Boen inducted as one of six coaches on Tuesday, becomes first NE10 Coach in USTFCCCA Hall of Fame
ORLANDO, Fla. – Stonehill College cross country head coach Karen Boen was among six honorees inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame Tuesday night at the Grande Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida on the fourth day of the 2019 USTFCCCA Convention.
Boen, who has been an instrumental part of the Stonehill College cross country and track & field programs for 23 years was inducted alongside Dr. Jack Daniels of SUNY Cortland, Rollie Geiger of NC State, Bobby Lang of Florida A&M, Joe Piane of the University of Notre Dame, and the late Dan Stimson of William & Mary.
Started in 1995, the Hall of Fame recognizes coaches who have brought great distinction to themselves, to their institutions, and to the sports of cross country and track & field. Each honoree exemplifies the qualities of dedication to the sport, leadership, and passion for their profession that serve as an inspiration to coaches everywhere.
"On behalf of the Stonehill community, I congratulate Coach Karen Boen on achieving this USTFCCCA honor," stated Stonehill College President Rev. John Denning, C.S.C. "Karen exemplifies what it means to coach student-athletes, as she challenges her students to perform beyond what they think they are capable of both on and off the track and field. Her passion for the sport and the overall success of her student athletes is evident in all she does. Karen truly embodies our mission of educating the whole person, and we are incredibly happy to see that she has been recognized in this way. It is a well-deserved."
Boen enters the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame as the first Northeast-10 Conference coach to receive the honor. She has coached over 70 All-Americans among the six programs over her career, including Corey Thomas '13, who won the individual title in the high jump at the 2011 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Bridgewater State University alumna has totaled 66 Coach of the Year awards among the six programs, including USTFCCCA East Region honors and NE10 Coach of the Year recognitions. Boen has seen 15 student-athletes receive Google Cloud Academic All-American status, with 13 coming in the last five years.
"It's such an incredible honor for Coach Boen and so well deserved," remarked Director of Athletics Dean O'Keefe '94. "She has developed student-athletes as not just runners or throwers or jumpers, but more importantly as people. She has done that better than anyone in the country and that's why she is going into the Hall of Fame."
Boen, inducted into the Stonehill Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014, has built the men's and women's cross country and track and field programs into one of the elite programs at the NE10 Conference, East Region and NCAA Division II levels. The most successful head coach Stonehill has known, Boen has led the six programs to a combined 38 NE10 Championships, including six women's NE10 indoor championships, five NE10 outdoor titles and one men's NE10 indoor crown. The Stonehill women's cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field programs have combined to win the last 13 NE10 Championships in those sports and 18 of the last 19 NE10 titles overall after sweeping the three seasons for the fourth-straight year in 2018-19.
In the East Region, Boen has helped the women's cross country program win 16 titles, while the men have tallied five with its most recent being in 2018. The men have also captured 17-straight tickets to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, while the women have earned 20-straight tickets.
-Release provided by Stonehill College athletic communications
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