President's Report Masthead
June 30, 2015

Special events and announcements

Binghamton honors student-athletes at 68th Annual Awards Banquet

Binghamton held its 68th Annual Varsity Athletics Awards Banquet Monday night at the Events Center. The department honored its 400+ student-athletes and celebrated the achievements of the 2014-15 year.

During the evening, Binghamton University recognized its 85 seniors and two of them - wrestler Tyler Deuel and volleyball player Amanda Dettmann, offered reflections on their time at Binghamton.

The awards presented honored academic achievement, community service, individual perseverance and athletics excellence for the 2014-15 year and career distinction as well. The night culminated with the unveiling of the Athletes of the Year and the 2014-15 Highlight Video.

There were three Athletes of the Year selected - co-winners on the men’s side with senior track runner Jesse Garn and wrestler Tyler Deuel sharing the honors. Sophomore track and field athlete Keishorea Armstrong was named the Female Athlete of the Year.

Seniors Amanda Dettmann (volleyball), Connie Gormley (soccer), Jake Thomas (baseball) and Robin Lesage (tennis) took home the prominent career awards. Dettmann and Thomas received the John Bilos Awards, Gormley earned the Jessie A. Godfrey Award and Lesage was named the 55th recipient of the Jake Pitler Award.

Lesage (3.88 in management) and soccer player Emily Nuss (3.86 in cell and molecular biology) took home the top academic awards for maintaining the highest male and female grade-point averages in the department.

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10th Annual “Celebrating Women’s Athletics” Luncheon a success

Rebecca Lobo
Jonathan Coehn
WNBA All-Star Rebecca Lobo speaks at the Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon.

Olympic gold medalist and WNBA All-Star Rebecca Lobo was the featured speaker at the Tenth Annual Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon on April 27, at the Events Center. The event, which had over 550 attendees was geared towards raising support for the Binghamton Women’s Scholarship Fund.

In 1995, along with being named the National Player of the Year and a two-time All American for the NCAA, Lobo helped lead the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball team to its first ever National Championship. A year later, she was the youngest member of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team to win a gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

This led up to the start of her professional career, as Lobo successfully made her mark in the WNBA as she was named second-team All-WNBA and was selected to the league’s inaugural all-star game.  After playing six more seasons, she retired in 2003, and was later inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Alongside all of her basketball accomplishments, she has contributed to today’s world with the founding of a scholarship fund with the help of her mother to encourage diversity in the health professions, and now works as a sports analyst for ESPN.

Lobo spoke about the role athletics has played in her life throughout the years.  In the process, she has been able to grow as a player and person right alongside women’s athletics, which has transformed significantly since she was growing up.

“What is a thrill for me is when an older woman in her 70’s will come over to me and grab my hand, tears in her eyes, and say to me how they loved playing sports as a kid and that there weren’t the opportunities that there are now,” Lobo said. “I’m fortunate to be a Title IX baby and had the chance to benefit from the opportunities that other women didn’t get.”

Lobo told the audience how she uses her fame as a platform to encourage younger female athletes.

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Four teams earn NCAA academic recognition

Four Binghamton University athletics programs have received NCAA Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA, the association announced on Wednesday. The teams were honored for posting APR scores in the top 10 percent of their sport based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rate. Earning recognition were women’s cross country, golf, women’s soccer and women’s indoor track & field. It’s the most teams that Binghamton has had receive the honor in any year.
“We congratulate each of the teams and individual student-athletes for their dedication to academic success,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “This achievement demonstrates their hard work and the commitment of NCAA member schools to provide students with an opportunity to succeed academically and athletically.”

The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a of the academic performance for each team in each sport.

APR Public Recognition Awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sport, based on their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.

Women’s soccer was honored for the third consecutive year and women’s cross country earned distinction for the second time in six years.

26th Annual Golf Tournament raises money for scholarship fund

The Binghamton Bearcats Athletic Association (BBAA) hosted its 26th annual Bearcats Golf Classic at the Links at Hiawatha Landing on May 28. The goal of the event was to raise money for the general scholarship fund and over 220 individuals took part in the event.

The support was just as solid in terms of corporate partners, with over 40 organizations sponsoring the event. The major sponsors included Binghamton University Dining Services, BSN Sports, Hinman, Howard & Kattell and Wells Fargo Advisors.

“The Bearcats Golf Classic was once again a very successful event thanks to the numerous sponsors and participants,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Dennis Kalina. “We are extremely fortunate and grateful for the generous community who supports the 450+ Bearcat student-athletes.”

In the morning session, which had a Captain and Crew format, the winning score of 61 was turned in by the group of Jim Reynolds, Zach Majka, Josh Enfield and Jim Marusich. The afternoon session had a Texas Scramble format and the winning quarter was Terry Strauss, Terry Augustine, Steve Gregory and John Hess with a score of 117.

Founded in 1991, the BBAA is the philanthropic support group made up of alumni, parents, friends, community members, teams, coaches and students who have a deep interest in Binghamton University and its Athletics program. Binghamton University has long been proud of its student-athletes and their many accomplishments – whether they were competing as Colonials or as Bearcats.

The BBAA allows the Athletics Department to provide scholarships to student-athletes, state-of-the-art training equipment, facility and equipment enhancements and funding for the Student-Athlete Success Center that supports our student-athletes’ academic pursuits.

See the results

Two student-athletes named to America East Helping Hands Team

Junior women’s basketball player Kim Albrecht and sophomore men’s lacrosse player Tyler DeLuca are among the 18 student-athletes who have been named to the America East Conference’s 2014-15 Helping Hands Team. The annual honor is given to a male and female student-athlete from each of the nine conference institutions based on their involvement in the community.

“This team was created to recognize the extraordinary dedication America East student-athletes have made to bettering their communities,” said America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. “These 18 honorees are just a small selection of the numerous student-athletes who are committed to helping others and showing the importance put on leadership in our conference.”

Albrecht is a two-year starter who averaged 10.0 points per game this past season. DeLuca, meanwhile, started in 11 games this year and finished with 15 goals.

Family affair: Borshoff joins brother on Binghamton University wrestling coaching staff

The Binghamton wrestling team has added a new member to its coaching staff for the 2015-16 season. Coach Matt Dernlan has announced the hiring of Kyle Borshoff, who previously coached at American University.

Borshoff, the brother of current assistant Jasen Borshoff, is a native of Pittsford, New York. Kyle Borshoff wrestled at American, earning NCAA All-American status twice in his collegiate career. He qualified for the NCAA Championships three times. Following graduation, Borshoff joined the American coaching staff, spending five years with the Eagles. With Borshoff as an assistant, American placed fifth at the NCAA Championships.

“We’re thrilled to add Kyle’s experience and his New York pedigree to our coaching staff,” said Dernlan. “He has credentials both as an athlete and a coach and he’s got proven experience to develop kids and do what it takes to put them on the podium in March. He’s a big addition to what I think is one of the best and brightest young coaching staffs in the entire country.”

Binghamton had a strong season in 2014-15, winning nine dual matches and sending a pair of wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Senior Tyler Deuel won 28 matches and became the first Binghamton grappler to win the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Championship (EIWA) Heavyweight Championship.