SSN Coach Profile: Julie Alano, Girls Track

Olivia White

Coach Julie Alano is in her seventeenth year as Varsity Girls’ Track Coach after seven years as an assistant at HSE. In those 17 years the Lady Royals have won 8 Hamilton County Meet Titles, 10 HCC Titles, 10 Sectional Titles, and 10 Regional Titles. The team won the IHSAA State Championship in 2018 and was Runner-Up in 2017. Other top 5 finishes for the team at State were 3rd in 2019 and 5th in both 2009 and 2016. Coach Alano has guided 38 hurdlers and 400 runners to the state meet where 18 became state finalists and 1 earned a state championship. In the 1600 relay she has guided 17 teams to the state meet where 1 team earned the state championship, 4 teams earned runner up honors and 9 teams were state finalists. In 2019 the 1600 relay team that earned runner-up ran 3:45.72 which was faster than the state meet record.
Coach Alano graduated from Waldron High School where she earned 9 varsity letters in cross country, basketball, and track. She qualified for the state track meet in the 400 her junior and senior year. Coach Alano attended Indiana State University where she majored in Mathematics Education with a minor in Computer Science. She walked on the ISU track team and later earned a scholarship with her performances. She competed in the heptathlon, 400 hurdles, 4×400, 400, and Long Jump. She set the ISU school record in the 400 hurdles, earned All-MVC honors 4 times, Academic All-MVC honors 4 times, team highest GPA 2 years, and was Co-Captain 2 years.
Coach Alano led the Girls Cross Country team here at HSE to 7 Sectional titles and 6 Semi-State appearances as the head coach from 1999-2005 and was named the OAC Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1999. She has been named HCC Track Coach of the Year 10 times. Alano was named IATCCC Coach of the Year for the State of Indiana in 2009 and 2018 and has been a nominee for this award 11 times. Also in 2018 Coach Alano was named ICGSA and USTFCCA Girls Track Coach of the Year for Indiana and USA Today All USA Girls Track Coach of the Year. Coach Alano has served voluntarily in the IATCCC since 2001, she was secretary for 15 years before 2 years as vice president then 2 years as president. She also developed and has maintained the organizations website since 2001.
Coach Alano will complete her twenty-fourth year at HSE High School as a Computer Science teacher.  Computer Science has grown at HSE since she began teaching 1 CS class in 2000 to now having 3 computer science teachers in the building.  Mrs. Alano also trains other teachers in computer science on Saturdays and in the summer.  She is currently the Applied Science Department Chair as well.  Mrs. Alano was named HSE High School and HSE School District Teacher of the Year in 2016.  In addition to her degree from Indiana State, she earned a master’s degree in Educational Technology from IUPUI in 2008 and an IT Certificate from Valparaiso University in 2021.  Coach Alano loves to travel when she can and also enjoys shopping!  In the summer and fall you can find her at the Binford Farmers Market on Saturday selling fresh produce from her parents’ farm and orchard.  She resides in Fortville with her husband Dmitri.