President's Report Masthead
December 31, 2015

Academic honors

Three cross country runners earn academic honors

Graduate student Andrew Roache and seniors Alexis Hatcher and Jon Vallecorsa have all been named to the 2015 America East Cross Country All-Academic Squads. They each earned the honor by virtue of their athletic and academic accomplishments.

There is both a men’s and women’s All-Academic Cross Country Squad, each consisting of 10 student-athletes. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA and have finished in at least the top 45 of the recent conference championship meet (which was held Oct. 31).

Roache and Hatcher are repeat selections. Roache placed 21st in the men’s conference race for the second year in a row. Hatcher, meanwhile, placed a career-best 17th in the women’s race. Both Roache and Hatcher are members of the National College Athlete Honor Society.

Hatcher is the first member of the Binghamton women’s cross country squad to have earned America East All-Academic honors twice during her career. Roache, meanwhile, is the fifth men’s cross country runner to be selected more than once, joining Chris Gaube (2008-10), Adam Quinn (2009-10), Casey Quaglia (2009-10) and Andrew Ugolino (2009-10).

Vallecorsa, meanwhile, makes his first appearance on the All-Academic Squad. He placed a career-best 25th at the conference meet and is also a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society.

“We are really proud of Alexis, Andrew and Jon,” head coach Annette Acuff said. “They all had good years for us and continue to do great in the classroom as well.”

The Bearcats were one of three programs to have two student-athletes on the men’s America East All-Academic Team. Vermont and UMBC were the other two programs.

Soccer player Trappe gains academic award

Graduate student forward Pascal Trappe has been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) Academic All-District Men’s Soccer Team. He earned the honor by virtue of both his academic and athletic accomplishments.

Trappe has scored a season-high four goals for the Bearcats this season, two of which have been game winners. He graduated with honors from Binghamton last spring with his degree in human development and is currently working towards his master’s degree in public administration.

“We are very happy for Pascal,” head coach Paul Marco said. “He has done great both on the field and in the classroom and is very deserving of this award.”

The COSIDA All-District Teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. All districts have a team for the each of the three NCAA Division levels as well as the College Division.

All of the honorees advance to the national ballot, which will be voted on later this month. There will be first-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honors for each of the three NCAA Division levels as well as the College Division.

Trappe is the third Binghamton men’s soccer player to earn COSIDA Academic All-District honors during the program’s 15-year NCAA Division I era. He joins Charles Darkwah (2004) and Chris Terry (2009). Darkwah went on to be named a COSIDA Academic All-American that same season.

In Binghamton’s 15-year NCAA Division I era, the athletic department has posted four COSIDA Academic All-Americans and has had 16 Academic All-District selections.

Reigning conference champion softball has five academic winners

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has released its list of 2014-15 Scholar-Athletes and five current Binghamton players have been selected. They include current seniors Cara Martin, Griffin Mclver and Lisa Cadogan as well as juniors Gabby Bracchi and Crysti Eichner.

In order to be named an NFCA Scholar-Athlete a player must have maintained at least a 3.5 GPA over an entire academic year. Since 2010, Binghamton has posted 42 such selections.

Cadogan, Eichner and Bracchi were started during much of the 2015 season while Martin was the Bearcats’ closing pitcher and McIver was one of the squad’s co-captains. Cadogan was named both first-team all-conference and all-region.

“I’m happy for Gabby, Lisa, Crysti, Griffin and Cara to receive this recognition,” head coach Michelle Burrell said. “All are upper classmen and have worked hard to get to where they are at academically. They are starting to plan for their futures after graduation and I look forward to seeing where all their hard work takes them next.”