Earlier in this fall’s sports season, Anne Horton achieved her 400th career win as a girls field hockey coach. This achievement makes Horton one of the most successful high school coaches in the state!
In 1991, Columbus Academy became a co-ed school, and, therefore, needed both an athletic director and coaches for women’s sports. Horton says she was working in Cleveland and looking to move south when Academy’s position opened up. She was hired as the first field hockey coach, the first girls basketball coach, and the first (and, so far, only) girls athletic director. Since Horton has been with us, the field hockey program has been phenomenal, winning 8 state championships over the last 19 years. Horton’s senior players describe her as having a great passion that is equal to or greater than the players’. Team captain, Liz Benson’12, says, “The time and effort Coach Horton puts into our practices are what makes the team so successful.”The past five years, however, have been a rough patch for the team. It looked as if this year’s players could end the dry streak and bring Academy back to the top this fall, but a win became beyond them in their 1-2 loss in overtime against Hathaway Brown.
Although going without a field hockey state championship for five years has been the longest streak in Horton’s history, her success as a coach is an amazing feat in itself. Headmaster John Mackenzie notes his pride in the field hockey program, saying, “The girls’ terrific record would be impressive under any circumstances. But considering the many, many games and championships we have won against much larger schools, our success is even more noteworthy.”
Field hockey is more than just a sport for Academy girls. Horton says, “Any program that does well, not just field hockey, can be an ambassador for the school.”
Although the team did not win a state championship this year, Horton’s impact on her players and the school is something of which Columbus Academy community can be very, very proud.
Written by David Wexner’15. Photos by Elliot Nick’14.
