16th year coach led Stonehill to first NE-10 outdoor title in 2014
EASTON, Mass. (May 19, 2014) – Stonehill College head coach Karen Boen has been named the East Region Coach of the Year for women's outdoor track & field by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Boen guided the Skyhawks to their first Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship earlier this month, as Stonehill collected four event wins and set 11 program records in the process. Senior Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Connecticut/Suffield) and junior Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) will wrap up Stonehill's outdoor season this weekend at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
Stonehill opened its season at the BSU Bears Invitational on March 22nd, before traveling to Williamsburg, Virginia, to compete in the 49th Annual Colonial Relays on April 4th-5th. The Skyhawks then turned in a seventh place effort at the Minuteman Invitational, and followed that up by finishing third at the Holy Cross Invitational. Stonehill won its home meet, the Skyhawk Invitational, for the first time in its seven year existence on April 25th, before claiming the NE-10 title the following weekend. The Skyhawks were last in action on May 9th-10th at the New England Championships, where Curit became 
Stonehill's first female student-athlete to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Boen coached 11 student-athletes to a total of 17 USTFCCCA All-East Region performances this season, led by Bishop and Curit, who posted three apiece.
Boen's East Region Coach of the Year award is the first she has received for women's outdoor track & field. She has collected over 35 Northeast-10 and East Region Coach of the Year awards in her career as the head coach of Stonehill's men's and women's cross country and track & field programs.
Boen led the Skyhawk women to a rare sweep of the Northeast-10 Conference cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field championships during the 2013-14 academic year. Stonehill captured its fifth consecutive NE-10 Cross Country Championship last October, before claiming the first indoor and outdoor track and field titles in program history in February and May, respectively. This feat has only been accomplished two other times since the NE-10 has sponsored both track & field and cross country. The University of Massachusetts Lowell women completed sweeps of all three titles for the first time in the 2005-06 academic year, and again in 2008-09.
Bishop and Curit will wrap up Stonehill's outdoor campaign this weekend at the NCAA Championships. Bishop, who qualified for her first NCAA Championship in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 35:58.17, will compete Thursday, May 22nd at 8:50 p.m. Curit automatically qualified for the NCAAs in the 800-meter run with her school record time of 2:08.72, and she will run in the 800 prelims Friday, May 23rd at 6:15 p.m., with the final scheduled for Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Stonehill is currently ranked first in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional computer rankings.
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