Women's Indoor Track & Field
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- carolyn.robin@qu.edu
- Phone:
- (203) 582-5314
A new era began in 2009 when Carolyn Martin took over as the director of women's cross country as well as the women's indoor track and outdoor track teams. Martin is entering her 16th year at the helm of the programs in 2021, and has served as an assistant coach for the Bobcats since 2004.
Martin is coming off a three-peat at the MAAC Cross Country Championships, winning the most recent title in 2024 after having four runners finish inside the top seven en route to the 37-point victory.
The 2024-25 track season also yielded high-end results for the Bobcats, highlighted by steeplechase runner Alessandra Zaffina becoming the only MAAC woman to qualify for the 2025 NCAA East First Round meet, as she ran in the 3000m Steeplechase after securing the league title three weeks earlier. The outdoor season also saw the Bobcats secure third place at the ECAC Championships amongst some of the best east coast competition and the squad secured three individual titles and eight podium finishes at the MAAC Outdoor Championships.
During the indoor season, Quinnipiac came within seven points of the title en route to the second-place finish. The Bobcats won seven individual titles to finish with 135 points on the weekend.
The track and field team recently saw one of the best team performances at the 2020 Indoor MAAC Championships. The Bobcats finished in second place behind Rider after an incredible fight-until-the-end finish. The Broncs earned the title by half a point. Quinnipiac finish in second for the team's best performance since 2018, when the team took second to Monmouth.
Tara Zeni, who was a first-year in 2019-20, shined in the conference championhip, as she swept the women's field awards by earning the MAAC Rookie of the Meet and the Most Outstanding Performer in the women's field category.
The 2016-17 campaign featured another solid campaign from the women’s cross country program saddled with continued success in the track and field seasons which featured one of the best individual seasons by a student-athlete in school history.
In the fall of 2016, the women’s cross country team claimed a runner-up finish at the MAAC Championships, falling to conference power Iona by a mere two points. Four Bobcats placed in the Top 10 overall at the MAAC title race while Kaitlin Bakas took home the MAAC Rookie of the Year honor. Quinnipiac also appeared in the Pre-National Invitational for the first time in program history (15th out of 25 teams) and claimed their best finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional (14th) since 2009.
The 2016-17 track and field season was filled with great success as the team claimed a program-best eighth at the New England Indoor Championships, tied for 22nd at the ECAC Indoor Championships and placed fourth in both the MAAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Along with the team success came the development of Jessica Lee who put forth one of the top individual seasons in program history.
Coach Martin helped guide Lee who captured 11 event victories combined through the indoor and outdoor seasons, was named the MAAC’s Most Outstanding Performer at the Indoor Championships, stunned the field with a third place finish at the Penn Relays, captured two ECAC titles (60m hurdles, 100m hurdles), defended her New England 60m hurdle title and became just the third Bobcat (first hurdler) to complete at the NCAA Regionals in the outdoor season.
The 2015-16 campaign proved to be the most successful season in program history as she guided the cross country and track and field programs into unrivaled success. Martin won her first MAAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the women’s cross country team to the program’s first MAAC Championship, dethroning the 10-time defending conference champs Iona in the process. Four Bobcats received All-MAAC honors while three finished in the Top 5 overall as Quinnipiac dominated the traditional power.
Prior to the victory in the MAAC Championships, the women’s cross country team also scored their highest finish at the Paul Short Run (10th) in program history while they also finished as the New England runner-up, marking their highest finish at the meet since taking the title in 2007.
Fast forward to the track and field season and the Bobcats continued their impressive run with second place finishes at the MAAC indoor and outdoor championships. This gives Quinnipiac three straight runner-up finishes in the track and field conference championship meets. In 2015-16, Quinnipiac scored seven individual and team event victories in both seasons of the MAAC Championships. In total, the Bobcats again posted new program records for most points scored at a conference championship meet in both the indoor (133) and outdoor (158) season. The Bobcats capped their season with a program-best 13th place finish (23 points) out of 105 teams at the ECAC Outdoor Championships.
Among the individual track and field performers, Martin helped lead Shameal Samuels to a second straight NCAA Regional in the 400m during the outdoor season. Samuels also became the school’s first ECAC Champion, taking the 400m victory in the outdoor season. Martin also guided Jessica Lee to a victory in the 60m hurdles at the New England Championships, becoming the first Bobcat hurdler to win a New England title in program history. Carly Timpson (2016 MAAC Indoor Co-Most Outstanding Field Performer) also became the first field performer to win the highest individual conference honor.
All of the recent success comes on the heels of the 2014-15 season which was one of the most successful all-around seasons for Martin as she helped lift all four programs to productive years. Samuels advanced to the NCAA East Regionals, becoming just the second Bobcat in program history and first in Martin's tenure as head coach to advance to an NCAA Regional event.
The women's cross country team has continued its traditional dominance despite changing conferences, taking second place at the MAAC Championships for two straight seasons (2013-14). The men's cross country team returned to form in 2014 as the Bobcats moved up four spots on their 2013 finish to place third overall at the 2014 MAAC Championships. In addition, the men's cross country team claimed a program record third place (out of 40 teams) at the Paul Short Run while also placing 13th at the New England Championships (best since 2008) and 18th at the NCAA Northeast Regional (best since 2009).
Samuels' breakout season certainly drew headlines as Martin helped guide the standout sprinter to the 2015 MAAC Indoor Most Outstanding Women's Track Performer award, the highest individual honor handed out by the conference and the program's first student-athlete to earn the recognition. Martin's teams continued an all-around improvement as the Bobcats placed third with at the 2015 MAAC Indoor Championships. Perhaps the greatest triumph of the campaign came at the 2015 MAAC Outdoor Championships as her team tallied 127 points on the way to finishing a program-best second place. Samuels went on to compete at the 2015 NCAA East Regional in the 400m where she also became the first sprinter in program history to advance to an NCAA Regional event.
Martin is a four-time Coach of the Year, three of which coming while Quinnipiac was a member of the Northeast Conference (2009-12). Among those four Coach of the Year distinctions, three came as the women's cross country head coach (2009, 2011 and 2015) and once with the women's indoor track and field program (2012-13).
With a passion to coach and participate in distance running, Martin has made an enormous impact in her first seven years, continuing the long-term success of the cross country programs and the newfound emergence of the track and field teams. Under Martin’s tutelage, the women’s team extended its streak to eight straight Northeast Conference Titles, after running away with the championship in 2012.
Since taking over in 2009, has named 28 student-athletes to the All-Conference team and guided Becca White to an Outstanding Performer Award in 2010.
As an assistant at Quinnipiac for five seasons, Martin helped inaugurate the cross country program into a perennial power in the NEC, winning four straight league championships from 2005-08. Martin's responsibilities included recruiting student-athletes, as well as coordinating the teams' travel arrangements and official statistics. She also assisted in the coaching and training of Quinnipiac's first All-American Division I athlete, Katie Gwyther. Gwyther competed in three NCAA Championships during her time with the Bobcats.
On the men’s side, Martin has helped the Bobcats to four NEC titles dating back to her first season as an assistant in 2004. During that eight year span, she has named three student-athletes as Outstanding Performer, Thomas Martin, Jacob Gurzler and Richard Klauber, and landed 31 student-athletes to the All-Conference Team. The Bobcats collected three straight NEC Championships from 2006-08 and most recently finished 3rd place in the 2014 MAAC Championships.
Martin continues to make significant strides with the women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams as well, highlighted by her recent honor as the 2012-13 Women's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, her third overall and first in the track and field program. Martin led an inspired group of Bobcats to a sixth place finish, their highest team finish in the NEC Championship since 2007. The progression of the track and field programs continued into the 2013-14 season wherein Martin guided the program's first individual MAAC Champion (Shameal Samuels, 400m) in addition to the first individual New England Champion (Shameal Samuels, 400m) and New England Relay Championship (Becca Stabile, Nia Baker, Shameal Samuels, Kristen Ulrich, 4x400m).
Off the track, Martin's teams are consistently among the highest regarded student-athletes among all of Quinnipiac's 21 varsity programs. In 2015-16, Quinnipiac women's cross country earned its seventh NCAA Public Recognition Award (based on multiple-year Academic Program Rates), including the program's sixth consecutive, while the men’s cross country team earned their first mark in program history. The Public Recognition Award, given to teams that have an APR among the Top 10 percent in their respective sport, measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport.
Martin earned a Bachelor's degree from Quinnipiac in 2003, before receiving a Masters of Teaching in the spring of 2004. Along with coaching the Bobcats, Martin was a science teacher at Hamden High School for nearly 10 years.
During her final collegiate season, Martin was the NEC Champion in the 10,000 meters during the outdoor track season, following an indoor season that saw her claim two individual conference titles in the 5,000 and 3,000 meter races. In cross country, she led the way for the Bobcats and captured fourth overall in the NEC Championships. She was first named to the All-Conference team, and then followed with an All-New England accolade at NCAA Regionals.
Her leadership on and off the course led her to being named team captain for her final two seasons with the Bobcats. As a student-athlete, Martin also served on the on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2000 through 2002.
She currently resides in Northford, Connecticut, with her husband and fellow former Quinnipiac runner, Tom Martin, her daughter Jacquelyn and son Liam.
