Scott, Steven M.
Track and Field
b. May 5, 1956, Upland, CA
Running for the University of California at Irvine, Scott won the NCAA Division II 1,500-meter championship from 1975 through 1977. Scott reached world-class status in 1977, when he ran an indoor 3:56.5 to finish second in an international race, finishing ahead of John Walker of New Zealand. He later beat Filbert Bayi of Tanzania and Steve Ovett of Great Britain in the Jamaica invitational 1,500-meter run.
Scott was the national outdoor 1,500-meter champion from 1977 through 1979 and in 1982, 1983, and 1986. He finished first in the 1,500-meter at the 1980 Olympic trials but the U. S. boycotted the Moscow Games that year. Scott set American records of 3:48.68 in the mile and 3:31.96 in the 1,500-meter in 1981. The following year, he lowered his American record in the mile to 3:47.69 and he set an American record of 4:54.71 in the rarely-run 2,000-meter.
After winning a silver medal in the 1,500-meter at the 1983 world championships, Scott took the lead on the third lap of the race at the 1984 Olympic Games but ran out of gas and finished dead last.
His final major championship came in the 1986 national outdoor 1,500-meter run. Scott ran the mile in less than 4 minutes 136 times, more than any other runner in history.
After serving as an assistant coach at Arizona State and Azusa Pacific University, Scott became the head track and cross-country coach at California State-San Marcos in 1999.