John Guarino is in his third season with the UCF women[apos]s track and field team. His duties include coaching the sprinters, hurdlers, vertical and horizontal jumpers and acting as manager of home meets.
Last season, Guarino coached the 4x400m relay team that established a new school record en route to capturing the bronze medal and all-conference recognition at the Conference USA Outdoor Championship. He also guided sisters Victoria (400m hurdles) and Diana Chin (long jump) to all-conference honors and NCAA East Regional berths in their respective events. Several of his athletes improved upon their own personal bests He saw his pole vaulters take over the top three spots in the UCF record books as Katie Fowke bested her own school record in the event.
During the summer, Dione Thomas competed in the USA Track and Field Junior Nationals, finishing sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 40-4.
In his first year at UCF, Guarino[apos]s athletes broke the school records in the 100m hurdles, long jump, 55m hurdles and the 4X200m relay, while they tied both the high jump and pole vault records. Among the highlights was Diana Chin shattering the UCF marks in both the 100m hurdles and the long jump. He also coached three NCAA Regional qualifiers, four A-Sun conference champions and 10 all-conference honorees.
Guarino joined the successful Golden Knights[apos] program after a one-year stint as a graduate assistant coach at Florida State, where he earned his master[apos]s degree in sports administration in June 2004. While at FSU, he helped guide the development of the sprinters and watched several of the female athletes qualify for the NCAA Regionals and two of the male athletes earn All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in the 800-meter event.
Prior to his experience at FSU, Guarino served as head coach at his alma mater St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale and led the team to six consecutive state titles from 1998-2003. In 2000, the team was ranked second in the country in the National Power Rankings for high school track and field. He received the Florida Girl[apos]s Track Coach of the Year award four times for his efforts.
One of his athletes at St. Thomas Aquinas was Sanya Richards, the junior American record holder at 400-meters and an Olympic gold medalist (4x400m). Under Guarino, she had a personal high school best of 50.69 and won the silver medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships.
In just six years, he coached four high school All-Americans, a national championship relay team and state champions in 11 different events.
Guarino also coached the St. Thomas Aquinas boys[apos] and girls[apos] cross country teams and the Ultimate Flyers Track Club each for eight years.
Guarino graduated from Georgia Tech in 1993 with a degree in mechanical engineering. As a member of the Ramblin[apos] Wreck track and field team, he ran the 400m and 800m. A USA Track and Field member, he holds a USA Track and Field Level II Certification in sprints, jumps and hurdles.
12/6/06