As a student at the Deerfield Academy, Poor dove and played soccer year round for both her school's team and a club team in her hometown of Harwich Port, Mass. Her soccer prowess earned her the attention of scouts from both the Ivy Leagues and other Division I schools. However, in a spirit that epitomizes the ideal Amherst student-athlete, Poor chose to venture to the fairest college because of its academic reputation, small class size and opportunities to strike up close personal relationships with professors. Upon reflection, Poor feels the school produced all she hoped for. "Academics here have been the greatest experience for me and athletics have been the perfect break from my studies," said Poor.
Moving straight from soccer into diving, Poor was in season from August through March. The switch to diving was always welcome, yet abrupt and bittersweet. "Both sports offer such different things," she explained. "Soccer is wonderful because it's reactionary, and every moment and game is different. Diving is a much more consistent and individual sport, which calls for a totally different type of participation."
It was on the soccer field where Poor first made a name for herself. A four-year starter in the midfield, Poor became the school's all-time leader in goals (41) and points (105). Although she was a standout player throughout her Amherst career, her performance on and off the field senior year surpassed all expectations.
The tri-captain's NESCAC-leading 16 goals and 41 points in her final season were good enough to earn her a plethora of awards, including National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Adidas Academic All-American Honors and Verizon First Team All-Academic Honors, both of which are selected from a pool of athletes from all three collegiate divisions.
Other awards Poor has won read like a shopping list. They include NSCAA Adidas Division III First Team All-American, NESCAC Player of the Year Honors, First-Team All-Region, First-Team NEWISA All-New England and NEWISA Senior All-Star Status. Poor also got some face time in the national press when she was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of a February edition of Sports Illustrated for her soccer skills.
Perhaps more important than any individual award is what Poor did for her team. The tri-captain helped lead the Jeffs to their longest NCAA run ever, including a 1-0 win over fourth-ranked William Smith College in the national quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory over Wheaton (IL) College in the semis. And when the Jeffs finally fell to Ohio Wesleyan in a 1-0 heartbreaker during the NCAA Championship game, Poor went down kicking. "I hit the crossbar twice in the final 10 minutes of the game," she lamented before joking, "I'd sure like to go back and change that outcome a bit!" Despite the bittersweet ending, Poor's overall performance in the post-season was outstanding. She tied for the NCAA Tournament lead with 14 points and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player.
Although Poor's time spent on the soccer field reflects that of a confident player, she claims that it is on the diving board where she feels most at home. "I've always been able to rely on my diving teammates for everything. They've seen me at my best and worst," Poor reflected. "Also, my coach, Mandy Hixon, has changed my life in many ways. She has been the best friend I've had at Amherst."
A childhood gymnast who later switched to diving in high school for lack of a gymnastics team, Poor's career highlights as a Jeff diver include winning New Englands her sophomore year, earning an All-American Honorable Mention in the three-meter event her junior year and amassing All-American honors in both the one and three-meter competitions during her fourth and final season on the team.
Instead of letting her numerous awards inflate her ego, Poor approaches her athletic prowess with a combination of modesty and reality. "I've become a lot more self-aware of my own abilities and limitations. This past year I've been able to put things in perspective in terms of my ability as a player and diver. This both allows me to approach a game or meet with more appropriate confidence and also carries over into my personal life and academics. It makes me more aware of who I am."
Teammate and star goaltender Brooke Diamond '03 summed up what makes Poor special. "Cathy's humility is quite admirable," said Diamond. "She never wants individual praise, but always strives to do what is best for the team as a whole. I'm sure she would be the first to tell you that she would trade all of her many individual accolades for the national championship."
Poor's soft-spoken mannerisms stand at odds with her tough stance on pain. During the first week of her third Amherst soccer season, Poor suffered from not one but two stress fractures in her foot. Despite the pain, she played on a broken foot throughout the entire season. There was no rest for the weary however, as Poor paused for only a couple of months before jumping back into athletics and the remainder of her diving season. Although she had admittedly not given the injury enough time to heal, and was diving with two stress fractures, Poor's grittiness and composure during pressure-filled postseason meets earned her an All-American Honorable Mention in the three-meter competition that season.
Hixon attributes such successes to Poor's "uncanny ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand … although she may not have been as talented or had as much of a diving background as many of her competitors, she would beat them because of her undying competitive nature and her will to achieve. Cathy hates to lose!"
While most Division III athletes see their sports careers fall to the wayside after graduation, Poor is hoping to travel down a different path. Although her future plans include studying chemistry in graduate school, Poor is also hoping to play in a Boston-based women's professional soccer league next year.
"I know I could make it in a semi-pro league, but I don't know where I stack up against professional players," replied Poor. But in her characteristically optimistic and endeavoring spirit, she quipped, "Hey, we've all got to try for something."