California State University, San Marcos Women's Cross Country

Anthony Heredia was named Assistant Cross Country/Track & Field Coach in July 2021 and will be in his second year coaching sprints, hurdles and distance/mid distance for the Cougars. Heredia originally joined the Cougars in the fall of 2018 as the program's volunteer assistant coach for cross country/track & field. In his first two seasons with the Cougars, Heredia assisted in coaching three All-West Region honorees in cross country along with an individual qualifier to the NCAA national championship and three All-CCAA honors along with one NCAA national championship qualifier in track. In the fall of 2019, Heredia assisted in the men’s cross country first team appearance at the NCAA Championships with a 12th place finish and an individual All-American honoree.  In the fall 2021, Heredia assisted in coaching three All-West Region honorees in cross country along with an individual qualifier to the NCAA national championship. In the spring of 2022, Heredia oversaw three All-CCAA honorees in the sprints and hurdles group and helped coach three All-CCAA honorees from the distance group. In addition, Heredia assisted two individual qualifiers to the NCAA national championship.  Heredia came to CSUSM following a five-year stint as the associate head coach for La Jolla Country Day from 2013-18. While at La Jolla Country Day, he rewrote the record books from 100m up to 3200m and various relays. He sent several athletes to compete at the California state meet in track and cross country.  Heredia graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology & Neuroscience in 2013 and received his Master's of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sports Performance from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2018. He holds several certifications including: ALTIS Coaching Sprints Hurdles,  USATF Level 2: Endurance, NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, and USTFCCCA Sprint, Hurdle, & Relay Event Specialist.   As a student-athlete at UC San Diego, Heredia was a four-year letterwinner for both cross country and track & field as he specialized in middle distance.  

Mills was named the Assistant Mens & Womens Cross Country Coach in July of 2015.  She will also work with the Mens and Womens Track & Field teams.   Mills is in charge of recruiting, assisting with training regimens and a variety of administrative duties. She focuses on the CSUSM long distance runners. In her first season as an assistant on Steve Scott's staff, Mills helped guide the Cougars in their first season of CCAA and NCAA Division II competition. The men's and women's cross country teams each won a race, and she mentored All-CCAA runner Natalie Rodriguez. In Mills first season with CSUSM track & field, Cougar distance runners established two school records, four student-athletes achieved NCAA Division II provisional qualifiers and Rodriguez earned All-CCAA in the 5000m. Mills guided 25 Cougar distance runners to CCAA Championships qualifiers and 25 established personal-bests. Mills was as an assistant coach for both the cross country and track & field teams at University of Redlands for two years between 2012 and 2014. In that role, Mills spearheaded the recruiting effort while leading the distance and middle distance runners alongside head coach Mike Schmidt. She also coached horizontal jumps, helping numerous jumpers to personal-bests. She tutored Darron Usher, who was named 2014 SCIAC Men's Field Athlete of the Year and NCAA DIII West Region Field Athlete of the Year, to the furthest long jump in DIII (7.33m) heading into nationals. Since September 2014, Mills had served as the Lead Teacher/Assistant Sports Director at Beach Cities YMCA in Orange County where she was responsible for planning and implementing regular education and physical education curriculum for an accredited kindergarten through 6th grade afterschool program.    Mills earned her bachelor's degree in health science from Keene State College in 2012 where she was a three-time All-American in cross country and indoor track & field. The three-time Little East Conference Runner of the Year and a three-time NCAA Division III All-American at Keene State (2008-12), Mills won the individual titles at the LEC Cross Country Championships in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She punched her ticket to five NCAA Division III National Championships and placed fifth at the cross country national championships in 2010 (6k; 21:26) and 17 th  in 2011. As a part of the indoor track & field squad at Keene State, Mills anchored the distance medley relay team to a third place finish at the 2011 national championships and a 4x800 school record in the same season. In 2014, she completed a master's degree in education with a counseling credential for grades K-12 from the University of Redlands.  

Scott came to Cal State San Marcos in 1999, and has spent the last fourteen years distinguishing himself as a coach much the same way he did as a runner. As a collegiate runner at U.C. Irvine, Scott won the Division II 1,500-meter championship between 1975 and 1977. He won the 1,500-meter Olympic trials in 1980, but the U.S. team boycotted the games in Moscow. In 1981, he set the American record for the mile (3:48.68) and 1,500-meter (3:31.96). He bettered his mile record to 3:47.69 the following year, setting a mark that stood for over 25 years. Scott won the silver medal in the 1,500-meter at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in 1983 and competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Over the course of his career, Scott was the national outdoor 1,500-meter champion six times. He has run the mile in under four minutes a world-record 136 times. Following his track career, Scott became an assistant coach at Azusa Pacific University in 1993. His leadership helped the team to a third place national finish in his first year. Since coming to Cal State San Marcos in 1999, Scott has achieved remarkable success. As the architect of the Universitys track & field and cross-country teams, Scott has built them from the ground-up over the last decade into perennial contenders in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). He has brought hundreds of CSUSM athletes to NAIA Nationals, coached 31 cross country All-Americans and 108 track and field All-Americans. He has been honored 10 times as the A.I.I. Cross Country Coach of the Year and three times as NAIA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.