Steve Guymon has taken a small roster of seven women's cross country runners and expanded that into more than 130 student-athletes across five sports as he heads into his fifth season leading the cross country and track & field teams at Ouachita.
When he was hired at Ouachita in April of 2019, Guymon was given the title of head women's cross country coach and director of competitive club sports. Since then, Ouachita has fielded competitive programs in men's cross country, women's track & field, men's track & field, and women's indoor track & field. The women's cross country team has won two Great American Conference championships under Guymon's leadership. He was named the league's coach of the year in both of the championship seasons (2022 and 2024). Under Guymon's leadership, the Tigers have earned 199 combined all-conference selections in cross country and track & field heading into the 2025-26 seasons.
Also during his tenure in Arkadelphia, Guymon has been instrumental in the efforts to bring a first-class, championship level track & field facility to campus. The project was completed in the spring of 2025 and formally dedicated in August of 2025 as the Hickingbotham Family Track & Field.
Prior to his arrival in Arkadelphia, Guymon spent 18 years as head men and women's cross-country and track coach at Harding University. During that time, he earned 25 conference championships and conference coach of the year honors. He won the Gulf South Conference Men's Cross-Country Coach of the Year honor eight times, GSC Women's Cross-Country Coach of the Year six times, Great American Conference Women's Cross-Country Coach of the Year four times, GAC Men's Cross-Country Coach of the Year twice, GAC Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year three times and GAC Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year twice.
Guymon directed the Bison cross-country team to eight NCAA regional championships during his tenure in Searcy. Harding's men qualified for eight Division II national meets under Guymon, recording six top-10 finishes. The Lady Bisons won two NCAA Division II regional titles and reached the national meet eight times with four top-10 finishes.
Guymon's cross-country athletes earned 30 All-America honors (18 men, 12 women) during his tenure at Harding.
Under Guymon, the Bison track team qualified for eight indoor national meets, including an eighth-place finish in 2008. Guymon's squad also reached outdoor nationals 14 times, finishing as high as seventh in 2006. Four Harding runners won seven national championships under Guymon. His Lady Bison teams reached the indoor national meet 10 times and outdoor nationals nine times. Janet Kogo, a 2012 Olympian in the 10,000 meters, won three national championships in 2005.
At Harding, Guymon coached athletes to 80 All-America honors (25 indoor men, 29 outdoor men, 15 indoor women, and 11 outdoor women).
Guymon has been an active member of the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association. He was the organization's Division II vice president from 2007-10 and president from 2011-13. He has served on the USTFCCCA's Hall of Fame Committee, Meet Enhancement Committee and NCAA Connection Committee since 2014.
Guymon joined Harding from Cordova High School where he led Cordova to third place in the TSSAA State Championship in 2001. He was also named “Best of the Preps” Track Coach of the Year by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, TSSAA Section 4AAA Track Coach of the Year, and TSSAA Region 7 Track Coach of the Year and earned TSSAA Region 7 Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2000.
Prior to his five-year tenure at Cordova, Guymon spent ten years as the recruiting coordinator and assistant cross country/track coach at the University of Kansas. During his time with the Jayhawks, he coached 15 All-Americans, 15 Big Eight individual champions, one NCAA National Champion, and five Olympic trials qualifiers.
Guymon taught and coached three years at Harding Academy from 1985-87 and started his career in 1984 in the Edmond, Okla., public school system.
COLLEGIATE CAREER
Guymon earned NAIA All-America honors in track and cross country five times from 1982 to 1984 at Oklahoma Christian. He finished 10th at the NAIA cross country meet in 1982, was a member of OC distance medley relay teams that won national titles in 1983 and 1984 and placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the 1983 and 1984 NAIA meets. In 2018, Guymon was inducted into the Oklahoma Christian Athletics Hall of Fame.
EDUCATION
The Memphis, Tennessee native earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Oklahoma Christian University in 1984. Guymon earned a master's degree in education and sports administration from the University of Kansas in 1996.
FAMILY
Guymon's wife, Julie, is a 1986 Harding graduate employed at Dillard's corporate office. Guymon has three sons — Michael, Corey, and Austin, and two step children, Hallie and Bryan.
