LA JOLLA, Calif. – After nearly seven decades of coaching between them, UC San Diego head track and field coaches Tony Salerno and Darcy Ahner have announced that they will retire following the 2022 season. The duo will end their standout coaching careers after leading the Tritons over parts of four decades.
 
The pair collected numerous Coach of the Year honors including National Coach of the Year for Salerno in 2005. The successes of the Triton track and field programs have not gone unnoticed by their coaching peers. Salerno was voted the CCAA Coach of the Year four times as well the West Region Coach of the Year on four occasions. Ahner was named both West Regional Coach and CCAA Coach of the year in both 2008 and 2009.
 
The duo has been responsible most of the 150+ NCAA All-Americans and 18 National Champions at UC San Diego since 1988.
 
"This will be my 41st season coaching on the collegiate level, the time has come for Darcy and I to enjoy some other things in life. It has been a great privilege to serve the university and the scholar-athletes for so many years," Salerno explained. "I appreciate how rare it is to have been part of the evolution of a single program through all three levels of the NCAA. I have many people to thank. From our current Director of Athletics Earl Edwards to former head coach Mark Stanforth who hired me as an assistant in 1988 to our previous Director of Athletics Judy Sweet who hired me as head coach in 1993 and once again as head coach in 1999."
 
"My life as a coach was walking through an unexpected door of the greatest and most fulfilling profession I could have dreamed. Every single year has been an epic adventure," Ahner said. "I coached nine great years at Division I schools before here, but my reverence for my 22 years as a Triton runs the deepest. I can't begin to thank all the people that have played a part in the indisputably wonderful magic of this place.  This includes our long-time coaching staff, the administration and support staff, the extended family and friends of the athletes and above all, I have complete admiration for the scholar-athletes current and past."
 
"I want to thank Tony and Darcy for their leadership in directing our men's and women's track & field programs for the last several decades," said UC San Diego Director of Athletics Earl W. Edwards. "What they've done to enhance the experiences of our scholar-athletes was unparalleled. Beyond that, the success in both programs has brought us recognition on the local and national levels and their input over many decades has helped us to be positioned to be a successful Division I program."
 
Salerno has spent 32 seasons with the Tritons, including 23 years as head coach at UC San Diego. He joined the Tritons staff as an assistant coach in 1988 and was elevated to head coach in 1993. After four seasons at Air Force, Salerno returned to La Jolla to lead the Tritons in 2000.
 
"Along the way there have been many records and champions but, in the end, it is always the relationships that endure," Salerno shared. "To have the opportunity to share this important time in the lives of so many scholar-athletes for so many years has been a great honor."
 
Ahner joined UC San Diego as an assistant coach in 2000 after nine years as an assistant at the Division I level. She was later elevated to women's head coach for the Tritons – a position she has held for 14 seasons entering 2022.
 
"We know the next chapter in Division I after we leave will be every bit as spectacular as the time we have shared," Ahner explained. "During our time, we have merely shared our love, watered some seeds and watched something spectacular grow." 
 
The pair helped design and build numerous facilities at UC San Diego, including the Triton Track and Field Stadium in 1991 (Salerno along with former coach Mark Stanforth). In 1995, the UC San Diego Throwing Field opened, which is often regarded as one of the best facilities in the world for discus. Improvements to Triton Track and Field Stadium include the Leon T. Roach Memorial Pole Vault Terraces (2011) and the Shannon Quigley/Leon T. Roach Memorial Video Board in 2013.
 
"It has been such a privilege and honor to coach and learn from Tony and Darcy over the course of 20 years," said UC San Diego head softball coach Patti Gerckens. "Their commitment to their athletes and the Track & Field program has heightened my awareness of excellence and I will miss them. They are both outstanding coaches and friends."
 
"We will certainly miss their coaching and the friendship they provided over the years," Edwards said. "I wish them nothing but the best and they will always be an integral part of the Triton Family."
 
"I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the track and field program and for UC San Diego," Salerno added. "The future is bright!"
 
The Tony Salerno Coaching File

School	Title	Years
Mount Miguel HS	Assistant Coach	1979-81
San Diego Mesa College	Assistant Coach	1982-87
UC San Diego	Assistant Coach	1988-1992
UC San Diego	Head Coach	1993-1995
Air Force Academy	Assistant Coach	1996-99
UC San Diego	Head Coach	2000-present

 
Salerno's Highlights:

• Five National Champions in throwing events between the Division III and Division II levels – including Scott Sargeant who held the DIII national record in the hammer throw for 12 years.
• Scott Sargeant competed at the 1992 US Olympic Trials representing UC San Diego, one of very few Division III athletes to do so.
• Coached Karoliina Leppaluoto (Lundahl) who went on to become to a two-time world champion in weightlifting as well as an Olympian in the shot put.
• Coached all three levels of NCAA track and field with two stints in Division I and two in Division III.
• Coached three individual California State Champions in final year at San Diego Mesa.
• Coached both mother (Renee Sprowl) and her daughter (Gloria Kalt) 20 years later at UC San Diego.
• President of the Cal-Nevada Track and Field Coaches Association from 2009-2014.

 
The Darcy Ahner Coaching File

School	Title	Years
New Mexico	Assistant Coach	1990-97
Northern Arizona	Associate Head Coach	1997-99
UC San Diego	Assistant Coach	1999-2007
UC San Diego	Head Coach	2007-present

 
Ahner's Highlights:

• Led UC San Diego to a third place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2008 and a fifth place national finish in 2009.
• Under her watch, the Tritons were named a USTFCCCA Academic All-American Team eight times since 2009.
• In her specialty events of jumps and hurdles:
  • Produced All-Americans at all three levels: NCAA Divisions I, II, and III
  • In Division I prior to UC San Diego, coached 18 conference champions and three All-Americans
  • While at UC San Diego, Ahner coached:
    • 70 CCAA Champions 
    • Four individual National Champions 
    • 33 All-Americans in Division II
    • One All American Division III
  • Post Collegiate and National Team Coaching accolades:
    • Sonali (Christine) Merrill competed in 2012 Olympics in London for 2011 World Championships (Korea)., 2013 World Championships (Russia )
    • Linda Rainwater third place USA Indoor Nationals 2014
    • Stephanie LeFever qualifier of USA Olympic Trials 2016
    • Coached a pair of gold medalists, a pair of silver, and one bronze for Team USA at the 2006 Paralympics World Championships.
    • Coached three gold medalists at 2007 Para Pan American Games.
    • Coached two gold medalists and world record-holders at 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
    • Was the head coach for the 2019 Team USA Heptathalon team in the Thorpe Cup
    • Part of the USA coaching staff for the Heptathlon championship team in the Track and Field Pan American Cup in 2016 (Ottawa, Canada). 
• A standout heptathlete herself, Ahner set school records in the heptathlon, high jump and javelin at New Mexico. She was honored as the Western Athletic Conference Most Valuable Athlete in 1989 and conference heptathlon champion in 1988-89. She competed in two NCAA National Championships and three USA World championship trials

 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.