Mike McGuire embarks on his 20th season as head women's cross country coach at the University of Michigan. An eight-time Big Ten Coach of the Year honoree, McGuire has established himself among the nation's top distance coaches.
McGuire's cross country teams have finished first or second in the Big Ten Championships in 15 of the last 19 seasons, winning it all in 1992, '93, '94, 2002, '03, '04, '05 and '06. U-M captured the regional championships in 1993, '94, '95, 2004, '05 and '08, while posting 10 top-two finishes -- including a second-place finish or better in seven of the last nine seasons. U-M boasts eight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships and has placed among the event's top 15 all but six times over McGuire's tenure, most notably a second-place finish at the 1994 NCAA Championships and a third-place finish in 2006.
Under McGuire's tutelage, Michigan's distance corps boasts five NCAA individual champions, 97 NCAA All-American honorees, including 30 cross country award winners. He guided Katie McGregor to Michigan's first women's cross country NCAA individual title in 1998. McGuire has also coached three NCAA-champion distance medley relay squads and helped U-M athletes shatter 22 school records during his tenure, including indoor and outdoor individual and relay records.
McGuire's Wolverine cross country teams earned five consecutive Big Ten championships (2002, '03, '04, '05, '06), finished as NCAA Great Lakes Regional champions in 2004, '05 and '08 and claimed four straight top-six showings at the NCAA Championships, including a third-place effort in 2006 -- the second-best finish in program history. McGuire boasts eight Big Ten Coach of the Year citations and has been named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year five times.
McGuire won the program's first Big Ten title in 1992 and strung together three consecutive Big Ten championships from 1992-94. During those three seasons, Michigan celebrated its first Big Ten individual champion in Molly McClimon, who captured top billing in 1993. McGuire has coached five Wolverine harriers to the Big Ten individual crown, including McGregor who claimed back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998.
In addition to his cross country duties, McGuire has served as associate head coach and assistant coach for Michigan's women's track and field program for 20 seasons. With his assistance, Michigan has captured 14 Big Ten Conference championships and has won three triple crowns (Big Ten cross country, indoor and outdoor track titles in the same academic year).
McGuire was named head women's cross country coach after two seasons as an assistant coach. He joined the Michigan staff in 1990 after holding coaching and recruiting positions at the University of Kansas and Eastern Michigan University. At Kansas, McGuire handled recruiting while working with the distance runners. McGuire helped lead EMU to one cross country and three track and field Mid-American Conference championships.
As a Wolverine student-athlete (1976-79), McGuire was an All-American under legendary U-M men's cross country coach Ron Warhurst. McGuire set the Big Ten three-mile record (now retired) in 1976 while competing with the Wolverine cross country and track teams. He competed on the U.S. cross country team at the World Cross Country Championships in Madrid, Spain, and won the 1981 Detroit Free Press Marathon.
Originally from Long Branch, N.J., McGuire earned a degree in social studies and history from the University of Michigan in 1979. He currently resides in Ann Arbor.
