Dave Cianelli’s workmanlike attitude defined his Hall-of-Fame career.
From humble beginnings as a volunteer assistant at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he worked numerous odd jobs to make ends meet, to being the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Virginia Tech, Cianelli instilled that same mindset into his athletes, who in turn competed at a high level under his watch.
Over a career that spanned more than 40 years, Cianelli-coached athletes combined to win 74 NCAA event titles, haul in more than 500 All-America honors, and capture more than 380 individual conference crowns. Team success was the norm, too, especially at Virginia Tech: Cianelli’s Hokies amassed 22 of his 32 conference titles and posted 13 top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships, highlighted by four podium finishes.
Cianelli put down roots in Blacksburg, Virginia, when he took over at Virginia Tech in 2001. Coaching the Hokies checked off three boxes for Cianelli and his wife Ellen: a chance for him to run his own program (in fact, it’s the first time Virginia Tech combined them); being at a large state university in a college town, rather than at a university in a pro-dominated metro; and it brought them closer to their native D.C.-Maryland area.
It didn’t take long for Cianelli to elevate the Hokies into a perennial contender, just like he did as an assistant at Cal Poly and SMU after that. Cianelli coached Spyridon Julien to an NCAA title in the weight throw in 2005, which would be the first of 20 NCAA event titles won by Virginia Tech athletes over the years. Then, the Hokie women captured the team title at the ACC Indoor Championships in 2007 – the first of 22 combined conference titles under Cianelli’s direction. Three years later, Queen Harrison won The Bowerman, collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor, after a record-breaking year that saw her become the first woman in NCAA history to win both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles at the same NCAA Championship.
He went out a winner, too. Virginia Tech swept the team titles at the ACC Indoor Championships in 2023 and then the women made it back-to-back crowns in 2024.
Cianelli is a 19-time USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year in track & field, including a sweep of the men’s indoor and outdoor honors from 2011 to 2013.
