Karen Boyle
	Position: Head Coach Experience: 26th year Alma Mater: Bowling Green '79

Karen Boyle has enjoyed a great deal of success as Navy head coach and 2012 will mark her 26th season at the helm of the women's cross country program. Through 25 seasons, she has a career mark of 123-21 (.854).

In 2011, Boyle guided the Mids back to the top of the Patriot League as the Mids claimed their third conference title in the last five seasons. The conference championship was one of four invitational titles the Mids won in 2011, which is the most by any Navy team under Boyle's guidance.

For her efforts, Boyle earned the third Patriot League Coach of the Year honor of her career.

Boyle also tutored one of the Mid-Atlantic region's top runners last season in Jess Palacio, who won a total of four individual titles and became the first three-time, First-Team All-Patriot League honoree in Navy history.

In addition, Palacio became the sixth runner under Boyle to compete at the NCAA Division I Championship. In addition to Palacio, Boyle also coached Amy Watson (2008), Melissa Foon (2000), Rebecca Cline (1997), Jackie Hayes (1995) and Kerry O'Neill (1992) to NCAA Championship appearances.

In 2007, Boyle led Navy to a share of its first Patriot League championship, before claiming the title outright in 2008. Boyle was named Patriot League Coach of the Year on both occasions.

Boyle has led the Mids to significant honors on both the Division II (1987-1990) and Division I (1991-present) levels. In Navy's last-four years of Division II competition, Boyle coached the Mids to three-straight undefeated seasons and four-consecutive top-five finishes in the NCAA Division II Championship, with five runners garnering All-America honors. Boyle was named Eastern Region Coach of the Year in three-straight seasons (1988-90).

Boyle guided the program into the Division I ranks in 1991, and the Mids immediately achieved success by capturing the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship. In 1997 and 2007, Boyle was named Navy's Fall Coach of the Year after she led Navy to an undefeated season.

As a coach with the track team, she guided Marty Shue to a title in the indoor 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Championship.

In 1995, Boyle was selected as team leader for the USA Ekiden International Marathon in Beijing, China. She was also selected to help rewrite the level I track & field certification curriculum at the USA Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. In 1999, she received her C.S.C.S. certification as a nationally accredited certified strength and conditioning specialist. The summer of 2001 saw Boyle serve as an assistant track & field coach for Team USA in the Deaf Track & Field World Games, held in Rome, Italy. Boyle, a 1979 graduate of Bowling Green, received her degree in physical education ­and earned her master's degree in athletic administration and recreation from her alma mater in 1982. Athletically, she competed in both track and lacrosse, specializing in the 400 and 4x400-meter relay on the track and was a leading scorer for the Falcons' lacrosse squad.

Her coaching career began at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, where she coached the women's cross country and track & field teams from 1984-86, developing two national champions and nine All-Americans.

Boyle is a tenured professor in the Naval Academy's Physical Education Department, teaching personal conditioning, rock climbing, kayaking and triathlon training. Boyle also participates in road races and triathlons.

Administratively, Boyle served as the president of the NCAA Division I Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (1999-2001), as well as a committee member on the USA Track & Field Coaching Education Board and the United States Track Coaches Association Long Distance Advisory Board.