Caitlin Coker (CAS’24, GRS’24) with head coach Ashley Waters (Wheelock’22). Photo by Carolyn Mooney

Athlete Profile

BU’s Caitlin Coker Named Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Softball cocaptain is just second Terrier to earn the honor

After four years playing on the BU softball team—the last as cocaptain—Caitlin Coker is one of the most decorated varsity athletes in BU history. 

She is a three-time First Team All-Patriot Selection, a three-time Academic All-Patriot League honoree (holding a 3.87 GPA), and this year was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, PL Tournament VIP, and PL Softball Student-Athlete of the Year. She also received this year’s John B. Simpson Award, given annually to the BU male and female athlete who have demonstrated enthusiastic senior leadership. And topping it all, Coker (CAS’24, GRS’24) has now been named, Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, only the second Terrier ever to win that honor (the first was high jumper Alison Barwise (Sargent’14).   

Coker was one of 12 student-athletes nominated for the award. Among the others were Rachel Borzymowski (CAS’24) (field hockey), Christy Chen (Questrom’25) (women’s golf), and Shelly Yaloz (CGS’20, SHA’22, MET’23) (women’s tennis).

“I’m very honored and humbled to have even been in the same category as any of these other student-athletes,” says Coker, a biology major enrolled in a dual BA/MS program. “I have never played softball for the awards, I’ve never done my academics so that I would get recognition. I just try to put my best foot forward in whatever I do.” 

In 2021, her first full season after a COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Coker helped the Terriers win their third consecutive PL title, and she earned the league’s top honor—the 2021 Patriot League Softball Player of the Year.

The following year, she posted a perfect fielding percentage at third base en route to the Terriers’ fourth-straight regular season championship. BU fell in the 2022 PL Tournament, a loss that pushed Coker even harder her senior year. “In 2022, we came up short,” Coker says. “And that was so hard to go through, not only as a team, but individually. We all had goals that we wanted to accomplish. We called this past season the ‘revenge’ tour—it wasn’t necessarily against any particular team, but it was just to prove to ourselves that we are without a doubt the best team within our league, and we can compete with the best of the best.” 

This past season, few teams could withstand the “revenge” of Coker and the Terriers. The Terriers set a program and conference record with 52 wins, including a 28-game unbeaten streak, the program and league’s longest to date. The Terriers also received their first national ranking, No. 25, since 1996. 

At the plate, Coker hit .389 with 48 RBIs and an NCAA-leading 12 triples. At the hot corner, she had a .993 fielding percentage, making just one error in 62 games. She went 7-for-10, with three runs and two RBI in the Patriot League Tournament, earning the aforementioned 2023 PL Tournament MVP. 

“Caitlin is a remarkable student-athlete,” says Ashley Waters (Wheelock’22), softball head coach. “She has thrived on and off the field at BU. Her ability to achieve greatness is rooted in her drive for excellence.”

“I’ve really just tried to practice what I’ve been taught throughout my life by my parents and my coaches,” Coker says. “I think Becca Cardin, associate head coach, and Coach Waters do a great job of preaching that you just really need to be a good person. When I got to BU, I had a great set of leaders that showed me the ropes, on and off the field. So I really have just been trying to repay that debt and lead the way for this program so that we can not only produce great softball players, but great human beings.”

In addition to Coker’s PL accolades this season, teammate Kayla Roncin (Sargent’24) was chosen Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, Allison Boaz (ENG’23) snagged Pitcher of the Year, and Kasey Ricard (Sargent’26) Rookie of the Year. For a clean sweep of the awards, Waters earned her third consecutive Coach of the Year. 

“Individual awards are great, but they mean that the rest of the team is doing what they’re supposed to—nobody can win an individual award without the 20 girls behind her,” Coker says. “It’s really just a culmination of all the hard work that everyone puts in, and it’s wonderful if it lands on you, but it’s almost even better If it lands on one of your teammates.” 

Off  the field, Coker has served as a board member of the BU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the BU Student-Athletes of Color organization. In addition to her many athletic honors, the biology major received a Scarlet Key Award, one of the University’s highest academic honors.

“She is the standard for what it means to be a BU student-athlete,” Waters says. “Talent on the field, commitment in the classroom, and leadership in the community. I have said it time and time again, but Cait Coker is one in a million. Every recognition and award she has accumulated during her time here is a small glimpse into just how special this individual truly is. I’ll be forever grateful Cait chose to be a Terrier and represented us with so much brilliance and class.”

Coker says that while she’s grateful for the many accolades, her sight is set on one more goal. 

“It’s great to receive recognition, and I’m so honored to have received it, but I would trade any of those awards for another championship ring,” says Coker, who will be one of four cocaptains next year, before graduating with a master’s degree in biology. 

“I still don’t think our job is done,” she says. “This will be my final ‘revenge’ tour, trying to get that final job done and prove that we’re a great program that can compete on a national level.”