Top Accomplishments with Atlanta Track Club Elite

• Winner, 2024 Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge and Raleigh Relays, 800m

• 2024 USATF Indoor Championships qualifier, 800m

Top Accomplishments Before Joining Atlanta Track Club Elite

• 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships semifinalist, 800m

• 2-time USATF Indoor Championships qualifier, 2019 and 2022

Atlanta Track Club Staff Role

Coordinator – Grass Roots Running

Road to Atlanta Track Club Elite

Luciano graduated in 2015 from Bay Shore High School in New York and attended Siena College. His first year on the team, 2016, was the first year of the college’s winter and spring track programs, and he got to run with his older brother, Paolo, for two years. He battled stress reactions and an Achilles injury his first three years but finally healthy as a senior, he qualified for the USATF Indoor Championships in the 1000 meters, giving him a taste of what it would be like to compete at a professional level. After earning his bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2019, his plans for a fifth year were derailed when COVID-19 hit, but a 1:49 indoors February 2020 and the recommendation of his coach, John Kenworthy, brought him to Empire Elite Track Club. There, he worked out with the team, pacing workouts, before officially joining in March 2021. When one of his coaches, Tommy Nohilly, moved to Atlanta Track Club and asked if he would consider coming along, Luciano said yes.

Basketball and Soccer …

Luciano is one of six siblings and his father, Mario, is a physical education teacher who often coached teams on which his kids played. As a kid, Luciano played as many sports as he could, and one day around second grade he and older brother Paolo tagged along with Dad and sister Olivia to her CYO track practice, thus discovering yet another sport to try. Luciano ran CYO track through eighth grade, but when he dreamed of becoming a professional athlete it was in basketball or soccer.

… Before Focusing on Track

Because he also played basketball for two years in high school and soccer for three, Luciano didn’t run all three seasons until his senior year. But the track was calling his name, and a track scholarship was his best shot at paying for college. Although devoting himself sooner to cross country – he made the state championships his first season, on the day he first broke 17 minutes for 5K at Sunken Meadow State Park – might have led to an earlier breakthrough, he said he has no regrets. “Even to this day, I find so much value from those other sports that I bring to the table even now. I’m so glad I went to Bay Shore High School and grew up where I did, because it’s certainly a melting pot of people. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, there’s so much diversity. I learned from so many perspectives, so many socioeconomic classes. I got to know so many cultures, especially through sports.”

Team-First Mentality …

At every level of the sport, Luciano says, “My main goal is to be a good teammate, and if that is at the forefront of my mind then training and pushing myself and getting all the little things done is so much more clear. I gravitated toward that role because of the way my mother and father raised me, and my siblings were examples. At the professional level it becomes much more individualized, but even then when you bring everyone together and you’re on the same page and you trust one another and you’re friends, you all run faster. I always take it upon myself to solidify those relationships.”

… Led to Empire Elite Track Club …

At his first Empire Elite practice, Luciano recalls, Tommy Nohilly “shook my hand, looked me in the eye and let me know my role. That meant a great deal to me. I wasn’t there to go over the top, but to be as selfless as I could be, to be of service pacing Johnny Gregorek and Eric Holt. I became the guy who could lead reps, make sure people were on pace.” Gradually, his fitness level grew and in March 2021 he earned a team singlet and soon ran a huge PB of 1:47.99. The next season, Luciano ended the commute from Albany, NY, and moved to Westchester County. There, he caught on as a physical education teacher and head coach of The Masters School. “My father coaching and teaching, that was such a great influence growing up.”

… And Then to Atlanta

Leaving New York was not easy, but Luciano likes the feel of Atlanta as “a very up-and-coming city” and says he’s been impressed with Atlanta Track Club’s facility, resources and ethos. “It’s everything you’d want if you were thinking about establishing a brand around a track team – putting the community first. It’s able to be focused on us through others.”

On Being a Professional Athlete

It has to be noted, says Luciano, that if you look at his high school and college credentials on paper, “I had no business being a pro. Coming out of college I was a 1:49 800 guy and a 4:12 miler; last year I ran 1:46.4 and I broke 4 minutes outdoors. Those stats mean a lot to me, more so because they’re representative of someone in my shoes still in college who thinks maybe they’ve reached their potential. I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor now, but it was not easy. This goal of being a professional athlete was always on my mind, but the approach was always to take it professionally – whether or not you have the contract or the gear, it’s about how you approach it. So, when I did become a pro, yeah, the environment changes but the values stay the same.”

How He Knows He’s Ready to Race

I love to race. The confidence to know I'm "ready" comes from consistency. I make a clear outcome of what I desire, how I'm going to do it and when I'm going to execute on a daily basis. I'm able to focus and be ready to race when I believe in my daily schedule and my desired outcome. And that's all credit to the work I do, the guidance my coach gives me and my supportive family and friends that have my back and help limit distractions. I'm ready to race when I've been healthy for a long period of training, I feel trust between my coach and my loved ones and I have a date on the calendar for execution.