Coby Horowitz ’14, men’s cross country

Athlete of the Season: Melissa Haskell ’13, Women’s Volleyball

Outside hitter Melissa Haskell ’13 supplied talent and drive in her best season yet, leading the volleyball team to the NCAA D-III Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history.

Athlete of the Season: Katie Riley '14

Katie Riley ’14 finishes her career with 46 goals and 35 assists, placing her fifth and fourth all time in each category, respectively. With 127 points, Riley ranks just behind Lindsay McNamara ’09. This season alone Riley tallied 59 points, making her the third highest single season scorer in Bowdoin history.
The capstone of Riley’s career was this year’s national championship. But the road to the championship was a bumpy one. Bowdoin had disappointing losses to Tufts and Middlebury. Neither Riley nor the team, however, lost hope after those losses. Their perseverance paid off just three days later with a win against Trinity, which included Riley making history with four goals, tying the record for most goals scored in a NESCAC tournament game. From there, the Polar Bears went on to beat Tufts the following week, with Riley contributing one of Bowdoin’s four goals.
“I thought it was really cool that we could bounce back as a team, [especially] with the close loss during the NESCAC game,” Riley said.

Athlete of the Season

Coby Horowitz ’14, men’s cross country

November 16, 2012

Last year’s male athlete of the season, junior cross-country phenom Coby Horowitz, is in the midst of another remarkable season, that has established him as one of the best runners in Bowdoin history.

Horowitz finished first at the Maine State Meet on October 13, the NESCAC Championship on October 27 and the New England D-III Cross Country Championship.

Horowitz is the first Bowdoin runner in 12 years to win the NESCAC, a conference widely considered the second strongest in D-III.

Head Coach Peter Slovenski, who has coached over 50 All-Americans during his 27-year tenure, places Coby atop all other Polar Bear cross-country runners.

“Coby’s the best runner on the men’s side. We are very lucky he chose to run at Bowdoin,” said Slovenski.

“Coby gets great places in the big meets,” he continued. “He knows how to prepare in the big meets. In the races, he makes such great moves and has such incredible courage in the final stretches.”

Nobody has witnessed the junior star’s race strategy and poise more closely than teammate Sam Seekins ’14, who finished a mere nine hundredths of a second behind Horowitz this past weekend.

“When he’s ready to go, he just goes ahead and makes the push,” said Seekins. “I don’t think Coby gets rattled.”

Seekins attributes his own success in part to training with Horowitz.

“As a teammate, he pushes people so hard. I can’t see myself as training so hard or wanting to win as much without Coby,” he says. “His attitude is infectious.”

Marcus Schneider, the lone senior on the varsity seven, said: “The unique thing about Coby’s training is the way he can keep everything lighthearted and fun even during intense workouts or arduous training drills.”

Horowitz expects this season’s intense training sessions to pay off this weekend in the NCAA D-III Championships this Saturday.

“A win would be nice,” he said. “Anywhere in the top five I’d be happy.”

When asked about the field of competitors, he quietly took out his iPhone, scrolled through the notes application, and rattled off a number of favorites, emphasizing one in particular.

“Tim Nelson from Wisconsin Stout. He won the 5K indoors at nationals and the 10K at both. Everyone has been picking him as the favorite since the first week. I’m going to be looking for him.”

On Wednesday, Horowitz was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association Division III New England Athlete of the Year. But even this distinction does not take the target off Nelson’s back heading into the weekend.

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