Patrick Wales-Dinan

Patrick is in his 9th year coaching the Mustangs. He has been coaching at the high school or college level since 2006. He was previously the cross country / distance coach at Long Beach State and Harvard University. He was also an assistant coach at Duke University and Williams College. Patrick has coached over 20 NCAA All-Americans, multiple NCAA Champions and over 10 qualifiers to the US National Championships and Olympic Trials.

At Monte Vista, Wales-Dinan has helped lead one of the most successful eras in program history. In 2025–26, the Mustang girls captured back-to-back CIF-NCS Cross Country Championships, earning the program’s 12th section title and its third in the last three years. In the spring of 2025, the girls track and field team won the CIF-NCS Tri-Valley Championship, the first NCS track and field team title in school history.

The boys cross country program has also reached historic levels during Wales-Dinan’s tenure. In 2023, the Mustangs qualified for the CIF State Championships for the third consecutive season, continuing one of the strongest runs in program history. That stretch included a top-10 finish at the 2022 CIF State Championships, further establishing Monte Vista as one of the top Division II programs in California. On the track, the boys distance group has continued to rewrite the school record books, highlighted by Ethan Miller becoming the first athlete in Monte Vista history to break nine minutes in the 3200 meters.

On the girls side, the program has experienced the most successful stretch in school history. The girls track and field team won three consecutive EBAL Championships from 2022 to 2024 before capturing its first CIF-NCS Tri-Valley team title in program history in 2025. The distance program has been especially dominant during that span. Since the 4x800 meter relay was added to the NCS championship program in 2023, Monte Vista has won two of the first three section titles in the event. In 2025, the girls distance medley relay also became the first group in school history to break 12 minutes, further cementing the current era as one of the deepest and most accomplished in program history.

Across cross country and track and field, Monte Vista athletes have set 15 school records and produced more than 90 top-10 all-time performances during Wales-Dinan’s tenure. Those marks reflect not only elite individual achievement, but also the depth, consistency, and championship-level development that have become defining features of the program.