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Karen
Boen, after being named U.S. Track & Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Region
Women's Coach of the Year- Courtesy of the Stonehill Athletics Communication
Staff
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As
you walk through the office door of Karen Boen, championship trophies and
All-American honoree certificates line her walls; each year seeming to inch
closer and closer to make room for more accolades.
At the start of this fall semester, Boen
marked her 18th year as Stonehill College’s head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field team.
She led the women’s team to qualify for the NCAA’s national
championships 14 times and the men’s team 12, making Stonehill’s distance program
one of the top in the country.
This past year, Boen was inducted into
Stonehill’s Hall of Fame. Richard Hart, Boen’s
assistant coach, said she turned the program around during her tenure.
“I think that there is a real respect for our program in the
NE-10 conference because of her. You
hear about other schools asking ‘what do we have to do to get like Stonehill’s
program?’ and it’s flattering. Imitation
is the best form of flattery”, Hart said.
The
praise Boen has received from Stonehill and other schools did not come easily
and nor did coaching. “It wasn’t an instant roll-over,” Boen said.
Raised
in South Boston, Boen describes her roots as a ‘Southie’. Her love for the
sport came during a track and field session at a summer camp Massachusetts
created to keep kids off the streets. This was the extent of her running
experience until she attended Bridgewater State University and was recruited by
the track coach.
“I
was running across the college one day, the end of my freshman year and a car
pulled up next to me. It happened to be the track and field coach and he asked
me why I wasn’t running because I looked like I was a good runner,” Boen said.
Boen had to continue to work hard
towards her growth as an individual on the course and off. It did not come instantaneously. She was no longer the big fish in the little
pond of the projects.
Having grown up in the inner city of
Boston in the mid-sixties, the city was experiencing a lot of problems with
drugs and mobs. Boen recalled often times using running as an outlet. It was something she was good at, something
that could help ground her when circumstances at home were uneasy. According to Boen, this outlet still remains
the base for the appreciation and drive she still has for running today.
“I was just a person who had
potential. But I did have a sense of ego
and a ridiculous work ethic. I knew that
I could be as good as those people; I just had a different starting point. So I just went to work,” Boen said.
With her work ethic, passion for
running and 18 years of practice, Boen finds herself just over week away from
the NCAA Regionals, the meet in which she expects her men’s and women’s team to
add another year to the consecutive line of NCAA qualifiers.
Current athletes describe how they
are prepared, though, because she has taught them an aspect far beyond the
importance of speed; trusting yourself and your foundation.
Daniel Gordon, captain of the Men’s
cross-country team, said that Boen helps them learn this by being more than
just a coach and becoming a mentor to them.
She has created a strong web of a support through her athletes and
alumni because of this.
Alex Grimaldo, a junior on the
women’s team, described how Boen has made an impact on her more on the course, personally
as well.
“She
has taught me the importance of leading a simple life that consists of people
who matter and things that I need to choose in my life. She has taught to be a
tough woman and to not get lost in the shuffle,” Grimaldo said.
Chelsea Bishop, Class of 14’ and
All- American honoree, accredits her success to much of how Boen develops her
athletes emotionally.
“She is unique in the fact that she
takes a big importance in her athlete’s health physically and mentally because
she understands how much the two correlate. She was very perceptive to what I
needed often times she knew what I needed even when I didn’t know it,” Bishop
said.
At 58, Boen’s athletes believe she continues
to reach the fullest potential in them by pushing them out of their comfort
zone to find their limits. Just like
Boen had taken the time to fully develop within herself and as a coach, she
seeks this in all of her athletes; even if they need a little more guidance
than others.
Boen can still be found running
through the trails of Borderland State Park near her home in Stoughton, MA
where her and her husband Carl, her assistant coach, reside. Their three daughters, Colleen, Courtney and
Molly have begun to seek their own paths; Courtney having recently helped Boen
add grandmother to her list of accolades when she gave birth to her daughter
Riley this past August.
Video Courtesy of Aisha McAdams
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