Marie Upton, the dedicated Girls' Athletic Director and coach at Cypress High School, has been selected as the California Coaches' Association Girls' Basketball "Coach of the Year."

Upton began her career with a basketball scholarship at Wayland University, where she was selected All-American for two years. After teaching in Texas, she came to Anaheim and eventually landed at Cypress High in 1973. Two years later, in 1975, she organized the girls' athletic program and successfully moved it into CIF competition.

Her impact on the basketball court was remarkable. Her teams achieved a stunning overall record of 114 wins against only 34 losses. Specifically, in league play, they went 50-8 and won the league championship five out of six years, consistently reaching the CIF quarterfinals or semifinals.

For Upton, the greatest satisfaction was watching girls' sports grow "from a G.A.A. program to what it is today," allowing female athletes to achieve success and secure college scholarships. Her success has now put her in the running for the National Coach of the Year award, a well-deserved recognition for her decades of commitment to high school athletics.

Coach Upton would go on to be inducted in the SCIBCA (Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association)  Hall of Fame in 1993.