Michael Guinn II enters his first year on the hilltop as an assistant cross country and track coach (distance) in the fall of 2023 following more than a decade at Bethany College as the head cross country and assistant track & field coach for the Bison from 2011-22. There he developed training programs for sprinters, middle-distance, and distance athletes while also assisting in the recruitment of athletes and administrative duties. He coached a pair of men’s athletes to Presidents’ Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships and assisted with the development of a pair of All-American long jumpers, one earning the achievement three times in their career.
Prior to his time at Bethany, Guinn was the assistant track & field and cross country coach at Seton Hill University from 2008-10, where he helped guide the Griffons rise to the top of the WVIAC. Over the course of two seasons the SHU men’s cross country program rose from fourth place in the league to conference champions in 2009.
Guinn attained his first coaching role out of college at West Virginia Wesleyan College, working as the associate head coach for track & field and cross country for the Bobcats from 2004-08. During his time in Buckhannon, he was a part of one of the most dominant running programs the WVIAC had to offer as WVWC teams claimed 11 total conference crowns, winning four women’s cross country championships, four women’s track & field championships, two men’s track & field championships, and one men’s cross country championships.
Before entering the coaching field, Guinn was a standout runner at Alderson Broaddus (1999-01) and Charleston (2002-03). He began his collegiate career in Philippi where he was a 3-time All-WVIAC cross country selection. During the 2001 campaign he led the charge for the Battlers’ WVIAC cross country team championship, running to the individual conference title and a berth to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He then went on to Charleston where he won the WVIAC 10,000-meter track & field title in 2002 and 2003, earning a pair of NCAA Provisionals. Guinn was the only runner in WVIAC history to be named All-Region four times in his career. He received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a minor in Buisness from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2008.
Michael and his wife, Mallory, live in Follansbee with their two daughters, Caroline and Priscilla.
