E-mail Coach Hornibrook (djh57@cornell.edu)
Prior to the 2004 season, Donna Hornibrook took over the reigns of the Cornell University field hockey program with the goal of building the Big Red into a winner in the Ivy League and a contender on the national level. While the journey is far from over, Hornibrook's teams have made great progress during her first four seasons.
Since bringing in her first full recruiting class prior to the 2005 season, the Big Red has gone on to be one of only three Ivy League teams to post winning records both overall (27-23) and in conference play (13-8). Cornell is also one of only two teams to finish in the top-four of the conference in all three of those seasons with a fourth place finish in 2004 and a second place finish in both 2006 and 2007.
Last year, Cornell completed the season with a 10-7 record overall and a mark of 5-2 in the conference to finish tied for second in the league rankings for the second straight year. The Big Red posted a winning conference record for the third straight year, marking the first time in program history that the Big Red has had three straight winning seasons in Ivy play. The team tied the school mark for overall victories (10) and conference victories (5) in a season and featured two important wins as Cornell snapped a 16-game winless streak against then-No. 17 Princeton before defeating then-No. 19 Syracuse for the first time since the 1983 season. Hornibrook also notched her 200th career win (her 29th with the Big Red) on Oct. 28, as the Big Red defeated Siena, 4-2.
Four Big Red players earned postseason Ivy League honors in 2007, as Belen Martinez ’09 and Brenna Gulotta ’09 were named first-team All-Ivy, while Kate Thompson ’11 and Catie De Stio ’11 made the honorable mention squad. The selections marked the first time since 1997 that Cornell has had two first-teamers, while the four total selections were the most since 1991. Gulotta and Martinez then went on to be named to the 2007 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I Mideast Region All-America second team. It was the first time since 2002 that Cornell has placed more than one player on an all-region team.
In 2006, the Big Red finished the season tied for second in the Ivy League with a 4-3 record, giving Cornell back-to-back winning conference records for the first time in program history. Despite injuries to several key players, the team still battled its way to a 7-9 record, and was highly competitive game-in and game-out with six of its losses coming by a single goal, including three in overtime. Following the season, Katlyn Donoghue `09, Belen Martinez '09 and Sarah Miller '07 all earned second-team All-Ivy honors.
In just her second season at the helm, Coach Hornibrook led Cornell to one of its best seasons in recent history. The team set a school record for wins with 10 and tied the mark for Ivy League wins with four victories vs. Ancient Eight opponents. The team won seven more contests in 2005 than it had in the previous year, making it the greatest single-season turnaround in program history. The Big Red also improved on the defensive end of the field, holding opponents to nearly 50 percent fewer shots than the previous season. Alyssa DePaola '09 was named first-team All-Ivy, while Blair Corcoran `06 and Martinez garnered second-team accolades. Martinez also earned second-team STX/NFCHA All-Region honors.
The Big Red made great competitive strides in Hornibrook's first year with wins over Lehigh, Yale and Rutgers. Danielle Dunn `05 earned first-team All-Ivy and second-team STX/NFCHA All-Region honors, while classmate Gina Testa was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick. Also, the Cornell offense scored nearly a half goal per game more than it did during the 2003 campaign.
The sixth head coach of field hockey at Cornell, Hornibrook came to the East Hill after a successful nine-year stint as head coach at Houghton College from 1995-2003. Her teams earned a record of 111-39-4 during that time, including a school-record 16 wins in 2003. In 1997, her small college team defeated two-time defending NCAA Division II champion Bloomsburg University 2-1, and recorded a similar feat in 1998, defeating NCAA Division II runner-up Lock Haven 4-2. Her Houghton squads posted 15-win seasons in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
A graduate of the University of New Brunswick in Canada, she was a four-time all-conference and four-time All-Canada selection. She was the Prince Edward Island Female Athlete of the Year in 1980 and 1981. Hornibrook was also selected to play on the Canadian national team and competed as an alternate with the squad from 1979-83. The team earned a fifth-place finish at the 1981 World Cup in Argentina before earning the silver medal at the 1983 World Cup held in Malaysia. She also played on the 1986 Canadian national championship British Columbia team.
Following her collegiate and national team experiences, Hornibrook started her coaching career as the coach of the New Brunswick provincial team, leading the squad to a gold medal at the 1989 Canada Games.
She went on to coach at her alma mater, leading the team to a 60-8-6 record from 1990-1995. During that period, her teams never lost a conference game, winning five AUAA conference titles and two silver medals at the Canadian University championships. Twenty-five of her players earned all-conference honors and one was selected as the national player of the year. Eleven of her players were also junior and senior national team members. She was selected as the conference coach of the year four times and was once selected as the national university coach of the year.
Donna and her husband, Dwight, who is the men's soccer coach at Cortland State, currently reside in Lansing with their two daughters, Kathryn and Emily.
