LA JOLLA, Calif. — After combining to coach UC San Diego Track & Field for over half a century, Tony Salerno and Darcy Ahner's final meet at the helm was always going to be something special. A week after three athletes set UC San Diego records in the 2022 season's final competition, over 400 current and former Tritons came together for the Blue Gold Alumni Celebration meet, also known as Tony and Darcy's retirement party.
 
The event itself was a twist on the long-standing tradition of the Blue Gold meet, usually held at the beginning of every season, when track and field alumni and their families are invited to join the current squad for light-hearted, "fun and games" track and field events, like the stone throw, 60-meter hurdles, and an addition this year, the 60-meter bear crawl. This year, the team held a ceremony after the fun and games to honor their graduating seniors and celebrate Salerno and Ahner's legacy as the long-serving head coaches began their retirement.
 
The measurable aspects of their legacy are easy to see. Every current UC San Diego Track & Field record was set by an athlete they coached. Eighteen Tritons won individual national championships during Salerno and Ahner's tenure, and countless more claimed individual conference championships. As a team, UC San Diego won the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association women's track & field title for five straight years, from 2005 to 2009, and the men's conference title in 2015. Both Salerno and Ahner have coached UC San Diego athletes who would go to compete at the Olympic Games.
 
But what doesn't show up on the stat sheets or in the record books or at award ceremonies was on display that Saturday afternoon, as Salerno and Ahner's current and former pupils expressed their gratitude for the two coaches.
 
As Renée Kalt (Sprowl), whom Salerno coached to the 1995 Division III long jump national championship, said, "track and field will always be about times and distances, PRs and top-ten lists, and national championships, and the record books will reflect Tony and Darcy's legacy in that regard, but it was really the underlying family aspect and the culture that allows athletes to achieve those goals and get those records."
 
Every athlete, past or present, who stepped to the podium that afternoon echoed the message. With the manner in which they have led their teams and, in turn, encouraged their athletes to lead others, Salerno and Ahner have built more than just a top-class track and field program, they have built their track and field program into a family. It is a dynamic the coaches have been fostering at UC San Diego since day one, going back to Salerno's time as an assistant in charge of the throwers. Kalt, who joined the Tritons in 1991 with "great aspirations to be a heptathlete," told the story of Salerno walking her into the weight room and instructing the "three biggest dudes he had" to teach her how to lift.
 
"Those throwers, the whole group of them, adopted me, taught me how to properly squat with a rack and a bar," Kalt said. "I got to do all the thrower things, which was mostly eating and lifting heavy stuff. But, in addition to the feeds and the weight room, we went to Metallica concerts, we went to weekends in Big Bear, I mean it was a family situation Tony had set up with the throwers …. And I really credit the throwers for adopting me and helping me achieve my goals later on in track and field."
 
By the time the current crop of Tritons (including Renée's daughter, Gloria Kalt) were deciding where to take their track and field talents, the fact that UC San Diego's team considered themselves a family was plain to see, Zeinab Torabi and Derek Brajevich, two of the team's captains, explained.
 
"I think I can say, on behalf of the entire team, that one of the biggest reasons that we all chose UCSD Track & Field and to come to this school was the team culture we saw instantly when we arrived, and that is a direct result of the leadership that is here," Torabi said. "Not only have they fulfilled their duties as a coach, but every day they go above and beyond to make sure that we are taken care of off of the track as well. Their pure dedication and love for this sport and this team are truly what make Coach Darcy and Coach Tony so special."
 
"I've never, in my life, aside from my parents when I was younger, had coaches that cared about my performances as much as they cared about me as a human being, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that," Brajevich added.
 
While the culture that Salerno and Ahner have built the program around remained the same throughout, UC San Diego Track & Field has undergone major changes during the husband-and-wife duo's 56 combined years in La Jolla.
 
Some of those changes were physical: creating and upgrading Triton Track & Field Stadium. In the '90s, Salerno helped design the stadium and the adjacent throwing field, which is still regarded among the best facilities in the world for discus. At this year's Triton Invitational, it became home to the American women's discus throw record.
 
But the biggest changes came when UC San Diego Athletics moved from Division III to Division II in 2000 and then to Division I in 2020. Matt 'Yogi' DeFord reminisced on how Salerno and Ahner inspired him to help lead the push for the first of those two moves.
 
"Tony and Darcy's leadership transformed the culture around UCSD Track & Field and inspired me to carry that passion and spirit into the larger UCSD Athletics community," DeFord said. "You modeled for us how to lead from a space of love. You shared with me, personally, the value of how to respect myself as a person, how to focus on my goals, and how to, in turn, invest that love back into our team and our larger athletics community here at UCSD."
 
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the lessons and the love that Salerno and Ahner have shown their athletes over the years have not faded from former Tritons' memories. Linda Head (Rainwater), who served as an assistant coach at UC San Diego for six years after the end of her collegiate career and continued competing with Ahner as her coach, said she stuck around the track because of how special the "tight-knit family" the coaches had built was. DeFord's wife Sagrario (Hernandez), also a former UC Track & Field athlete who still holds the school shot put record, shared a series of statements, ranging from "I learned to flip tractor tires on this track," to "coming to the track brought me to peace, even in the toughest of times," and invited everyone in attendance to stand when they heard one that resonated with them. A majority stood after every statement.
 
"Tony and Darcy, you'll see that at one point or another, everyone here stood up," she noted afterward. "Most of us stood up more than five times. This is your legacy, this is what you've created, this is what you've built."
 
For everything Salerno and Ahner have done, the Triton family they built is eternally grateful. They are also, Dan Noel made sure to add, truly proud of their coaches.
 
"I also want to say, on behalf of everyone here, because it's important to know, that we are so proud. We are so proud of you, we are so proud of this home you have created, we are so proud of the accolades, but more than that, we are proud of how you fostered your dream, you made it real, and we're so proud and grateful to have been a part of that."
 
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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.