Former NCAA champion and record-holder Sylvia Mosqueda is the head coach of the Pepperdine men’s and women’s cross country and track programs and will be in her second year in the position in 2020-21.
Mosqueda joined Pepperdine as an assistant coach for the 2018-19 season and was elevated to head coach ahead of the 2019-20 season.
In her first season, her cross country runners posted nine new entries on the program’s various top-20 lists. The women’s indoor track team set two school records. The outdoor track teams set three school records in the first two meets before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mosqueda has been coaching in the sport for more than two decades, having served as the head coach at Los Angeles City College and as an assistant coach at Los Angeles Community College and East Los Angeles College. In 2009, she founded the TEAMosqueda Running Club. Her runners won regional championships in 2015 and 2016 and took ninth place at nationals in 2016. She has coached multiple runners to the U.S. Olympic marathon trials.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to accept the head coaching position at Pepperdine," said Mosqueda in May 2019. "It's been an amazing year getting to know all the student-athletes and staff. I'm honored to take a more prominent role at such a prestigious institution. Pepperdine has a real family atmosphere both on and off the track and that's apparent with the wonderful relationships I've gained over the last year. My goal for the program is to continue to build on the success that we've had over the past year with new personal bests and achievements. I want each and every athlete to go after their dreams with tenacity and it all starts here at Pepperdine."
"We believe Sylvia has made an impressive connection with our student-athletes and deserves the opportunity to continue to lead them," said Director of Athletics Dr. Steve Potts at the time of Mosqueda’s promotion. "She was an elite runner herself and has had a noteworthy coaching career, including the impact that she made on the Waves in her first season here. We look forward to the growth and development of the program under her leadership."
As a student-athlete at Cal State Los Angeles, Mosqueda pulled off a tremendous double in the 1987-88 school year. In the fall, she won the 1987 NCAA Cross Country Championship. In the spring, she won the 10,000 meters at the 1988 NCAA Track Championships. She set an NCAA Championships record in the latter that stood for 30 years.
Mosqueda competed at five different U.S. Olympic Trials between 1988 and 2004.
She had great success in both the marathon and half-marathon. She came in second place at the 1987 Los Angeles Marathon. She won a 2001 national championship in the half marathon and was runner-up in 2000. She competed for the U.S. at the 2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. She finished in the top 10 at the 2004 World Half Marathon Championships and was the top-placing American.
Mosqueda, who graduated from Cal State L.A. in 1989 with a degree in physical education, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2007. The Southern California native also attended East L.A. College (where she won state titles in cross country and track and was later inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame in 2014) and San Gabriel High School.
