University of Vermont Athletics

Karen Bucke Albright 1983 - Cross Country, Track and Field

The first Catamount to qualify for the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship, Karen Bucke Albright was an outstanding athlete who earned many awards during her four-year career. Inducted into the UVM Hall of Fame in 1995, she was a three-time All-New England runner in cross-country and a member of the 1980 team that won the New England Championship. That team, which also included UVM Hall of Famer Judi St. Hilaire, was third in the Eastern Championships and competed in the AIAW National Championships.

A two-time captain of both cross-country and track, Bucke Albright was All-New England in track in three events - 1,000, 1,500 and 4-by-4 800 relay. She was also the national indoor pentathlon champion in 1981 winning the event in a meet at UConn. In track, she held three school records - the 1,000-yard run, and was part of the 4-by-400 and 4-by-800-meter relay teams. Bucke Albright also ran a leg of the 4-by-800 meter relay team that set the UVM indoor record of 9:12.5 in 1981 and the UVM outdoor record of 9:26.9. She set the Gardner-Collins Cage record in the 1000-yard run, clocking a time of 2:43.0 in 1983 and holds a piece of the 4-by-800-meter relay record in Gardner-Collins. During her hour-year career, UVM was 24-10 in dual meets.

After graduation she became the head girl's track and field coach at Essex High School and co-coached the Hornets cross-country team from 1983-1990. During that time, the girls' cross country team won six state championships and two New England titles while finishing second in New England once. In track, Bucke Albright was part of a coaching staff that has coached 11 straight state championship teams.

During her career as a high school teacher and coach, Bucke Albright has encouraged many high school athletes to attend UVM, including Sarah Dahl '91, Kris Isham '93 and Heather Taft '94.

Her UVM coach, Ed Kusiak, still remembers Karen well. "Karen was one of the outstanding athletes I have coached at UVM," he said. "She was the heart and soul of the team, and she was versatile and a heck of a competitor. I think she is as good as they come."