Newport Harbor throws coach Tony Ciarelli to be inducted into Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame

The Mt. SAC Relays return home to the new Hilmer Lodge Stadium on campus from April 16-18, and the meet in Walnut will turn 62 years old this season.

For much of that time, the meet has proudly used the slogan, “Where the world’s best athletes compete.”

Newport Harbor High throws coach Tony Ciarelli competed at the meet while at Huntington Beach High, then for Orange Coast College, the University of Hawaii and in his post-collegiate career in the javelin. He reckons that his marks never merited being in select company.

It is quite a different story when one considers his accomplishments as a coach, and that is why Ciarelli will be inducted into the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame on April 15.

“Coach [Tim] O’Rourke, who runs the LA84 Foundation Clinic, invited me and [Esperanza throws coach] Bill Pendleton [on Sunday], because he also made the Hall of Fame,” Ciarelli said. “He invited us to come up and speak, and he didn’t say anything about [the honor].

“When he introduced us up at the clinic, he announced that we were inductees into the Hall of Fame, so it was a surprise. It was really cool.”

Ciarelli, 65, will coach his 41st and final season of high school track and field this spring. He will finish out the prep career of Newport Harbor standout Aidan Elbettar, who signed with UCLA in November.

After this season, Ciarelli said he plans to join the UC Irvine coaching staff as a volunteer assistant to coach with his daughter, Katelyn, who’s an associate head coach for the Anteaters and works primarily with the team’s throwers.

In his swansong, Ciarelli, who was also inducted into the Arcadia Invitational Hall of Fame in 2016, said he was honored to be considered among the greats to have come through the Mt. SAC Relays.

“As track people, we understand that it is one of the oldest running meets in the U.S.,” Ciarelli said. “It’s had national records. It’s had the best in the world compete there. It’s a track meet like no other, so obviously, to make the Hall of Fame is a high honor.”

Ciarelli’s coaching career began at Honolulu (Hawaii) Damien from 1979-81. He coached at Edison from 1982-89. His first stint at Newport Harbor was from 1990-96, before transitioning over to his alma mater with the Oilers from 1997-2004. Ciarelli has been back at Newport Harbor since the 2005 season.

His athletes have gone on to qualify for the CIF State track and field championships in 26 seasons. He has helped to produce 52 state qualifiers and 33 total state medalists, including six state champions.

On the long list of high school athletes that he has trained, Newport Harbor’s Ethan Cochran has the top shotput mark at 64 feet, 6½ inches (2012, CIF State preliminaries). Huntington Beach’s Scott Moser is the pace-setter among Ciarelli’s discus throwers with a mark of 213-11 (1997).

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