Joe Vigil
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | (1929-11-25) November 25, 1929 (age 94) Antonito Co, United States |
Sport | |
Sport | Running |
Joe Vigil (born November 25, 1929) is an American track and field coach who specializes in long-distance running.
In 2015, he was the recipient of the Legend Coach Award from USA Track & Field.
Early life
Born in Antonito, Colorado, Vigil moved to Alamosa, Colorado, where he attended high school.[1]
After high school and a brief spell of two years in the United States Navy, Vigil attended Adams State College, as an undergraduate, then Colorado College for a master's degree before doing his doctorate at the University of New Mexico.[1]
Coaching career
Vigil started his coaching career at his old high school, Alamosa High School, before becoming coach at his old university, Adams State. There he taught from 1965 to 1993, taking the university to 19 national titles at track and field, and cross-country.[1]
In 1997, Vigil was head coach of the United States Pan-American Games Team.[1]
In 1998, Vigil was the long-distance running coach for the United States Olympics Team.
He was also coach for seven world cross country championships.[2]
Achievements and accolades
Vigil has a statue erected in his honour at Adams State University where he has also been granted the title of Professor Emeritus.[3]
In 1991, Vigil was elected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Vigil was elected to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics(NAIA) Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Vigil was awarded the accolade of USA Track & Field's Legend Coach award.[4][5]
This follows on from his achievement of being National Coach of the year fourteen times.[4] Among the many athletes he coached was Pat Porter (1959-2012), an American national track and field champion in the 10,000 meters (as well as in cross country), as well as a two-time Olympian on the U.S. track teams in 1984 and 1988.
Published in 2020, Chasing Excellence by Pat Melgares tells the story of Coach Vigil's life, coaching successes, and his Vigilosophy.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Dr. Joe Vigil Inducted 1991 TRACK & FIELD". Colorado Sports hall of fame. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- ^ Relya, Linda (April 9, 2019). "Joe I. Vigil will deliver the Adams State Spring Undergraduate Commencement address". Adams State University. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- ^ Fraioli, Marlo (November 16, 2010). "Joe Vigil Honored At Adams State". Podium Runner. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- ^ a b Meyer, John (May 30, 2015). "Joe Vigil to receive Legend Coach award from USA Track & Field". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- ^ "USATF honors Joe Vigil with annual Legend Coach Award". USA Track & Field. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- 1988 United States Olympic trials (track and field)
and road athletes
- Brian Abshire
- Jeff Atkinson
- Tracy Baskin
- Bruce Bickford
- Arthur Blake
- Terry Brahm
- Tonie Campbell
- Mark Conover
- Mark Deady
- Joe DeLoach
- Brian Diemer
- Danny Everett
- Mark Everett
- Marco Evoniuk
- Ed Eyestone
- Johnny Gray
- Jim Heiring
- Andy Kaestner
- Roger Kingdom
- Carl Lewis
- Steve Lewis
- Tim Lewis
- Sydney Maree
- Henry Marsh
- Roy Martin
- Antonio McKay (r)
- Lee McNeill (r)
- Dennis Mitchell
- Gary Morgan
- Edwin Moses
- Doug Padilla
- Pete Pfitzinger
- Andre Phillips
- Steve Plasencia
- Pat Porter
- Butch Reynolds
- Albert Robinson (r)
- Kevin Robinzine (r)
- Carl Schueler
- Steve Scott
- Calvin Smith
- Andrew Valmon (r)
- Kevin Young
field athletes
- Willie Banks
- Randy Barnes
- Earl Bell
- Tim Bright
- Mike Buncic
- Robert Cannon
- Hollis Conway
- Brian Crouser
- Lance Deal
- Jim Doehring
- Ken Flax
- Randy Heisler
- Jim Howard
- Dave Johnson
- Gary Kinder
- Carl Lewis
- Jud Logan
- Larry Myricks
- Billy Olson
- Tom Petranoff
- Mike Powell
- Charles Simpkins
- Brian Stanton
- Dave Stephens
- Gregg Tafralis
- Kory Tarpenning
- Mac Wilkins
and road athletes
- Evelyn Ashford
- Valerie Brisco
- Alice Brown (r)
- Joetta Clark
- Gail Devers-Roberts
- Nancy Ditz
- Diane Dixon
- Sheila Echols (r)
- Kim Gallagher
- Margaret Groos
- Denean Howard-Hill
- Sherri Howard (r)
- Vicki Huber
- Jacqueline Humphrey
- Regina Jacobs
- Lynn Jennings
- Florence Griffith Joyner
- Francie Larrieu-Smith
- Lillie Leatherwood (r)
- Pam Marshall
- LaVonna Martin
- Leslie Maxie
- Lynn Nelson
- Cathy O'Brien
- PattiSue Plumer
- LaTanya Sheffield
- Mary Decker Slaney
- Gwen Torrence
- Delisa Walton-Floyd
- Schowonda Williams
- Dannette Young (r)
field athletes
- Stan Huntsman (men's head coach)
- Dean Hayes (men's assistant coach)
- Irving "Moon" Mondschein (men's assistant coach)
- Tom Pagani (men's assistant coach)
- Russ Rogers (men's assistant coach)
- Joe Vigil (men's assistant coach)
- Terry Crawford (women's head coach)
- Ken Foreman (women's assistant coach)
- Dave Rodda (women's assistant coach)
- Fred Thompson (women's assistant coach)