Notre Dame track and field: Piane retires

Joe Piane — a two-time national cross country coach of the year, tutor of 189 Irish All-Americans and a longtime fixture on the Notre Dame campus as head coach of the Irish men’s cross country and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field programs — announced his retirement after 39 seasons.

Piane will step down June 30 following the end of the 2014 outdoor track and field season. He leaves having concluded the second-longest tenure of any Notre Dame athletic coach in history — behind only former Irish baseball coach Jake Kline’s 42 seasons (1934-75).

The Irish track and field teams compete at an NCAA preliminary qualifying meet May 29-31 in Jacksonville, Fla., and finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore.

Over 18 Big East seasons (1996-2013), Piane’s teams won 26 championships- — 13 men’s track and field indoor and outdoor titles, five women’s track and field indoor and outdoor crowns, to go with five men’s cross country and three women’s cross country titles (Piane also oversees the women’s cross country squad led by assistant Tim Connelly).

Piane and his staff earned Big East track and field coaching staff-of-the-year honors all 18 times they won championships. They also received the same league award three times in men’s cross country.