During a time when women were just starting to step into the athletic world, one female athlete was already paving her way. Lisa Chiavario represented UNM in the early 1970’s, even before 1974-1975 when UNM had a structured women’s track and field with coaches, scholarships, and budgetary allotment available. Athletically, she achieved things far before her time, and it is easy to believe that all these years later, she would still be a huge threat to the conference and the NCAA.
Lisa started her freshman year at the University of New Mexico in 1970 and made an immediate impact. By 1971, Linda Estes (Women’s Director of Athletics) took her and several other female athletes to compete in the DGWS National Track and Field Championships at Eastern Washington University. There, she finished 5th in the 100 yard dash with a time of 11.5, and 2nd in the long jump with a leap of 19’6 “.
In 1972, she continued to improve as an athlete, and she represented UNM in the United States Olympic Track & Field Trials in the Long Jump. Although she made the finals, she did not finish in the top three to make the Olympic team. However, because of her outstanding results at the Olympic trials, Lisa did represent the USA in a dual meet against Canada for the Long Jump, and again later that year in Winnipeg, Canada in the Pentathlon.
In her last season, Lisa once again qualified for the national championship where she first took 3rd in the 200m Low Hurdles with a time of 28.9 seconds. Also in that competition, she took 3rd in the High Jump and 4th in the Long Jump. Over her UNM athletic career, she placed in four different events at the national championship, which even today is almost unheard of.
Additionally in 1973, she was chosen to represent her country at the annual dual meet against Russia, and compete as a Pentathlete. Other than the Olympics, this was one of the most important meets at the time.
After graduating from UNM in 1974 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Health Education and a Minor in Biology, Chiavario became a teacher and girls track coach at Cibola High School from 1975-1979. From 1979-1981 she was the assistant track coach at Sandia High School, and from 1992-2004 she worked as a Health Education Teacher at Eldorado High School and Cross Country and Track official for APS.
Because she had no formal athletic program to compete within, it would be easy for all of her accomplishments to be overlooked. However, it is important for her outstanding achievements prior to the NCAA taking control to be honored and recognized.
Lisa Chiavario will forever be remembered as one of the greatest track and field athletes to set foot on the University of New Mexico campus, the one that made her mark in the UNM history books, and a lobo for life.