Jason Zarb-Cousin was named the men's cross country and track and field head coach on June 9, 2021. He's coming off his fifth season of his second stint as a distance coach at LMU. Zarb-Cousin, who served twenty years in the United States Air Force, is entering his first year as head coach for Lions men's cross country and track and field programs.
Since Zarb-Cousin arrived in the fall of 2016, he has assisted head coach Scott Guerrero with three NCAA team All-Region cross country performances, two cross country and two track & field NCAA Division I Championship individual appearances (five athletes), and an All-American – Danielle Shanahan (2018).
LMU men’s cross country teams have tied their highest NCAA Regional finish two years-in-a-row (2017, 2018). In 2017, the women’s team finished 11th at the NCAA Regional which marked the Lions second highest team finish in LMU history.
On the national stage, Koby Pederson became the first-ever LMU male representative at an NCAA Cross Country Championships (2018). Pederson earned his way to the NCAA Championships with a third at the West Regional then finished in the top half of the runners at the Championship.
Shanahan, who finished 11th in the 5,000-meters at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, became the fourth All-American in LMU cross country and track & field history. She also was three spots shy of her second All-American honor at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Shanahan is now running professionally for the HOKA Northern Arizona Elite team.
In addition to Pederson and Shanahan, Jack Polerecky and Madelyn Vorgitch qualified for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary in the 10,000 meters.
Zarb-Cousin worked as a volunteer assistant coach for LMU from 2005 to 2009 while serving in the United States Air Force stationed at Los Angeles Air Force Base. He helped lead teams to seven top-three conference (WCC) finishes with four of the seven teams finishing as runner-ups. In addition to the team success in the WCC, two Lions won WCC individual championships (Laura Mickelson, 2006; Tara Erdmann, 2008). Nationally, Zarb-Cousin was part of five individual NCAA Championship appearances to include the first-ever female qualifier in Track & Field (Mickelson, 2006).
Between his two stints at LMU, Zarb-Cousin coach for one year from 2009-2010 as an assistant at his alma-mater the Air Force Academy working with the distance runners. He helped coach Justin Tyner to a third place finish at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Zarb-Cousin spent the next year as the Air Force Academy’s first-ever Director of Operations from 2010 to 2011.
From 2011 to 2013, Zarb-Cousin took a hiatus from collegiate coaching to turn to the professional ranks where he served as the Air Force Sports Cross Country and Marathon team coach. He worked with Air Force post-collegiate runners in the marathon while stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
After relocating to Albuquerque, New Mexico and stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, Zarb-Cousin was a volunteer assistant coach for the middle distance/distance events at the University of New Mexico. Zarb-Cousin assisted a third place team finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and three additional top-14 NCAA Championship finishes in two seasons. He was also a part of five cross country & five track & field All-American performances.
Zarb-Cousin earned his Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Arts in Physical Education with a Social Psychology of Sport & Physical Activity Concentration from the University of Northern Colorado. Zarb-Cousin is USATF Level II certified in Endurance and Sprints/Jumps.
Zarb-Cousin is a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He and his wife, Melissa, have a daughter, Cosette.
