Special events/announcements
Men’s lacrosse All-Americans honored in ceremony
Men’s lacrosse All-Americans Tom Moore and Garrett Waldron were honored in a special ceremony to kick off Homecoming Weekend Friday morning in the Events Center. Surrounded by family, teammates, and special dignitaries, the pair were presented with their All-America certificates by head coach Kevin McKeown and were lauded by University President Harvey Stenger and Director of Athletics Patrick Elliott.
In addition to the plaques, the pair were given citations from Broome County Executive Jason Garnar and also received citations from State Assembleywoman Donna Lupardo and State Senator Fred Akshar.
Moore and Waldron led the 2017 Bearcats to their most successful season in program history. Picked to finish last in the America East preseason poll, BU instead won a school-record 11 games and advanced to the America East championship game for the first time in 13 years.
Alumni Giving Challenge a success
The 21 Binghamton varsity teams took part in the Second Annual Athletics Alumni Giving Challenge, competing against each other to raise funds for their sports and the athletics department. The campaign was held Sept. 29 and the results were announced during the Homecoming Tailgate on Saturday afternoon.
The Athletics Alumni Giving Challenge was held from Sept. 12-30 and was made possible by the generosity of William H. Groner ‘77, who sponsored the event. The goal of the competition was to increase participation among former Binghamton student-athletes who contribute to the Athletics Department.
The top two Binghamton athletic programs that had the highest participation rate received prizes. A formula that took into account the number of donors of a specific team and the total number of alumni for that program was used to determine the participation rate.
For the second consecutive year, the men’s lacrosse team won the first-place prize of $5,000 towards their program with 48.8 percent alumni participation.
Athletics celebrates Homecoming Weekend
The Binghamton Athletic Department held several events in conjunction with Binghamton University’s 2017 Homecoming Weekend, which was held Oct. 6-8.
On Friday morning, recent men’s lacrosse alums Tom Moore and Garrett Waldron were honored for being named All-Americans during the 2017 season. Binghamton President Harvey Stenger and Athletic Director Patrick Elliott were joined by local dignitaries who recognized both standout players.
Find the recap of the event online as well as the video recap.
Women’s basketball assistant hired
The Binghamton University women’s basketball program has announced the hiring of Chenel Harris-Smith as an assistant coach as well as its recruiting coordinator. She arrives from the University of Arkansas where she served as an assistant coach.
Prior to her arrival in Binghamton, Harris-Smith compiled five years of coaching experience at the Division I level. Most recently, she served as an assistant in the SEC under Jimmy Dykes at the University of Arkansas. There, she was responsible for recruiting as well as implementing the guard and post skill development. She also assisted in day to day responsibilities.
Familiar with the America East, Harris-Smith served as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for two years at Stony Brook University. She was instrumental in the recruitment of the 2015 Rookie of the Year as well as an All-Rookie selection. At Stony Brook, Harris-Smith also served as the post position coach, developing three All-Conference selections.
Basketball teams hold clinic for Lockheed Martin children
The Binghamton University men’s and women’s basketball programs hosted a youth basketball clinic at the Events Center this past weekend for children of Lockheed Martin’s staff and employees.
Each camper, ages five thru 12, participated in shooting, passing and dribbling skill drills. The clinic ended with a spirited game of “Knock Out” and was highlighted by a special appearance from Baxter the Bearcat, Binghamton University’s official mascot.
The men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs along with their student-athletes served as the volunteer clinicians in leading all of the on-the-court exercises and drills.
Men’s tennis adds assistant coach
Binghamton men’s tennis has boosted its program with the addition of a 34-year coaching veteran Charlie Ellis. Head coach Nick Zieziula tabbed Ellis for his vacant assistant position and in the process, landed a former NCAA Division I All-American with a vast coaching resume.
Ellis has spent the last four years as the first head coach of the inaugural Houghton College men’s and women’s tennis programs. In 2017, his men’s team reached the semifinals of the Empire 8 championship. In 2016 he was named the New England College Coach of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA). His coaching background also included stints as head women’s coach at Wesleyan College and as a men’s assistant at his alma mater, University of Georgia.
Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon set
The Binghamton Bearcats Athletic Association (BBAA) will host the 13th Annual Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon presented by M&T Bank at noon on Monday, Feb. 26, at the Events Center.
Held each year to recognize the achievements of Binghamton University’s female student-athletes, the luncheon also raises funding for scholarships awarded to female student-athletes at Binghamton University. This year, former Olympic Soccer Gold Medalist and World Cup champion Shannon Boxx will be the featured speaker.
Boxx was part of the United States Olympic Team that captured gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She was also a member of four World Cup Teams, including the 2015 squad that won the championship, the 2011 finalist and the 2003 and 2007 third-place finisher. In addition, Boxx was a finalist for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Award.
2017 Hall of Fame Class inducted
Binghamton’s Athletics Hall of Fame welcomed three individuals and one team at the 22nd Annual Ceremony, held Dec. 2 in the Events Center TAU Bearcat Room. More than 100 guests were in attendance as baseball player Brendon Hitchcock, softball player Mollie Lehman, wrestler Josh Patterson and the 1983 women’s cross country team were enshrined.
The event featured video highlight packages with shared memories from former coaches and teammates and culminated with speeches from each of the inductees.
Newly designed website launched
Binghamton athletics unveiled its newly designed website on Wednesday, continuing a strong partnership with industry leader SIDEARM Sports. The site showcases several new features that will bring Bearcats fans one step closer to the action with easy-access scoreboards, prominent video and social media links and a responsive layout that scales to fit desktop, table and mobile devices.
It marks the second design upgrade with SIDEARM since 2014, when the Bearcats relaunched their bubearcats.com site with the Syracuse-based company. The site was originally launched in 2006. In the three years that Binghamton and SIDEARM have partnered, the site has attracted more than 8 million page views, including more than 3 million during the 2016-17 school year.
Visitors will see larger, vivid photos, easier navigation between pages, scoreboard with game links customized by sport and customized social media and video sections.
SIDEARM Sports, a Learfield company since June 2014, has experienced incredible organic growth from delivering quality service, reliability and customization. Serving more than 1,010 partners, SIDEARM Sports is the nation’s leading digital provider in college athletics, and its easy-to-use interface allows schools to customize their content streams and digital presence. The company will play host to nearly 225 Division I university athletic sites during the 2017-18 season, including 41 schools in the Power Five conferences. SIDEARM Sports provides the software and technology that powers websites, mobile applications, live stats, social presence and video streaming for its athletic partners.
Former lacrosse standout named to Israeli National Team
Israel Lacrosse has announced the roster of the men’s national team which will compete on home soil at the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championships. 2016 Binghamton graduate Eric Fischer has been named to the roster.
The Israel roster is composed of both Israeli players, as well as members of the Jewish diaspora, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL). In conjunction with the Israel Lacrosse Tzedakah Program, each player will be competing in honor of a charity of their choosing.
Fischer played goalie during his time at Binghamton. During his senior season he appeared in five games in the net yielding a 4.57 goals against average. He also served as a team captain during the 2016 season.
Israel’s city of Netanya will host the sport’s pinnacle event that will include 50 participating countries and more than 5,000 fans between July 12 and 21. This is the first time since the competition’s inception in 1967 that a country outside of the United States, Canada, England or Australia has hosted the Championship and signifies a major expansion of the sport, both in Israel and globally.
Wrestling coach Dernlan resigns
Binghamton University Director of Athletics Patrick Elliott announced on Wednesday that Head Wrestling Coach Matt Dernlan has resigned for personal reasons. Dernlan was in his sixth season at the helm of the Bearcats in 2017-18.
“We want to thank Matt for his work on behalf of Binghamton wrestling,” Elliott said. “We wish him well in his future pursuits.”
Assistant Coach Kyle Borshoff will become the acting head coach, effective immediately. Binghamton will conduct a national search for a new head coach.