May 2003, Gaston's team reached the pinnacle of collegiate golf, officially placing her name amongst the top collegiate golf coaches in the country.

Gaston was no fly-by-night in terms of playing success. Her track record prior to her state amateur achievements in 1993-1994 stands out on its own. Prior to those triumphs, Gaston was one of the top players on the San Jose State University women's golf team in the late 1970s. Her best individual finish was a third-place showing at the University of New Mexico's Tucker Invitational, but her biggest collegiate highlight was finishing tenth individually at the NCAA Championships. At that time, she competed with many of the LPGA Tour's all-time greats, including Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Beth Daniel and Betsy King. At the age of 19, Gaston also qualified to play in the 1977 U.S. Women's Open.

Gaston, after a 14-year hiatus to pursue a business career, came back to competitive golf in 1992. She was a 1993 USGA Women's Mid-Amateur semifinalist, a top qualifier for the 1994 U.S. Women's Open along with the '93 and '94 U.S. Amateurs, and had back-to-back victories in the 1994 Los Angeles and Long Beach City Championships. To top that off, she even went toe-to-toe with former USC and LPGA standout Jill McGill in the 1994 Colorado Broadmoor Invitational, losing to her in a 36-hole championship match.

She then won her two consecutive State Amateur championships (becoming one of the top ten amateurs in America in less than two years). At that point, Gaston decided to give the professional ranks one more shot. But the opportunity to coach at USC came to Gaston while she was competing on the Futures Tour in 1996. Even while at San Jose State, USC had always beckoned to her. The chance to be apart of the Trojan Family was too good for her to pass up.

Gaston wanted to return USC women's golf to the forefront of collegiate programs and make them a consistent top 10 team. She also knew this was a great opportunity to be a part of the outstanding tradition at USC and be associated with the strong Trojan alumni base.

"I may have walked away from my own dreams as a player, but I have now stepped into an even bigger dream and a bigger vision," said Gaston, who knows of no greater opportunity than to be involved in the shaping and development of young players and to help them prepare for their futures.

Gaston obviously made the right decision. While her playing era has come and gone, the Gaston coaching era is in full swing. And with the players that have come through central Los Angeles lately, Gaston is creating a recruiting legacy that will forever be remembered as the start of a golden era in Women of Troy golf. First, there was 1998 NCAA champion and Collegiate Player of the Year Jennifer Rosales, who won the title in only her sixth collegiate tournament. Next, in 2000 there was two-time All-American selection Candie Kung, who after departing USC won three times on tour in 2003, finishing sixth on the LPGA tour money list. In 2003, she coached another NCAA individual champion--Swedish sensation Mikaela Parmlid, who also took home that year's Honda Award winner for women's golf. Not done yet, in 2006, she helped guide Irene Cho to possibly the greatest individual season in Women of Troy golf history while her teammate, Dewi-Claire Schreefel, came away with Troy's third NCAA individual championship. Both were nominated for the Honda Award with Cho, who won four individual titles on the season, taking home the award.

That makes three national players of the year and three NCAA individual singles titles under Gaston, unparalleled among the rest of the country, And like USC football coach Pete Carroll and his national championship program--she's just getting started.

"Golf is a great avenue for our players' development," said Gaston, who directed six Top 10 NCAA finishes in 10 seasons. "Whether they choose golf as a career path or not, their experience while they're here-- along with their degree from USC--will take them far in life no matter what choice they make. We also have even bigger plans for the future so I know there's no better time than now to be a part of our program. We are totally committed to consistently developing the USC women's golf program into the best in the country."

She had it for a year; now, she's planning on making it last for a decade.

Gaston completed her education at California State University, Northridge, graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1980.

Gaston is also an active participant in the collegiate golf coaching community as a member of the National Golf Coaches' Association. Gaston also served on the NCAA Certification Committee and was appointed to the subcommittee focusing on equity, welfare and sporting conduct. She also served on the Collegiate Golf Foundation Coaches Council, the National Tour Committee and the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings Committee.