Nathan Garcia is in his 15th season coaching the distance events for the University of California San Diego track and field programs in 2021. Garcia has also served as the head coach for the UC San Diego men's and women's cross country teams since the fall of 2007.
Garcia has been part of UC San Diego since its Division III era, watching the institution climb the ranks to Division II during his time as an athlete and a coach, and now to Division I in 2021. Garcia helped lead the Triton men to a first-place finish at the Triton Quadrangular, while the women took second, both squads outperforming two Big West opponents – UC Riverside and CSUN. Several of Garcia’s distance runners hit personal records over the course of the season, including Jake Selstad who beat his No. 10 all-time display in the 800 (1:51.78) and Gabe Reuter entered program history at No. 5 in the 3000 (8:32.81) and No. 9 in the 5000 (14:46.22).
Garcia found immediate success as a coach on the La Jolla campus. Since joining the track and field coaching staff in 2006, Garcia guided 10 distance athletes to individual CCAA Championships. From 2006-14, Garcia helped coach seven Tritons to All-American performances. An additional 11 All-West Region performances have been achieved by Garcia's scholar-athletes as well.Â
In 2020, Garcia helped seven distance runners to multiple overall event wins throughout four meets of the abbreviated campaign. At the Mangrum Invite, Isabelle Shepherd and Madalyne Coney delivered a first-place performance in the women’s distance medley relay, while Andrew Thomas and Samuel Blake did the same on the men’s side. Blake was also crowned winner in the 3000 (8:25.26) at the Rossi Relays. While in Claremont, Timothy Corvese and Jake Selstad teamed with Thomas to take home the 4x800 (7:51.00), as Sarah Meng and Shepherd duplicated results for the women (9:51.62). Garcia led Selstad to another overall win in the 800 (1:52.42) at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge after he garnered CCAA event champion in 2019.
His first years as head coach of the cross country programs proved no less successful, with both squads reaching the NCAA Division II Championships in his first season, marking just the second time UCSD accomplished that feat at the D-II level. Seniors Emily McGregor and Diane Dunn earned All-America honors after top 25 finishes at the 2007 national meet, while Garcia guided another student-athlete to All-American recognition after qualifying for the National Championships as a freshman in 2008. In 2011 under Garcia's guidance, Jesse Morrill won the CCAA Championships in the steeplechase and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Morrill owns the school record in the event (9:03.19).
Garcia earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from UCSD in 2000, graduating cum laude, and holds a Level 1 certification from USATF.
Garcia was a four-year athlete in both track and cross country while attending UCSD from 1996 to 2000. During his time as a Triton, he earned numerous athletic and academic honors, including Verizon All-Academic District VIII and CCAA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2000-01. He was also honored by UCSD on National Student-Athlete Day that same year.
