In the fall of 2009, Peter Slovenski will begin his 24th season
as the head coach of the men's and women's cross country, men's and
women's indoor track & Field, and men's and women's outdoor
track & field teams.
Slovenski has led the men's cross country team to the New England
Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship in 1991,
2001 and 2002. In 1994, the women's cross country team became the
first team in Bowdoin history to qualify for a NCAA Division III
Championship, and the Polar Bears recorded a seventh-place finish.
Since 1989, Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track teams have
won seven NESCAC championships, three ECAC championships and one
New England championship.
"There is an impressive collaboration between the academic and
athletic efforts of Bowdoin students," according to Coach
Slovenski. "The same discipline and commitment that makes Bowdoin
athletes excel in regional and national athletic competition also
makes them excel in the classroom."
Slovenski has coached nearly 50 All-Americans at Bowdoin and
served as the meet director for the 1989 and 1993 NCAA Division III
Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Bowdoin.
Slovenski is a 1979 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he was a
four-year letterwinner in winter and spring track. He set freshman
records in the decathlon and pole vault and was an All-Ivy track
selection in the pole vault in 1977 and 1978. He received an M.A.
in educational administration and policy analysis from Stanford
University in 1980.
Oscar was recruited to the University of Idaho as a decathlete
from South Orange, New Jersey as one of the top overall athletes in
the state. It did not take long for him to trade in ten events for
the javelin. The result of this decision would bring immediate
success. Oscar won the USA Junior National Championship as a
freshman and was the sole representative for the United States at
the World Junior Championships in 1994. Oscar continued a strong
career for the Idaho Vandals winning three conference titles during
his career and earning Division I All-American honors three out of
his four years of competition. He also set a conference record for
the Vandals and a new school record and was honored as the Male
Senior Athlete of the Year in 1998. During this time Oscar also
attended the Olympic Trails in Atlanta, the first of three trips he
would make.
Upon completing his collegiate career and earning his degree in
Sports Science, Oscar re-enrolled at the University of Idaho as a
graduate student in sports pedagogy with a minor in health. In the
summer of 1999, Oscar placed third at the USA National
Championships and was a member of the Pan-American Games team and
was placed in the ?Elite Athlete Program.? In 2000, Oscar continued
to pursue challenges and took a student teaching assignment in
inner-city Los Angeles Compton area school district and was a
volunteer coach at El-Camino Junior College to complete his
graduate studies. He has since been to the Olympic Trials in 2000
and 2004 placing as high as 6th in 2000.
Oscar took a job at Boise State University in the Athletics
Department in July of 2002 as an academic counselor after working
the education in the Boise area for two years prior. It was here
that he continued his training and work as an academic coach and
mentor for students. Oscar enjoys his wife of 8 years Nicole
Suzanne Hamilton whom he coached to four state records in Olympic
weightlifting and his two daughters, Tania and Aaliyah. Nicole
continues to train vigorously and works as licensed nurse.
Lynn Ruddy, a senior member of the Bowdoin coaching staff and an
Associate Director of Athletics, rejoined the track & field
program in 2001. Coach Ruddy is the team's high jump and sprint
coach. She served as the indoor championship liaison on the NCAA
Division III Track & Field Committee from 1997-2001. Throughout
her 30-year career at Bowdoin College, she has coached several
All-Americans and All-New England athletes in the sports of
swimming, cross-country, and track & field and was a long-time
volleyball coach at the school. Ruddy is a graduate of UW-Oshkosh
and a native of Wisconsin and proudly holds the lowest 'certified'
golf handicap of anyone on the Bowdoin Athletics staff.