Mike West selected as replacement for Rob Wigod as Southern Section commissioner

Mike West, the principal at Riverside King High School and president of the Southern Section Executive Committee during the pandemic years from 2020 to 2022, has been selected to be the 10th commissioner of the Southern Section and succeed Rob Wigod beginning July 5.

The Southern Section Executive Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to select West, who has extensive administrative experience working with students and the CIF starting in 1994 when he became an athletic trainer at Chino Hills Ayala High. He would become a teacher, then athletic director at Chino Hills, an assistant principal and principal for the last eight years at King.

“To be selected the 10th commissioner of the CIF Southern Section is both a personal and professional dream come true,” West said in a media release.

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The 55-year-old West will take over running the largest high school sports section in the state with 562 private and public schools. One of his first tasks will be hiring a new assistant commissioner to run basketball with the pending retirement of Rainer Wulf.

During his dealings on the executive committee, he was known for his calm, steady demeanor with an ability to work with others. He has been rising in leadership positions within CIF and was elected president of the state CIF Executive Committee beginning this school year.

Terry Barnum, the head of athletics at Harvard-Westlake, said he used to work with West on the Executive Committee and believes he brings lots of strong qualities to the job.

“I really enjoyed working with him,” Barnum said. “He had great insights and a unique perspective having been in sports medicine that’s needed at the highest level of CIF. He’s a very calm guy, laid back and doesn’t get overly emotional. His personality is going to fit perfectly. He’s a considerate leader. He thinks of other people.”