Jim Ciccarello Devotes Life to Girls Track and Field in New Mexico

During the past 56 years, Jim Ciccarello estimates he has touched the lives of more than 70,000 young people in New Mexico.

The legendary girls track and field coach and retired physical education teacher has been a fixture in the Albuquerque community and beyond for more than a half century, and he recently added National High School Hall of Fame inductee to his long resume of accomplishments.

When Albuquerque’s Manzano High School hired Ciccarello as its first girls track coach in 1976, he had already established himself for several years as the leader of the Albuquerque Track Club and the Duke City Dashers, which produced some of the top athletes in New Mexico. Ciccarello soon led the Monarchs to back-to-back New Mexico Activities Association Girls Track and Field State Championships in 1977 and 1978 before accepting a similar position at Sandia High School, followed by another move to Highland High School.

In 2000, Ciccarello joined La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, where he has built one of the most successful girls track programs in the state and nation is still going strong 25 years later at the age of 83.

Ciccarello has led La Cueva to nine state titles, with the first in 2000 and the most recent in 2023. In addition to his 11 overall state championships (two at Manzano, nine at La Cueva), his teams have finished second 12 other times and have claimed 20 district championships. He has coached more than 300 individual champions, and his athletes have combined for more than 20 New Mexico state records.

In the classroom, Ciccarello was an educator in Albuquerque Public Schools, primarily serving as a physical education teacher at the elementary school level for more than 45 years before retiring.

Ciccarello was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and the New Mexico High School Coaches Hall of Honor in 2014. In 2012, he was selected NFHS National Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year — the same year he became a published author with his book Coach, Coach, Look at Me! A Memoir of Teaching and Love.

Question: What are the essentials to coaching the sport of track and field? Why is it such a good sport for so many high school student-athletes?

Ciccarello: Track and field is total body fitness. You’ve got to have arms, shoulders, legs and everything. Then you can perform in basketball, football, volleyball, anything. Track and field and running in general is the basis for all sports.

Question: You’ve been coaching high school track for more than 50 years and are now (83) years of age. What keeps you motivated to continue coaching high school sports? Do you have former students who stay in touch? What’s it like seeing your students become successful in their chosen careers?

Ciccarello: My immediate family is (currently) three, my extended family is the 70,000 kids I’ve taught in New Mexico all these years. That’s my motivation. I consider these kids a part of my family. I’m so proud I’ve been in track and field for 56 years and coached thousands of athletes and had a good relationship with them, and they keep coming back. A lot of those kids have won state championships, a lot of those kids have just been a part of the program. I have a good relationship with almost all of them.

Question: You won back-to-back girls track state titles in 1977 and 1978 at Manzano. Tell us what those first state titles were like?

Ciccarello: We were on a mission in 1977 to make up for not getting a great relay team into the state meet. They were disqualified because the uniforms were wrong. So, we said, ‘girls we’re not going to leave anything to question.’ … We worked together and wound up having one of the better track seasons anyone has ever had in the state of New Mexico. We went undefeated that year and won the state championship. Mission accomplished, we made up for what happened for our first year in the program. In ’78 we repeated, and we had some new kids in the program. I had new kids come in and we ended up having a great team in ’78, too.

Question: Looking back on your career, with all the state championships, victories and awards, what are you most proud of?

Ciccarello: I’m proud of my state championships. I’m proud of all the kids that have got to qualify for state. I’m proud of the kids that made a USA team and represented USA as they went forward. I have good memories, but I’m most proud of the years I’ve been able to put in in New Mexico. Fifty-six years of track and field. I don’t know anyone else who has done that. It’s an honor and it’s something I haven’t quite comprehended yet.

Question: You’ve been coaching for a long time. What’s a message you can say for the future coaches out there to inspire them to continue doing the work they’re doing?

Ciccarello: Coaching now is completely different than when I first started, except there is one truism: all kids love to participate and be part of a team and they want to try and get a winning concept. Coaches that work with these kids need to embrace and share that feeling of winning and excelling. If you’re going to be a coach, if you’re not getting excited about those kids out there … you’re missing the boat. You have to be as excited as the kids are and be sucked into it, and enjoy it and love it.

Jordan Morey is manager of communications and media relations at the NFHS.