On Oct. 18, 2022, UC Davis unexpectedly announced the termination of Head Coach John Lavallee, who had been with the program since 2007. With this change, Assistant Coach Tanya Ho was named interim head coach. Though many assumed Ho would ultimately take the helm at UC Davis, these weren’t the expected circumstances. With Lavallee’s ouster, Ho, a UC Davis alum who previously coached at Sacramento State and Alaska, was alone at the top. What had been a coaching staff of four the previous season, became a staff of one as Assistant Coach Kaytianna Kell and Volunteer Assistant Coach Lacy Dagen moved to coach at Oregon State, their shared alma mater.
In the wake of Lavallee’s departure, Ho said, “The biggest challenge was being the only one on staff at that point. There were 22 athletes, and I was the only one on staff”.
Given the circumstances, the university granted Ho the ability to hire emergency staff. First, she hired David Seiler, a club coach from Head Over Heels Gymnastics, to coach bars. She also enlisted part-time help from Associate Athletic Director Michael Lorenzen who had some experience coaching gymnastics.
Even with these emergency hires, the coaching shake-up caused uncertainty and confusion within the program. It was especially noticeable on…
