uccess has followed Scott Fickerson at every stop in his coaching career, and he hopes to continue that trend as the new track and cross-country coach at Santa Barbara City College.

Scott Fickerson
Fickerson, 35, spent the last seven seasons at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, lifting a men’s and women’s track program that had consistently finished sixth, seventh or eighth into the No. 3 spot in the SCIAC this year. And that was without a track.

“To think about working at a facility like La Playa Stadium … I’m really excited about that,” said Fickerson, who coached the Wheaton College (Norton, Mass.) women’s distance runners in 1999 when the track team won the NCAA Division 3 Indoor championship in just its fifth season. “I left Cal Lu for a lot of reasons, mostly personal. I was born and raised in Ventura, and I wanted to stay close to the beach.”

Fickerson earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from UC Davis in 1996. He ran cross-country and track (1,500 and 5,000) for three years with the Aggies. Before that, he ran for Ventura College, finishing as the WSC runner-up in the 1,500.

In 1996-97, Fickerson was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Ventura High. The Cougars finished fifth in the state cross-country championships in 1996.

“Everywhere I called about him, I got the same kind of remarks,” SBCC Athletic Director Mike Warren said. “People said he’s a really quality guy with strong classroom rapport with the kids, a high-character guy with a passion for track and field and really has a vision as far as building a program is concerned. In every way, I think we’ve made a great hire.”

Fickerson, an ocean lifeguard for 18 years, earned a master’s degree in human performance at Wisconsin-La Crosse. He’s earned a Level II certification in numerous USA Track & Field events and also has been a lecturer, most recently in January as a guest lecturer for a graduate-level biomedical engineering class at University of Pavia in Italy.

Fickerson, who replaces interim coach Robin Paulsen, is excited about his new challenge with the Vaqueros. “My goal is to get the program to the top of the conference,” he stated. “I need to recruit, bring in some good assistant coaches and develop the program. We’ve got to get the kids to buy into it and work hard.”

Dave Loveton is Santa Barbara City College’s sports information specialist.