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 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.79
Water Temperature:
81  degrees - top
76 degrees - bottom

Lovato named assistant coach
Special to The Monitor
ATHENS–To find an assistant coach, Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) head women’s basketball coach Bill Damuth turned to a former Lady Cardinal head coach for help.
Damuth has announced Elena Lovato, who this past year was an assistant on Joe Curl’s coaching staff at the University of Houston, will serve as his assistant coach as he begins his tenure at the helm of the TVCC women’s basketball program.
She reported for work Monday.
“We are very excited and fortunate to get someone of her caliber,” Damuth said.
“Curl speaks highly of her and the contributions she made to his program in her one year there,” Damuth added.
“She is great on the floor, great with the kids, great when it comes to recruiting and great all around. She will take a lot off me and allow me to focus on specific things,” he said.
Damuth said Lovato’s primary responsibilities will be to coach the guards, monitoring players’ academic progress and recruiting.
Before joining Curl’s staff at Houston, Lovato spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Pitt State in Pittsburg, Kan.
While there, she helped with game tape exchange, the team’s academic success, opponent scouting, travel arrangements and recruiting, as well as traditional coaching duties.
At Houston, Lovato coordinated game tape exchange, provided oversight of the team’s academic and community service as well as assisting with on-the-floor coaching and recruiting.
In addition to her experience at the collegiate level, Lovato also has coached at the high school level, serving as the head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach at Buffalo High School in Buffalo, Mo.
While coaching at BHS, she also spent one year as a physical education teacher at Buffalo Prairie Middle School, earning 2007 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year honors.
She also has coached and taught at Menaul High School in her hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., where she served as interim head girls basketball coach as well as assistant boys’ coach.
She also has sales experiences, having worked from December 2003 to March 2006 in private business.
Lovato said she is excited about the opportunity to be at TVCC.
“This is a place I wanted to be. The college’s tradition, national championships and the elite athletes and caliber of players I will get a chance to work with are what attracted me to TVCC.
“I also am looking forward to working with Coach D (Damuth),” she said.
His work ethic and ability to recruit the top players are wide known in the coaching profession,” Lovato said.
Lovato also brings an accomplished playing career to TVCC.
She started her collegiate career at West Texas A&M where she played for two seasons (1997-99) before transferring to Missouri Southern State to play her final two seasons, earning team captain and MIAA Newcomer of the Year honors in 1999-2000.
Upon completing her collegiate career, she played in the Puerto Rican Women’s Pro Basketball League for two years.
In 2001, she earned First-Team All-League honors, averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds per game. She averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game in 2002.
Lovato also played for the Chicago Blaze of the National Women’s Basketball League (NWBL).
She received her bachelor’s degree in university studies from Missouri Southern State in May 2005 and graduated from Pitt State with her master’s degree in physical education in May 2008.
Lovato said she had the blessing of Curl, who was the head coach at TVCC from 1989-93, to join Damuth’s staff.
“He told me this was an excellent opportunity for me if I wanted to grow in the profession,” Lovato said. “He also told me of his love for the community and how the support of the program is unbelievable,” she added.