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Bio

When people talk about pioneers in Women’s Athletics, Jean Snuggs truly fits into any conversation.  Jean played sports in high school and college at a time when girls weren’t allowed to play.  She began coaching right after the passage of Title IX in 1972.  When it comes to women having the right to compete in athletics, very few people have seen and been part of the changes that Jean has.

Jean grew up in Illinois and graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor HS.  At that time girls were not allowed to participate in public school sports as per the Illinois State Blue Book of Education.  Because of this rule Jean practiced with the boy’s tennis team and played in local Kiwanis Club tournaments.   She was also the President of the intramural club that sponsored girls sports at her high school. 

After high school, Jean went on to earn her BS at the University of Illinois in Women’s Physical Education. She participated in several intramural sports since there were no officially sanctioned women’s sports on campus. She graduated in the top 3% of her class and then earned her Master’s degree from Northern Illinois University.  Jean was teaching PE and Science in middle school in Illinois when Title IX passed and she began her coaching career soon after.  She coached Cross-Country, Track, Volleyball, Basketball and Field Hockey for four and a half years before moving to California to teach at Glen Edwards Middle School in Lincoln.  She coached several sports there for two years before getting hired on at ARC in 1979. 

Jean coached Cross-Country and Track & Field at ARC for 23 years before becoming the Dean and Athletic Director for the Physical Education and Athletics Department.  As the Head Women’s Cross-Country Coach her teams won 9 conference titles, 6 Nor-Cal titles, finished in the top three in Nor-Cal 13 times and 9 times finished in the top 5 in the state.  She had two of her teams finish 2^nd in the state, in 1983 and 1988.  In Track & Field she led the Beavers to 10 conference championships, 2 Nor-Cal titles, 6 Nor-Cal Top 3 finishes, and there are 11 individual school records that still stand today from her time as the head coach.  Jean was the 1989 ARC Instructor of the Year as voted on by students and in 1995 she earned the campus Patron’s Award as the Instructor of the Year.  She was the state Coach of the Year in Cross-Country four times and twice was the state Track & Field Coach of the Year.  She has been inducted into several local Hall of Fames and has stayed active in USA Track & Field and the Sacramento Sports Commission.  She was the first woman to serve as Meet Director for the USATF National Championships in 1995.  She has also helped out with the United States Olympic Trials in Track & Field on three separate occasions.  Jean is active in Nordic Skiing, she is a guide for Sierra Regional Ski for Light which helps visually impaired people enjoy cross-country skiing.  Jean is a Board Member for the Truckee Donner Land Trust.  Along with all of that, she loves to travel and has just recently returned from a trip to Antarctica.