Scott Guerrero Position: Head Coach Experience: 11th Year

Scott Guerrero enters his 11th season as the head coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field.

Guerrero has spent over a decade building the Lions' running programs, including the addition of men's and women's track and field as sanctioned LMU sports in the spring of 2006.

The most recent sign of Guerrero's success was his selection as Co-WCC Cross Country Coach of the Year last season, guiding the LMU men to a second-place finish in 2008. The second-place finish was the team's highest since 1981, and marked the fifth consecutive year in which the men have placed in the top-five. The men put forth an average time of 25:52, which bested the old team record by an impressive 52 seconds. Continuing their success, the men traveled to the NCAA West Region Championship, finishing the race with a team time average time of 32:48, which was 1:08 faster than their previous record of 33:56. The season ended with a 16th-place finish at the Regional meet, the best finish in school history.

The LMU women turned in a third-place finish at the WCC Championship, pushing the program record of consecutive top-three finishes on the women's side to three straight years. In all, LMU has managed to place in the top-three of the tough WCC four times in program history. In addition, for the third consecutive year, the women finished in the top-15 at the talent-filled NCAA West Region Championship, bettering their school record by running the 6K course in an average time of 21:59, which is now the fastest team average on any course in LMU history.

Perhaps Guerrero's most lauded runner in program history, Laura Mickelson finished her distinguished LMU career by earning a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Ind. in 2007. She ran her way to a course program record of 21:15, eclipsing her previous mark by 23 seconds and placing 61st in a field of 256 runners. Two weeks earlier, she qualified for the National Championship at the West Region Championship, where she placed 15th overall in the race. At the WCC Championship, Mickelson again earned All-Conference honors for the third time in her illustrious career by finishing in second place, falling just short of capturing back-to-back individual Conference Championship titles. Guerrero helped the El Segundo, Calif. native to two National Championship appearances, two All-Region Honors, a WCC individual title and numerous individual invitational titles while setting multiple course and meet records over Mickelson's four-year stint at LMU. Mickelson will pass the torch on to freshman Tara Erdmann, who undoubtedly had the best season of any freshman in LMU history. At the 2007 West Coast Conference Championship, Erdmann earned the prestigious Freshman of the Year honor as the highest freshman finisher by placing fifth in the race. She was also All-Conference for her efforts. At the NCAA West Region Championship, Erdmann continued her phenomenal season as the eighth-best freshman finisher in the meet and 40th overall.

In 2006, Guerrero and West Coast Conference Champion Mickelson led the LMU women to a third-place finish, while the men placed fifth. The 2006 squad set the program record for lowest team point total at the WCC Championship. It was also the second time in six years that a Lion woman was crowned individual WCC Champion, as Mickelson joined 2001 WCC Champion Edit Pakay. Mickelson went on to advance to the 2006 NCAA National Cross Country Championship, becoming the first Lion to compete on the NCAA national stage. In the spring 2007 track season, Guerrero guided Mickelson to her second straight NCAA Regional. Mickelson went on to earn the distinction of Academic All-American, becoming just the eighth Lion to earn the title in any sport in LMU's history.

Always turning heads in the classroom, both the men's and women's cross country teams were awarded USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition last year. Mickelson, who garnered individual USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District First Team, also earned a prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.

In 2005, the WCC Cross Country Coach of the Year led the LMU women to their best team finish ever that season, coming in second and placing three runners in the top-10, with Mickelson completing the course in seventh place in 18:23. His efforts on the women's side, earned him the WCC Coach of the Year honor. On the men's side, the Lions finished third, their highest finish to that point. Lino Almeida became the highest-placing Lion in LMU men's history, finishing fourth.

The Lions also made great strides at the 2005 NCAA Cross Country Regionals. The women placed 14th in the region, LMU's highest finish ever. That finish earned the Lions their first regional ranking in the coaches' poll.

Then, in just the first year of sponsoring track, Guerrero took LMU all the way to the 2006 NCAA National Championships. The Lions qualified two runners for NCAA Regionals before Mickelson earned a ticket to the National Championships, becoming the first Lion to advance. There, she finished in the nation's top-25 in the 5000m in 16:43.61.

The Lions also had a banner year in 2004, with both squads competing at the 2004 NCAA Regional. The men finished with a team time of 171:21, good for 20th place. That finish was the top LMU finish at the NCAA Regional in program history at the time. The women's team finished 23rd and, just as at the West Coast Conference Championship, the Lions placed three freshmen in the top five.

A collegiate runner himself, Guerrero earned varsity letters in both cross country and track and field while competing at Tulane University in New Orleans. In his senior year, he served as captain of the cross country squad.

Guerrero began his coaching career at the high school level where he spent three years teaching and coaching at Compton High School in Compton, Calif. There he had his first taste of coaching success with an individual athlete, coaching a state championships participant in 1991 who went on to become an All-American in college.

In 1995, Guerrero moved on to Chadwick High School in Palos Verdes, Calif., and by 1997, had led the Chadwick girls' team to their first-ever state championship appearance. "What I learned very quickly was that I really enjoyed building teams," Guerrero said.

He took over a program with only two girls on the roster; not even enough to field a scoring team. By 1997, the girls' team finished third at the state championships. Evidence of the program Guerrero built at Chadwick, the girls have since won two state titles and the boys made their first-ever appearance at the state meet in 2002 and finished fifth. "I guess one could argue that leaving was the best thing I did for the program," Guerrero jokes. For his efforts, Guerrero was honored as Prep League Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1997.

Guerrero left Chadwick after the 1997 season to take the then-part-time coaching position at LMU. "I took the LMU position for many of the same reasons. I wanted to have a hand in building something from the ground up. That's what we want to do here at LMU: we want to build a championship program."

Guerrero holds a B.A. in French and International Relations from Tulane University. He also earned his M.A. in Education from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1993. He holds a Level II certification from USA Track and Field.

Throughout his athletic career, Guerrero has completed several marathons including Los Angeles (1991, 1993), Boston (1992, 1996, 2002) and New York (1994). Coach Guerrero still runs with his team and competes in local races.

Guerrero lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife, Alison, and their three children, Miles, Gabriella, and Louie.