Augie Argabright, a women's cross country pioneer and a key figure in the San Jose running scene for six decades, announced Tuesday that he will retire from coaching.
The San Jose State coach's final meet will be Nov. 12 at the NCAA West Regional Championships on the Stanford course.
Argabright is the only head coach the SJSU women's program has ever had. He added the men's duties in 1997 when the program was reinstated.
He began his coaching career by forming the San Jose Cindergals AAU team in 1967. The squad won nine AAU national championships in his 15 years as director and head coach. Argabright also twice served as the coach for the USA national cross country team, and he is best known for his work with five-time U.S. Olympian Francie Larrieu-Smith.
Argabright's SJSU women's teams won national invitational championships in 1999 and 2005. More than 100 of his athletes earned academic All-Western Athletic Conference honors.