Joe Vigil (born November 25, 1929) is an American track and field coach who specializes in long-distance running. From 1965 to 1993 he coached and taught at Adams State University, his alma mater, before shifting his focus to coaching elite athletes. Over his extensive career, Vigil coached numerous top athletes, including Pat Porter, a national champion in the 10,000 meters and two-time Olympian, and Deena Kastor, an Olympic bronze medalist and former American record holder in the marathon. Vigil's coaching legacy includes mentoring over 20 Olympians and 425 All-Americans. His achievements in the sport were recognized in 2015 when he was awarded the Legend Coach Award by USA Track & Field.

Early life and education

Born in Antonito, Colorado, Vigil moved to Alamosa, Colorado, where he attended high school. He was raised by his mother and was an active boy scout and football player. After high school and a brief spell of two years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, Vigil attended Adams State College as an undergraduate where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in biology and played football. He went on to earn his Master of Arts in education at Adams State in 1959. He then obtained a Master of Science in chemistry from

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

in 1964 before completing his doctorate in exercise physiology at the University of New Mexico in 1972.

Coaching career

Vigil started his coaching career at his old high school, Alamosa High School, where he also taught for 12 years before becoming a coach at Adams State. During the buildup to the 1964 Mexico City Olympics, Vigil served on a committee to organize the first U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Alamosa, which has a similar altitude to Mexico City. He had worked Leonard "Buddy" Edelen, the American record holder in the marathon at the time, to convince the American Athletics Union to host the trials in Alamosa. Vigil coached and taught at Adams State from 1965 to 1993, taking the university to 19 national titles at track and field, and cross-country. He coached 425 All-Americans and 87 individual national champions during his 29-year tenure at the university. Vigil, who often emphasizes the importance of education, maintained a 95% graduation rate for student-athletes during his collegiate coaching career. In 1997, Vigil was head coach of the United States Pan-American Games Team. 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.

Achievements and accolades

Vigil has a statue erected in his honor at Adams State University where he was granted the title of Professor Emeritus in 1986. In 1991, Vigil was elected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) Hall of Fame (1978), Adams State University Hall of Fame (2000), Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coaches Hall of Fame (2005), Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame (2005),

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame (2007), Adams State University Educators Hall of Fame (2015), Latino Leadership Institute Hall of Fame (2016), among others. In 2015, Vigil was awarded the accolade of USA Track & Field's Legend Coach award. This follows on from his achievement of being National Coach of the year fourteen times. Among the many athletes he coached was Pat Porter (19592012), 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. In 2018, Vigil was awarded the accolade of World Athletics Awards Coaching Achievement Award. 17 athletes who were coached by Vigil have set national records, including Olympian Deena Kastor. He coached over 20 Olympians throughout his career. Published in 2020, ''Chasing Excellence'' by Pat Melgares tells the story of Coach Vigil's life, coaching successes, and his ''Vigilosophy.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigil, Joe People from Conejos County, Colorado People from Alamosa, Colorado Adams State University alumni Colorado College alumni University of New Mexico alumni Olympic coaches for the United States American track and field coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Living people