Maryn Horn has enjoyed tremendous success in swimming and water polo over her four years at Behrend, and is closing in on several more school records this year. There is surely a coincidence behind 2018 being her final year at Behrend. Horn said “I am 18 goals away from breaking the all time scoring record at Behrend, my water polo number is 18, my favorite number is 18 and the year is 2018. It’s the year of the 18, you could say.” Another compelling fact about Horn is that her first name means “of the sea” in Latin. 2018 could be a milestone year for Horn athletically, but she has a lot of potential outside of athletics as well.

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Horn is a Houston, Texas native, and a graduate from Jersey Village High School. Horn is a biology major with minors in chemistry and spanish. She has plans of becoming a doctor, and has prepared to take on additional training and academic work after she is done at Behrend. Horn has been a Lecturer in Chemistry, a Resident Assistant and has studied abroad in Mexico. Horn has worked alongside Dr. Jay Amicangelo and Dr. Todd Eckroat in the chemistry research department for three years and will be presenting her research at a national conference later this year. She credits her club swim coach Dennis Gagne and his wife Kris Gagne as people who taught her the importance of humbleness, hard work, loyalty and how to have fun.

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“Dennis and Kris really instilled a tremendous work ethic in me from the time I started swimming for his organization. He would spend all day at a full time job and was still able to put all of his effort into coaching so many young athletes like myself, every night. He also helped show me how to balance having fun and being serious during practice and meets. He has been there for me since my very first day of practice with him, and to this day we are good friends I cannot thank him enough for all he has done for me,” she said of the Gagnes. Another important coach in Horn’s career has been water polo head coach and Behrend swimming sprint coach Joe Tristan. “Joe helped me become a better defensive player last year in water polo, and he constantly pushes me to become a better swimmer as well. I owe a lot of my success in both sports to him,” Horn stated. While Horn has had a lot of coaches who she credits for her athletic success, she has also sought out ways herself to perform at her peak.

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Horn continues to find ways to bolster her all around game as a water polo player, and the awards and recognition continue to follow. Her steals and assists totals have improved each season, and she has 129 career goals heading into her senior season. In 2015 and 2017, she was named CWPA Second Team All Conference, and in 2016 and 2017 she was named ACWCP All-American Honorable Mention. In addition, she won the CWPA Rookie of the Year award and was a CWPA All-Academic in 2017.

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As a swimmer, she continues to also find ways to help her and her team succeed. As a freshman, she was a First Team All AMCC selection and was on two AMCC Championship relay teams. In her sophomore season, she continued to impress with six First Team All AMCC Selections, six AMCC Championship race first place finishes, a school record time in the 400 freestyle relay and two AMCC records in the 400 freestyle relay. In her junior season, she was named AMCC Swimmer of the Year, won the most points of any swimmer at the AMCC Championships and broke three more team records including the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 50 backstroke. She won seven races at AMCC Championships, set 13 records at the AMCC meet and was a part of four championship AMCC relay winning teams. Needless to say, she has a lot of accolades.

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While she has a lot to pick from in regards to favorite memories as a collegiate athlete, she picked two moments that were more about the team than her. She really enjoys the trips to California each spring break with her team because it is time to focus just on playing games and not having to worry about school work. She also reflected on one particular game last year, against Washington and Jefferson, which she described as one of the more competitive games of her career.  “Washington and Jefferson has always had a really strong team that gives us great competition. We usually have a tough time against them, but this particular game, we played a fantastic all around game as a team. It was such a fun game to play in,” Horn said. The Lions did lose that game, but Horn still looks back on the game fondly. While Horn has made so many memories in athletics, she has stated that she has her future to look forward to moreso.

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She is in the midst of applying to graduate schools and continuing her journey of becoming a doctor. She will be applying to a few schools in Pennsylvania, while also applying to some schools in her home state of Texas. She is leaning towards returning home to Texas, however, to be closer to her family, who continue to be her biggest supporters of all, according to Horn. Although her parents cannot see her in person, they continue to find ways to watch and encourage her. They text her during meets and games to give her encouragement and words of advice on how to perform better. “My parents are back in Houston, but I am so thankful they keep up with watching online. Making them proud from hundreds of miles away is a great feeling,” she said of her parents. Horn plans on competing in triathlons once she has more time to train, and she also plans to stay involved with Masters USA Water Polo as a player, coach and official. However, Horn wants to cherish the time that she still has as a Behrend student athlete. She is a very decorated athlete, but her work ethic and future shines far beyond athletics. More importantly, Horn has decided to focus the rest of her life on helping people.