Pojoaque cross country coach Alan Lockridge was named to the New Mexico Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame Jan. 23 at the Association’s 22nd annual clinic in Albuquerque.
“It was a surprise,” Lockridge said. “It really felt good to get the recognition from people who know.”
As he does with all the accolades and honors he has received, Alan Lockridge gave the credit to his athletes.
“They do what I’d never been able to do,” Lockridge said. “My function was to give them the opportunity. I have been so fortunate.”
One might turn that around and say Pojoaque has been fortunate to have Lockridge. There are six state championship banners hanging in Pojoaque’s gym that Lockridge’s cross country teams have won. There are three girls banners (1999, 2000, 2002) and three boys banners (2000, 2002, 2003), as well as numerous individual titles won by track and cross country athletes Lockridge has coached during his 28 years at Pojoaque.
“I hope he’ll be around forever,” Pojoaque athletic director Matt Martinez said. “He’s one of those coaches that’s hard to find. You could always count on him to do anything that’s needed.”
Lockridge has always been someone that does what he feels is needed. After graduating from Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico and went on to join the Peace Corps, where he spent three years in Panama.
Upon leaving the Peace Corps in 1966, Lockridge enlisted in the Army.
After being discharged from the Army, he attended New Mexico Highlands University and finished his degree. His first teaching job was in the small town of Maxwell just north of Las Vegas. He began his coaching career there as a volunteer.
“It was a little Class A school,” Lockridge said. “Everybody knew everybody, and I did everything.”
After 10 years at Maxwell, he moved to Los Alamos to be with his wife, who had gotten a job there. He arrived at Pojoaque in 1982 and has been there ever since.
Lockridge taught history and social studies in addition to coaching track and cross country. After he won his first cross country title, He earned the moniker “The Legend.”
“To us he is a legend,” Martinez said. “He kinda gets embarrassed. To him, it’s not about himself, it’s about the kids.”
Lockridge retired as a teacher five years ago, but he still does everything when it comes to the athletic program at Pojoaque.
Go to a girls basketball game at Pojoaque High School and Lockridge is keeping score. Travel to an Elkettes’ away game and you’ll find Lockridge driving the bus. Drop by the high school during the summer, Lockridge will be there, watching over the students as they run through the hills behind the school on trails he laid out. When school starts, Lockridge begins another season as Pojoaque’s cross country coach.
“I couldn’t wait ‘til the end of summer,” he said. “I get to be with the kids again.”
Over the years, the athletes that Lockridge has coached have gone on to success and keep in touch with their former coach. At the Clinic, Lockridge was sitting near one of his former students at Maxwell, Loretta Quintana. Recently, he dined with former athletes Jacquelyne Gallegos and Nick Martinez, who competed for the University of New Mexico.
“I am sitting there, thinking, ‘Here I am with these great athletes, successful members of the community,’” Lockridge said.
Lockridge is divorced and has no children. His Facebook account has over 600 contacts of former athletes that are now coaches, parents, teachers and businessmen.
“In a way, all the people I’ve known, they’re my family,” he said.
Despite knees that are now failing him, Lockridge looks forward to another cross country season and savors the memories of his career and life.
“I’ve spent my lifetime being around kids,” he said. “I’ve never regretted it.”