LEWISTON — It’s just time.

Nine years after succeeding his father as the head tennis coach at Lewiston High School, Ron Chicoine is stepping down.

“I made up my mind about not coaching at the beginning of the year, really,” Chicoine said. “I told (Lewiston Athletic Director) Jason (Fuller) this was probably my last year.”

He didn’t make it official until well after Lewiston won another state championship, the Blue Devils’ eighth in nine seasons under Chicoine, who capped his high school coaching career with a 137-2 record.

“I’ve put my time in,” Chicoine said. “I think nine years is a pretty good run. We’ve had a good run while I was there.”

“Good” may be the understatement of the decade. His teams lost one regular-season match — a first-year loss to Deering which the Devils avenged in the state final in 2003 — and one playoff match, the 2010 Class A state final.

“I’ve had good talent, so it’s made it a lot easier,” Chicoine said. “Good players make good coaches, that’s for sure. It’s been a pretty good run. I feel like I’ve done my part to help out my alma mater, and it’s time for someone else to step up and do something. I’m ready to move on to strictly college coaching.”

Chicoine is also the head men’s and women’s coach at the University of Southern Maine. His full-time job is an anesthesiologist, and Chicoine is also involved with a group of local investors attempting to bring a casino to Lewiston.

But most importantly, he said, was his commitment to his family.

“The biggest reason is, my personal life has changed,” Chicoine said. “I’m the only parent of three kids, and my youngest, I was hardly able to go to any of his games this year. It was difficult that way.”

Chicoine suffered a personal tragedy just prior to the opening of the 2010 tennis season when his wife, Juli, died suddenly while on vacation in Florida. His oldest son, Calvin, is in college. His second son, Elliot, recently graduated from Lewiston and his youngest son, Forrest, is a student at North Yarmouth Academy.

“The college season ends about a month earlier,” Chicoine said. “That will give me a whole month to see his spring sports and all of that. That’s the biggest reason.”

“His success is second to none,” Fuller said. “I do understand things have changed dramatically in his life the last couple of years and I respect his decision to step away. He needed a break. It’s a huge loss for our program, but I don’t blame him one bit for stepping down now. He’s been great for this program, and we wish him the best.”

Chicoine also said his commitment to USM and its tennis programs will become stronger, and still afford him more free time.

“USM coaching is taking a little bit more of my time,” Chicoine said. “By not coaching at Lewiston, it’ll give me a better opportunity to scout more kids in Maine who might be interested in USM. I’ll be able to spend some time recruiting, which I really can’t do when I’m coaching at a high school.”

Whomever is hired to replace Chicoine at Lewiston will have big shoes to fill.

“Huge,” Fuller said. “When you win eight out of nine state championships and only lose two matches, that’s a huge hole to fill. But one thing I’m comfortable about is the strength of the program overall. He left it in great shape, and the youth program is so strong in this community, the next person who comes in I think will be able to keep the team rolling along pretty well.”