Coach Scarth by the Numbers:
2024 NAIA and CSCAA Men's Coach of the Year
4 national champions
1 national record holder
7 AAC team championships
6 AAC Coach of the Year awards
8 CSC Academic-All Americans
7 men's and women's team CSCAA Scholar All-American awards
44 individual CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
80 AAC event titles
Every Milligan school record reset during his tenure
9 AAC Swimmer of the Year awards
4 AAC First Year Awards
90 CSCAA All-Americans (top 8 at nationals)
Since joining the Milligan University athletic staff in 2019, Coach Scarth has transformed Milligan from a mid-level conference team into one of the NAIA’s premier national swim programs. That transformation has propelled both teams from 18th and 19th at nationals in 2020 to 3 straight top-5 finishes, including the programs best ever national finishes in 2024 (3rd for women, 4th for men) along with the programs first ever conference title. Since that time, the men have won 4 straight titles while the women have won 3 in a row. In the 2024-2025 season, he will once again serve the Appalachian Athletic Conference in the role of Past President for the swim coaches association, and is the longest tenured coach in the conference. He will also serve as President on the NAIA College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association Executive Committee.
Coach Scarth’s fifth year with the program (2023-24) was another historic one, as the Buffs finished a program best 3rd for the women and 4th for the men. Along the way, the Buffs had their third and fourth national champions, with Riley Renaud winning the 1650 free and Stephen Gilbert winning the 400 IM. Scarth also collected the NAIA and CSCAA Men's Coach of the Year honors, making it just the second time in Milligan Athletics history that a coach has received that distinction. At their conference championships, the Buffs once again swept the team titles for the third year in a row. At AACs, Scarth was named men's and women's coach of the year, collecting his 5th and 6th awards while also sweeping men's and women's MVP and first year honors. The Buffs have now reset every men's and women's record at least once during Scarth's time at Milligan. Scarth was also named the Milligan University Athletics Coach of the Year in 2023.
The Buffs have also excelled in the classroom under Coach Scarth’s tutelage. In 2022, Maggie Blazo became the first Buff in Milligan Athletics history to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team twice, and was the first Milligan swimmer to receive the prestigious award in 2021. The Buffs have had 7 other swimmers given this award since then, which puts the Buffs at the top end of the list among NAIA programs. Additionally, the CSCAA has awarded both teams Scholar All-American every semester under Coach Scarth, while recording countless individual Scholar All-Americans and NAIA Academic All-Americans.
Prior to Milligan, Scarth served as an assistant swimming coach at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he helped the Brewers obtain four NCAA “B” cuts, which included guiding first year Jesse Ecklund to the highest individual finish (3rd) at NCAAs in program history in his second year with the team. Along with coaching a NCAA All-American, he also recruited two Liberty League Rookie of the Year swimmers and five conference champions. During his time at Vassar, the team set 26 school records and the men's roster increased from 10 to 24. Both the men's and women's teams were selected to the CSCAA All-Academic team all four semesters under Scarth’s tutelage, with the men’s team finishing as high as seventh nationally among Division III programs in team GPA.
Coach Scarth has also gained experience at the highest levels of college swimming, including at the University of Texas, NC State University and Auburn University as a coach/counselor under Olympic and World Championship head coaches. He has also worked at RACE Aquatics in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as the head age group coach, at South Oldham High School in Crestwood, Kentucky as the men's and women's head coach, as well as several high schools and summer swim leagues in Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky. Scarth also has experience as a personal trainer and is a certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA.
Scarth holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and exercise science from St. Olaf College (2014) and a master’s degree in exercise physiology, with a concentration in strength and conditioning, from the University of Louisville (2016). He was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American and an 11-time conference champion while swimming at St. Olaf.
“My wife, Allison, and I are beyond thrilled to be joining the Milligan community,” Scarth said upon his hiring. “I look forward to transitioning to head coaching at the NAIA level and am eager to begin working with our motivated student-athletes. I know that we will accomplish great things in the coming years both in and out of the pool.”
Scarth is originally from Redding, Connecticut, competing for the Wilton Y Wahoos and Joel Barlow High School, and is married to Allison Scarth. Allison and Spencer celebrated the birth of their first child, Everett, in July of 2022, and their second, Stella, in February of 2024.
