Scott Guerrero enters his 10th season as the head coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field.

Guerrero has spent 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 is the 2007 USTFCCCA preseason regional ranking of the women's squad, which was ranked 15th in the West Region. The men started the 2007 season by topping a regionally-ranked team at the Asics/UCI Invitational.

Last year, Guerrero and West Coast Conference Champion Laura Mickelson led to the LMU women to a third-place finish, the first time in program history that they finished in the top-3 in consecutive seasons and the third time that Lions placed in the top-3 in the tough WCC. 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.

LMU finished fifth in the WCC on the men's side in 2006, marking its fourth-straight top-5 team finish.

Also turning heads in the classroom, the men's squad ranked sixth in the nation among Division I men's cross country programs in team grade point average.

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 in 15 seasons. 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.

Also in 2004, freshman Lino Almeida set what was then a new school record for the WCC Championship course with his time of 26:58. That time led the Lions to a record team time for the course, as this year's 135:31 beat the previous record of 137:38 set in 2003.

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 (13), Gabriella (9), and Louie (4).