Bearcats at the Olympics
Meet the athlete, the judge and the photographer
Emily Mackay ’21 1,500 meters
CONTENTS
WINNING EDGE FALL 2024
THE OLYMPICS
THE OLYMPICS
3
Emily Mackay: How the 2021 graduate made her way from the Binghamton track to the 1,500-meter semifinals in Paris.
11
7
John Moreau: The two-time Olympic fencer and 1977 graduate judges the rigorous modern pentathlon at the Games.
Justin Hoch: 2004 graduate showcases his love for wrestling and photography while working at the Paris Games.
FEATURES
14
Mary Grimes: New women’s basketball coach brings winning experiences from Le Moyne, Albany and Syracuse.
18
Tsvetelina Ilieva: Two-time volleyball All-American and America East Player of the Year is the most decorated player in program history.
Champions and accolades: Binghamton earns Commissioner’s Cup; women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis win conference titles.
MAKE A GIFT
FROM THE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
Welcome to the second edition of our Winning Edge athletics magazine. We’ve got lots of news and features to share with you, so I hope you enjoy reading through this issue as we enter another exciting academic year at Binghamton.
The 2023–24 year was historic for us: The athletics division captured a second straight America East Commissioner’s Cup as the No. 1 program in the conference. We crowned three regular season champions (women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, softball) and also had three America East tournament champions (women’s cross country, men’s swimming and diving, women’s lacrosse). But just as important, we received contributions from all 17 of our America East sports and even won a title in another conference, as men’s tennis captured the Northeast Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
We are proud to now talk about winning. We win academically and we win athletically. And nobody
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embodied our winning spirit this summer more than Emily Mackay ’21, whose accomplishments at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Oregon and the Paris Olympics both inspired and united our campus, community and alumni base. We all celebrated Emily’s success and — as you will read in this issue — we also want to highlight the achievements of two other distinguished alumni (John Moreau ’77 and Justin Hoch ’04) who shined in Paris.
I encourage you to stay connected to our athletics program, either in person or through our various social media and website platforms. Come to campus for a game or catch our teams on the road near you as they compete for an unprecedented third straight Commissioner’s Cup.
Thank you for your continued support.
Go Bearcats!
Sincerely,
Eugene Marshall Jr. Director of Athletics
Bearcats
at the Paris Olympics
THE ATHLETE:
Emily Mackay
2021 graduate represents the United States in the 1,500 meters
By David O’Brian
When Emily Mackay ’21 graduated from nearby Union-Endicott High School, she and her stepmother made it a goal to someday visit Paris. That was in 2016, and it was a wish that would remain on their bucket list for the next eight years.
“Going to Paris was something that my stepmom and I had been talking about for years,” Mackay says. “We had made this dream that we were going to make it happen someday.”
Little did Mackay know at the time that eight years later, she would be going to Paris — not as a tourist, but as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team. She had qualified for the women’s 1,500 — and as a result, her stepmother and 20 of her family members made the trip to the Paris Olympics to see her run.
“It’s really a cool full-circle moment,” she says. “We had never been able to make the trip to Paris happen since we started talking about it. It’s very exciting that we all got to go to the Olympics in Paris.”
Mackay’s dream of going to Paris may have been a fullcircle moment, but her road to the Olympics started just a few miles from Binghamton University. Her hometown of Endicott is just one town over from the campus.
Unlike her Paris goal, becoming a competitive runner was not Mackay’s idea when she was growing up. Soccer was her primary passion, but her coaches had a hunch that there was another sport she’d also be good at.
“My soccer coaches told me I was fast and I might be good at track, so I figured I would give it a try,” Mackay says. “I started off doing hurdles and shorter events and didn’t start middle-distance running until high school.”
Eventually, Mackay was named AllNew York State (NYS) twice in cross country at Union-Endicott High School and set the New York State Section 4 track and field records in the 1,500 and 3,000. She also qualified for the Nike cross country national meet during her career.
When it came time to continue running in college, Binghamton University was initially not on Mackay’s
map. She headed to Oregon State in the fall of 2016.
Mackay redshirted during her first year at Oregon State, but she struggled with injuries right off the bat. In the summer of 2017, she decided to come back home and enroll at Binghamton. At the time, she was at a low point both physically and emotionally.
“After not running much for almost a year, I was out of shape and basically starting completely from the beginning when I started training under coach (Annette) Acuff,” she says. “When I came to Binghamton, I was feeling discouraged but not ready to give up on running.”
Mackay struggled to regain her form from her high school career. For the first few years at Binghamton, her times were not as fast as they were at UnionEndicott.
“It was hard to stay motivated at times,” she says. “There were moments that I questioned whether I would ever be able to run those times again. Coach Acuff helped me to trust the process by constantly reminding me that it takes time to build back endurance and strength after taking so much time off.
Our Olympians
Emily Mackay is the fifth Binghamton student-athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games. She is preceded by John Moreau ’77, Chris Coleman ’89, Yun Qu ’05 and Hui-Jue Cai ’05.
Moreau qualified in fencing for both the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Games in Seoul. Coleman was a five-time All-American sprinter on the Binghamton track and field team from 1986–89, but advanced to both the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Games in the bobsled events. Qu and Cai competed for their native China in the swimming events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics prior to joining the Binghamton program.
Clockwise from top left: Emily Mackay went from speaking in the TAU Bearcat Room for an All-American banquet in 2021 to winning the bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games in Chile in 2023 to qualifying for the 1,500 meters at the Olympic Trials in Oregon in 2024 (with Binghamton University coach Annette Acuff in attendance).
Coach Acuff believed in me and that helped me believe in myself.”
It took three years, but Mackay finally had her breakthrough in March 2021. She won the America East cross country title and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, where she placed 14th overall. In the process, she was named Binghamton’s first-ever NCAA Division I cross country All-American.
“That cross country season was when I knew that all my hard work over the past few years paid off and was going to pay off more than I even imagined,” she says. “It was then that I knew it was just the beginning for me and that I was far from done with my running career.”
From there, Mackay racked up four track and field All-America honors before leaving Binghamton in 2022. She remains the most successful female athlete during Binghamton’s 24-year NCAA Division I history.
“I had so many amazing experiences and opportunities at Binghamton, and I received all the support I needed to be successful,” Mackay says. “I feel so lucky to have had such great leaders throughout my first few years at Binghamton who taught me what it means to be dedicated to both running and academics and how to be a leader myself.”
It was during Mackay’s final semester at Binghamton that she heard from Mark Coogan, the coach of New Balance Boston, a top professional running organization. Coogan was coaching fellow America East Conference alum Elle St. Pierre (a 2018 New Hampshire graduate), who was a finalist in the 1,500 at the 2021 Olympics, so Mackay was well aware of who he was.
“I was watching the Super Bowl with my family when Mark sent me a direct message on Instagram,” she says. “He said he wanted to connect with me and was interested in having me on the
I woke up that day realizing that it was the day that my biggest dream and goal was going to come true, and it was such an incredible feeling.”
team. I was very excited and I knew that was the team I wanted to be on.”
Mackay ran her final race for Binghamton on June 11, 2022, at Hayward Field in Oregon. She was sixth in the 1,500 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mackay signed with New Balance Boston shortly afterward and returned to Hayward Field two weeks later for the USA National Track and Field Championships. She placed seventh overall in the 1,500 and began to evaluate her long-term professional goals.
“I started thinking after that first professional race that maybe the Olympics in two years was a realistic goal,” she says. “I was on a great team with two other Olympians and I knew I had a lot of room to grow and a lot of potential.”
During the rest of 2022, Mackay had
an impressive rookie season as her top performances continued to improve. Despite all of the success, the first year as a professional had its challenges.
“It didn’t look like it to everyone else, but the first year of running professionally was a struggle,” she says. “I was the fittest I had ever been and I was racing well, but I felt like I wasn’t recovering well after workouts. I was tired all the time and I was really lucky not to get injured. But the following year, I was able to come back so much stronger.”
In March 2023, Mackay earned the bronze medal in the 3,000 at the USA Indoor National Meet. She then represented the United States in November 2023 at the Pan-Am Games and earned a bronze medal in the 1,500.
Things got even better the
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For more on Emily Mackay’s Olympic experience in Paris, go to
following year. In March 2024, Mackay represented the United States at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and earned the bronze medal in the 1,500.
As exciting as it was to represent the United States at the Pan-Am Games and the World Championships, it was the Olympic Games that was Mackay’s biggest goal. She was still in college back in 2021, so this year’s Olympic Trials marked her first try at qualifying for the Summer Games.
“I was excited to be competing at my first Olympic Trials,” Mackay says. “I felt so proud to be representing Binghamton University as an alum
and as a local from Endicott, New York. I went into trials feeling the most fit and confident that I’ve ever felt and was beyond excited at the potential of becoming an Olympian.”
In the end, Mackay did make the U.S. Olympic team by placing second overall in the finals of the 1,500. After dreaming about going to Paris earlier in her life, she would finally be making that trip.
The signature tourist attraction in Paris is the Eiffel Tower, and Mackay vividly remembers the first time she saw it in person. She was on a boat in the Seine River during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics
with the rest of the United States team. Instead of being a tourist, she was one of more than 500 competitors representing her country.
“It was amazing seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time and seeing the Olympic rings lit up on it,” she says.
“I felt a lot of pride in representing the USA. It felt so patriotic matching my USA teammates and all waving American flags on a boat down the Seine River. It was such an honor to open up the Olympic Games on a boat with athletes like LeBron James and so many other legends.”
Nine days after taking part in the Opening Ceremony, Mackay had her first Olympic race. In the opening round of the 1,500, she was sixth in her heat and advanced to the semifinals. She was interviewed afterward by the USA Network, which aired her race live.
“I woke up that day realizing that it was the day that my biggest dream and goal was going to come true, and it was such an incredible feeling,” she says.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting to be as nervous as I was, but I think I handled it well. Afterwards, I was so excited and thankful to be on to the next round.”
Although Mackay’s Olympic experience ended in the semifinals two days later, her time in Paris did not. She and her family members got to explore Paris as tourists — just as she and her stepmother planned it out years ago.
Before she and her family left Paris, Mackay took part in the Closing Ceremony. It was another unforgettable experience for her and it set her next goal: to be in Los Angeles for the Summer Games in 2028.
“My favorite part of the Closing Ceremony was spending time with friends and celebrating everything that we had all just experienced,” she says.
“Watching the band Phoenix perform was like a big party, and seeing Tom Cruise jump off the top of the stadium was crazy. The whole experience made me very excited and so inspired for what’s to come in Los Angeles in 2028.”
Emily Mackay ran two 1,500-meter races at the Paris Games (top) and took part in the Opening Ceremony (below) and Closing Ceremony with her U.S. teammates.
THE JUDGE:
John Moreau
Binghamton’s first Olympic athlete officiates modern pentathlon
By Eric Coker
An intramural soccer injury did more than lead John Moreau ’77 to fencing. It began his journey to becoming Binghamton University’s first Olympian.
“Someone lent me a pair of spikes and I reached for the ball,” Moreau says of the day in 1970. “My ankle turned and they took me to the hospital: ligament damage. … So, I started working out with the fencing team.”
Soon after, Moreau received a phone call from fencing coach Paul Pesthy asking if he could fill in for a sick team member in a match against Syracuse.
“I said: ‘Coach, when do you need me?’” Moreau recalls. “He said: 15 minutes!”
With some guidance from Pesthy, Moreau defeated his opponent and the Colonials dominated the Orangemen. Moreau was “hooked,” becoming a fixture in the sport. Besides earning spots on the 1984 and 1988 Olympic fencing teams, he took part in 13 Olympic Trials in fencing and modern pentathlon, and won three bronze medals in the Fencing World Championships.
The journey continues for Moreau at age 73. He recently qualified for the 2024 Fencing World Championships in his age group, started his 10th year as fencing head coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, and returned to the Olympic Games in August as a judge for the men’s and women’s modern pentathlon.
“It’s been a great joy for me to pass that knowledge on and do things I probably couldn’t have done,” he says.
Former Olympian John Moreau is a fencing coach and judge who also officiates modern pentathlon.
John Moreau competed for the United States in modern pentathlon, which combines fencing, swimming, running, shooting and equestrian. Moreau was also a member of Binghamton’s fencing team. The 1971 team (with Moreau second from right in the top row) is seen at top right. Men’s fencing was an intercollegiate sport at Binghamton from 1969–76.
Paris marked Moreau’s third Summer Games as a modern pentathlon judge. The rigorous, one-day event consists of two rounds of epée fencing, a 200-meter swim, equestrian jumping and a “laser run” that combines 3,000 meters of running and target shooting with a laser pistol. An obstacle course is scheduled to replace equestrian in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Modern pentathlon has a long Olympic history. It has been part of the Games since 1912, when the first U.S. competitor was a young man who would later earn his medals on the World War II battlefields: George S. Patton. Pesthy, who Moreau calls “a father,” won a silver medal in the team event in the 1964 Olympics and qualified for the 1968 team before starting the Binghamton fencing program (the sport started in 1969 and was discontinued in 1976).
“These are the most complete athletes,” Moreau says of the event that saw Ahmed El-Gendy of Egypt and Michelle
It’s rewarding. I win by helping you win. Self-actualizing people can help make the world a better place.”
Gulyas of Hungary win gold medals in Paris. “It’s intense and exciting.”
Moreau, considered the top-ranked U.S. modern pentathlon judge, also officiated at the 2008 Games in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London. He says he was impressed by how Paris handled the competitions and festivities.
“There were a lot of good volunteers,” he says. “It was so well-organized and well-done. But I didn’t have time to go anywhere else. I was there to do a job and to do the best I could.”
Moreau did have time, though, to keep tabs on fellow Binghamton University
and Union-Endicott High School alum Emily Mackay, who competed in the 1,500-meter qualifying round and semifinals in Paris.
“I was very impressed,” he says. “That’s a tough event.”
Moreau also had a couple of celebrity sightings on his way home to Texas. His scheduled Paris-to-Chicago flight on Aug. 12 was overbooked, so he sold his ticket and agreed to fly Paris-to-D.C. the next day.
“And then I saw Simone Biles getting on the plane. I could lie and say I sold my seat for her!” he says with a
laugh. “She is so tiny. She was wearing sunglasses: How are you going to hide that height? She was so nice and sweet to the little kids [at the airport]. I’m sure every one of them will want to be a gymnast.”
At Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., Moreau came face to face with one of his childhood heroes. Standing with Moreau in the customs line was Billy Mills, 1964 Olympic gold medalist — the only U.S. man ever to win the 10,000 meters at the Games.
“We got to talk and I told him what an inspiration he was to me,” Moreau says.
Moreau arrived in 1969 at what was then SUNY Binghamton after running track and cross country at Union-Endicott. As a first-year student at Binghamton, he took part in the NCAA Division III cross country championship before joining the swimming and fencing teams. College success in fencing and modern pentathlon led him to leave Binghamton before his senior year in 1973 to enlist in the Army, which housed the U.S. modern pentathlon training facility at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
“Unless you had a silver spoon like John du Pont, it was a sport that’s hard
to afford,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to [continue] it without help.”
Moreau returned to Binghamton and graduated in 1977 with a degree in art history. He received his master’s degree in exercise and sports science from Southwest Texas State University in 1984. He has fond memories of the Olympic experiences in Los Angeles and Seoul in 1984 and 1988, respectively, such as standing behind the legendary Carl Lewis during the L.A. Opening Ceremony and getting a photo taken with basketball great David Robinson in Seoul.
“Los Angeles was the best Olympics Games for camaraderie between the
John Moreau, above left, competed in fencing for Team USA at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1988, Moreau was an Olympian at the Seoul Games and later received an honor from U.S. Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, left.
Moreau fast facts
Moved from Missouri to Endicott at age 4 with his family after his father’s best friend told them about job opportunities at IBM. The friend, John R. Opel, became president and CEO of the company in the 1970s and 1980s.
Spent summers mowing at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.
Unable to attend the 1970 NCAA cross country championships with teammates because an early snowstorm prevented traveling.
Besides prowess in fencing, running, shooting, equestrian and swimming, he is an eighth-degree black belt in the Kajukenbo martial arts.
Seven-time national champion in team epée event.
Won the Division 1 individual Epée Fencing title in 2003 at age 52.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation coach of the year in 2022.
Inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2023.
Lives in San Marcos, Texas. His wife and three children all have fencing backgrounds.
different countries and athletes,” he says. “It was so open. Everyone was excited to be there. The fencers were housed in the same dorm as the swimmers and divers. There was a guy laying by the pool: it was [diving superstar] Greg Louganis!”
After coaching at Texas State, Moreau was tapped to start a Division I men’s and women’s fencing program at the San Antonio-based University of the Incarnate Word. Competing against larger schools such as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Northwestern and NYU, the program has sent athletes to the NCAA Championships during each year of Moreau’s tenure.
“They have such a joy in competing,” he says of his student-athletes. “It’s about bringing the best out of them. Don’t overthink it.”
Moreau, who last visited Binghamton in 1998 when he was inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame, says “giving back” is as memorable and important as anything he has accomplished in athletics over the past 55 years. He recalls being greeted in an airport by a former student who thanked him for how he taught a fencing class at Texas State.
“It’s rewarding,” he says of those interactions. “I win by helping you win. Self-actualizing people can help make the world a better place. If we can get people feeling good about themselves, maybe they can give back [to others]. You can’t give what you don’t feel for yourself.
“We’re all Olympic athletes. Some people make it to the Olympics, but we all have our own little Olympic-level actions and moments in life.”
Still making his point: John Moreau shows off his Binghamton University Athletics Hall of Fame plaque with Coach Gary Truce. Moreau continues to compete and coach in fencing at age 73.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Hoch
Former Bearcat wrestler covers his sport at ‘amazing’ Summer Games
By John Hartrick
You can call Justin Hoch ’04 a lot of things. Actor, writer, handyman, guitarist, acrobat, computer expert, content creator, documenter, journalist, speed typist, babysitter.
And as of August, you can add another title: Olympic photographer.
Hoch, a former Bearcat wrestler, spent two weeks in Paris as one of just two American photographers credentialed for USA Wrestling. The experience was the most recent accomplishment in Hoch’s meteoric rise in freelance photography, specifically in the sport of wrestling. Uniquely suited to capture the essence of the sport, given his 20 years of competition on the mat, Hoch has become one of wrestling’s most well-respected content creators, even as he only hits the decade mark as a full-time photographer.
The Hoch File
Born in Wyoming but moved to Canandaigua, N.Y., in high school.
Section V Class A champion and state quarterfinalist at Canandaigua Academy.
Dad Matt Hoch was a wrestling coach.
Wrestled five seasons at Binghamton in middle weights (149/57/65).
Two-year wrestling captain and three-year starter.
Two-year president of StudentAthlete Advisory Committee plus one year as executive director.
2004 Binghamton University Athletic Club Citizenship Award winner.
Has covered Binghamton wrestlers at eight NCAA Championships.
Photographed Binghamton men’s tennis in its match vs. No. 26 Michigan at 2024 NCAA Championship.
Hoch’s most recent venue was the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris, where he captured the pinnacle of international competition over seven days and 338 matches at the Olympics. Never too far from his Binghamton roots, Hoch also found time to meet up with Bearcat Olympian Emily Mackay (his images of Mackay are featured in this issue).
“In a word, it was amazing,” he says about the Olympics. “There’s this overarching sense of community everywhere you go — from the venues to the restaurants to the metro trains and stations. People were energized and excited about the Games. The buzz was everywhere, and it felt like we were all in this magical bubble together, regardless of your role. It was just so much fun.”
Fully immersed in the action is where Hoch is accustomed to being.
As an undergraduate in the early 2000s, Hoch displayed an inquisitive, positive, cerebral mentality — one that served him well as an athlete and a student.
“Justin had great analytical skills,” former coach Mike Fusilli recalls. “He liked breaking things down into parts when wrestling. He was very cognitive in practice and on the mat.”
Never one to shy away from a heavy workload, Hoch juggled being an NCAA Division I student-athlete with leadership roles and civic engagement. Oh, and he graduated with two bachelor’s degrees (psychology and finance), both earned with honors.
But despite his achievements as a student-athlete and his leadership across campus, it was his personality and easygoing nature that foreshadowed success.
“Justin’s ability to network with alumni and wrestling parents was impressive,” Fusilli adds. “He was able to carry on ‘adult-like’ conversations. I know those groups appreciated the interest he shared when speaking with them. He was also a great advocate for the program when recruits visited.”
And now Hoch is one of the best advocates the sport of wrestling could ask for.
It took Hoch nearly 10 years to fully marry the disciplines of wrestling and photography. After graduation, he worked two full-time jobs in Binghamton before moving to New York City with hopes of becoming an actor. While building his portfolio and auditioning for theater, film, television and voiceover roles, he dabbled in freelance editing and design (for a novel), took IT jobs in networking and website design, babysat and provided move-in van service.
His first foray into wrestling photography came in 2010, when he worked first as a freelancer and later full-time at the youth development nonprofit Beat the Streets. The group’s mission was to spread and build the sport of wrestling into urban areas. He also performed grant writing and development for the organization, leaning on his management and finance roots at Binghamton. But soon the opportunity emerged to move full-time into photography — and he dove in head-first.
“My first interest in recording and documenting was actually film,” he says. “I loved movies and wanted to make them. But I found still photography to have a lower barrier to entry and the post-processing work was faster, so I gravitated toward that. Telling stories and having an objective memory of things appealed to me.”
Meanwhile, Hoch was adding up acting credits. In 2010, he appeared in the HBO movie You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino and John Goodman. In an eight-year span, he performed in more than a dozen theater roles, did several voiceovers and commercials, and trained with several studios and casting directors.
But the pull toward wrestling photography grew stronger. In 2015, he started his lauded The Fire Inside project, a portrait-style series featuring more than 3,500 wrestlers, coaches and media members to date. The up-close, often startlingly dramatic series showcases the grit and intensity so woven into the sport.
In addition to his projects, Hoch began traveling to cover international wrestling and shot tournaments in Iran, Guatemala and Kazakhstan, to name a few. His work was recognized by
Justin Hoch was one of the few photographers credentialed to cover Team USA wrestling at the Paris Olympics.
The buzz was everywhere, and it felt like we were all in this magical bubble together, regardless of your role.”
wrestling magazine WIN, which named Hoch its 2019 Journalist of the Year.
The recognition helped springboard Hoch’s career.
“I always believed that if you are good at what you do, people will come to you,” he says.
Hoch also started The Dream Project, in which he documents the journey of elite wrestlers as they train in preparation for the highest level of competition. The project will be completed in the runup to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and culminate with a photo book.
Whether it’s his individual portraits, documentary-style shoots or match-action photography, Hoch is passionate about wrestling.
“Wrestling is foundational for what you do the rest of your life,” he says.
“No other sport or activity is as good at building resilient, capable humans as wrestling. Once I came to that conclusion, telling the story of wrestling and its power became a critical part of my purpose.”
Has his decades-long experience in sport helped his eye behind the camera?
“I certainly have a more evolved sense of anticipating what might happen in any given scenario,” Hoch says. “When movements happen in split seconds, that anticipation can mean the difference between getting a shot and missing entirely.”
“I know that his ability to anticipate wrestling situations for awardwinning photos comes not just from his wrestling background, but the time he spent thinking through match strategies and being a student of the sport,” Fusilli adds.
But Hoch not only is a student of the sport. He is a student of life: one who loves deep, exhaustive learning and one who has no fear of trying or failing. Hoch’s zest for living, engaging, learning and sharing has served him well — and his photography subjects and audience are all the better for it.
“I love the wrestling community,” he says. “It’s a wildly eclectic, diverse group of people ... not just in the U.S., but around the world. I’m fascinated by the different ways we exist as humans, and wrestling has given me so many opportunities to experience them. My hope is that I can then communicate that experience through my work. When I can do that successfully, it’s both magical and gratifying.”
Justin Hoch’s photography pursuits include The Dream Project, documenting wrestlers as they make their way toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. To view more of Hoch’s photography, visit jhoch.com
The Grimes era tips off
New women’s basketball coach brings two decades of success to Binghamton
By Eric Coker
Mary Grimes knows what it takes for a women’s basketball team to win in the America East Conference: talent and defense.
“There is talent here,” says Grimes, who was introduced in April as Binghamton University’s sixth Division I women’s basketball coach. “We need to utilize their strengths and tweak the defense. The old adage ‘defense wins championships’ has not changed.”
She’s familiar with winning America East championships: As an assistant coach at UAlbany from 2010–16, Grimes was a key member of a staff that led the team to five consecutive conference tournament titles, a victory in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and an 83–13 record in conference play. The Great Danes were also consistently in the national Top 25 in points allowed per game.
Grimes, who was also an assistant at Syracuse and Xavier, spent the past three seasons at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, where she guided the Dolphins to two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances before the program transitioned to Division I. In 2023–24, the Grimes-led team won 18 games and earned a WNIT berth.
“Mary is a proven winner with a history of recruiting the best and brightest student-athletes,” Director of Athletics Eugene Marshall Jr. says. “What she did at Albany, Syracuse, Xavier and Le Moyne are true testaments to her ability to be a successful coach at Binghamton.”
A command of coaching
Even as young girl growing up in Michigan and as a four-year starting point guard at Siena, Grimes knew coaching was in her future.
“I’m a basketball junkie,” she says. “I wanted to coach from the first time I picked up a basketball. I still have my AAU playbook here!”
Grimes says she has “taken nuggets” of knowledge from the coaches she worked with. At Syracuse, she honed her recruiting skills under coach Quentin Hillsman, serving as recruiting coordinator and developing five all-
conference guards from 2005–10. At UAlbany, Grimes gained experience in Xs and Os and game-planning with coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. And as the associate head coach at Le Moyne, Grimes acquired a vision of how to run a college program from Gina Castelli, who was also her former coach and mentor at Siena.
“Taking tibits from all of them, I was able to determine how I wanted to have a career as a head coach,” Grimes says. “All three are winners and I got [coaching skills] from everybody.”
After earning the 2024 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year award, Grimes decided that Binghamton’s open position was an ideal opportunity.
“I’m familiar with the area and the basketball here,” she says. “I played in
The WEE philosophy
For Grimes, coaching on and off the court is about “WEE” (win, encourage, empower).
“I’ve always wanted to encourage and empower young women,” she says. “As I got closer to becoming a head coach, I felt that I needed something else. I’ve won and helped build programs, so that became part of my philosophy. I thought it might be a little conceited to put the W first, but it doesn’t work if you put it at the end!”
Winning is more than a team’s record, Grimes says: There is winning in the classroom, winning the day, and being better than you were yesterday. There is also the importance of recruiting players and staff members who are winners with good demeanors. Grimes points to Kaia Goode, a two-year starting guard at Le Moyne who is joining the Bearcats this season.
“She won in high school; she won in AAU; she won at Le Moyne,” Grimes says. “She’s a winner! I don’t care about size. I care about heart, and Kaia has that.”
As a self-described “positive person,” encouragement is a necessary attribute for Grimes’ philosophy. Being able to mentor and empower her players is also vital.
“The last E is for empower: We spend two to three hours on the court with them each day,” she says. “There’s so much more going on in their lives. I try to take time to invest in the players as people. I want to go to their weddings and baby showers in 15 years. It’s hard to have that relationship if someone is ‘one and done.’ I want them to be great!”
The 2024–25 Bearcats
Grimes takes over a 14–17 team that advanced to the America East Tournament semifinals. The
Mary is a proven winner with a history of recruiting the best and brightest student-athletes.”
—EUGENE MARSHALL JR., DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
forward Genevieve Coleman. The five newcomers include two transfers from Le Moyne (Goode and guard Leah Middleton) and 6-foot-5 freshman center Abby Misier from New Jersey.
Fans can expect the experienced and deep Bearcats to play hard for 40 minutes, says Grimes, whose staff consists of assistants Alison Bouman, Maggie Moore and Zakiya Saunders, director of operations Emma MacDonough, and video coordinator Lytoya Baker.
“We are going to be high-fiving each other and showing a lot of camaraderie on the floor,” she says. “We’ll have a never-give-up attitude. Win or lose, we are going to play to the final buzzer.”
The emphasis on defense will be accompanied by an exciting, fast, smart offense.
“We need to score in the halfcourt,” Grimes says. “I want to share the ball. I don’t want us to come down, make one pass and take a quick shot.”
As for scheduling, Grimes isn’t one to shy away from tough opponents. Last season, Grimes’ Le Moyne team traveled to play NCAA Tournament teams such
as USC, Colorado and Richmond. The Bearcats’ schedule for the 2024–25 season includes visits from Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Akron, and games at Siena, Cornell and Canisius.
“I’m not afraid to play anyone,” she says. “I want to schedule smart. Being able to bring [teams] to the Events Center, with its great environment, is a huge plus for us.”
Binghamton is renowned for its Events Center fans: The University led the America East in women’s basketball attendance last season with an average of nearly 1,500 per game. Grimes wants that number to improve and believes her Bearcats can make it happen.
“It starts with those [1,500 fans] bringing a friend or two,” she says with a laugh. “But winning helps. Everyone loves to see a winning team. I’ve already learned that Binghamton is a great place that builds relationships with its fans. We have unbelievable support. With that support, putting a winning product on the court is the next step.”
Through the years
COACHING
2021–2024: Le Moyne College head coach (three straight postseason appearances; coach of the year in 2023 and 2024; 56–29 overall record)
2019–2021: Xavier University assistant coach
2017–2019: Le Moyne College associate head coach
2010–2016: UAlbany assistant coach and recruiting coordinator
2005–2010: Syracuse University assistant coach and recruiting coordinator
2003–2005: Le Moyne College assistant coach
PLAYING
1999–2003: Siena College (bachelor’s degree in marketing and management; four-year starter, two-year captain; helped lead Saints to NCAA Tournament in 2001 and WNIT in 2002 and 2003)
Full
Tsvetelina Ilieva, a School of Management student, arrived in Binghamton after playing in her native Bulgaria and competing at Seton Hall University.
bloom:
From Bulgaria to Binghamton
Tsvetelina Ilieva displays stardom on the volleyball court
By John Hartrick
Tsvetelina Ilieva’s first name means “flower” in Bulgarian. Which begs the question: What kind of flower is she?
For Binghamton University volleyball fans, it surely would be a unique and dynamic one, like a wild orchid. Because Bearcat fans haven’t seen a student-athlete quite like Ilieva. In her first two seasons at Binghamton, the 5-foot-10 outside hitter has been a two-time national All-American and two-time America East Player of the Year. Heading into her final collegiate season this fall, Ilieva is already the most decorated volleyball player in program history. And her arrival to campus from Seton Hall, in tandem with head coach Allie Yaeger, has sent the Bearcats to the top tier of the America East standings.
For Yaeger, who decided to leave her head coaching job with the Big East member Pirates to return to Binghamton, Ilieva’s flower match would be one that symbolizes loyalty, kindness and, above all, hard work and perseverance. The traits of magnolias and daffodils come to mind.
For Ilieva’s teammates and friends, that flower would need to represent happiness, warmth and positivity. Those qualities align nicely with sunflowers and tulips.
But whichever flower you assign to Ilieva, all would agree that she has blossomed into a spectacular display.
Ilieva’s roots take us to the Balkan peninsula and her home country of Bulgaria. Ilieva is from a large, closeknit family and grew up just outside the capital city of Sofia. She has a twin sister, Lily, older brother Ivan, and many cousins, aunts and uncles. Sports were prominent in the family. Her grandfather competed at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City in rowing. Her grandmother also was a national-caliber rower. Her father was a runner, tall and fit.
But with all the athletic genes in the family, perhaps the strongest sports influence came from Ilieva’s mother. She made sure all three children got involved with sports, believing in the positive qualities that accompany athletics participation. Soccer, basketball and volleyball are three of the most popular sports in Bulgaria and by sixth grade, Ilieva was playing on the local club volleyball team. She was already tall for her age and quickly grew to enjoy the sport and its components.
“I love the art of volleyball,” she says. “Hitting, blocking, serving ... the drills ... the emotion of it all. It just makes sense to me.”
Her club team practiced every day and played matches on Sundays. As a teenager, she played for both the U16and U18-club teams and, before long, she drew the attention of an agent with ties to U.S. colleges. Visible on her
recruiting tape were drive, emotion and heart.
“I loved everything about the video,” Yaeger says. “But my favorite thing ... is a ball gets shanked and goes way across the gym. And this kid goes running across the gym and soccer scissor-kicks the ball back into play and they go on to win the point. From the second I saw that, I said: ‘I want that kid.’
On the video, she also goofs around and interviews her teammates in Bulgarian and they were all laughing. She was every single thing I wanted in a recruit.”
One hurdle between Ilieva and college in the U.S. emerged in March 2020: COVID. Like most students, Ilieva had to transition into online classes and social distancing. She is thankful to have lived in a village suburb outside Sofia with a big yard and little congestion. Ilieva spent her days walking with the family dog, enjoying the serenity of Bulgaria’s famous forests, caring for her 2-year-old cousin and working out. By June, she returned to playing club volleyball and graduated from high school. She was supposed to depart in August for Seton Hall, but the borders remained closed, so she opted to delay her enrollment until spring 2021.
At Seton Hall, like Binghamton, the 2020 fall volleyball season was delayed until spring and was played with masks
Making history
Tsvetelina Ilieva is also excelling in the classroom: In August, she was named America East’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
With a 3.99 cumulative GPA in business administration, Ilieva is the first female Binghamton studentathlete to earn the honor.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be able to represent Binghamton University on this level,” Ilieva says. “I want to specifically thank the Binghamton
and without spectators. The testing, isolation and quarantines, piled on top of the usual freshman blues, took their toll.
“It was a horrible transition for me,” Ilieva recalls. “I was missing my sister and my parents. ... People starting testing positive on the team and I wasn’t used to being alone. My first few months were very difficult. I called my parents and wanted to come back home. The level of volleyball also was tougher.”
Not that anyone could tell it was tougher from watching Ilieva on the court. She notched a double-double (12 kills, 10 digs) in her first collegiate match and led the team in total points in conference play. When the season concluded, she became the first Seton Hall freshman in a decade to make firstteam All-Big East.
Ilieva’s sophomore year presented another challenge, as a sprained ankle limited her productivity. During the semester break while back in Bulgaria, she received a call from Yaeger, who had decided to return to Binghamton, where she had served as an assistant on the Bearcats’ 2005 NCAA tournament team.
“We all cried,” Yaeger says. “She came to Seton Hall to play for me, so it was heartbreaking to have to tell her I was leaving. She is like my child ... we do everything together. Every single day she was in my office, talking about our goals. I had always told her I would take care
Athletics academic staff, my teammates, my coaches, and the administrators for always being there for me and pushing me to keep striving for more.”
Ilieva is the fourth Bearcat athlete to be named the America East’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Track and field’s Matt Cavaliere won in 2023. Pole vaulter Rory Quiller was chosen in 2007 and 2008, while tennis standout Sven Vloedgraven was the winner in 2010 and 2011.
Volleyball star Tsvetelina Ilieva is a two-time national All-American and a two-time America East Player of the Year.
of her, so I said: Once I get situated at Binghamton, I will let you know if I have a scholarship for you.”
Now with several Big Ten schools also recruiting Ilieva, Yaeger brought her to Binghamton for an official visit. That’s when her future teammates closed the deal. She had endured a rather frosty semester from her Seton Hall teammates after deciding to transfer, and the sharp contrast between that negativity and her warm welcome to Binghamton was eye-opening.
“My teammates were loving and caring and it felt like family,” Ilieva says. “In my heart, Binghamton was the right place for me.”
Teammate and close friend Stefana Stan ’23 saw the impact Ilieva had on a team that had won just 13 matches in the previous four seasons combined.
“Tsvet is the type of person who makes everyone around her better,” Stan says. “As a team, we have excelled because she raised the expectations and pushed everyone to be the best version of themselves.”
The transformation was immediate, with the Ilieva-led Bearcats going from a 7–17 team in 2021 to a 17–9 squad that captured the 2022 America East
regular season title. The season ended with the program’s first-ever national tournament invitation.
Two weeks later, a congratulatory text set off a shriek at a diner in South Orange, N.J., where Ilieva was eating with friends. She was named an AllAmerican by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). A few years earlier at Seton Hall, Ilieva had noticed an All-America plaque on the wall in Yaeger’s office and declared: “I want that.” Mission accomplished.
But in typical Ilieva fashion, she was driven to achieve more for herself and her teammates.
Despite being the top priority on every 2023 opponent’s scouting report, Ilieva repeated as the conference player of the year and an All-American. And the Bearcats again positioned themselves near the top of the America East, this time reaching the tournament title game.
In 2024, Ilieva wants to win it all.
“I would trade any individual honor for a team title in a heartbeat,” she says. Regardless of how her final collegiate season ends in November, she is positioning herself for future success.
A Dean’s List student in Binghamton’s School of Management, Ilieva is acquiring skills for the corporate world once she is done playing volleyball. But first she will look to play professionally in the U.S. or Europe.
And if the high-level volleyball and coursework aren’t enough, Ilieva serves as an academic tutor (accounting), a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), and works on the gameday crew for other Binghamton sports.
Stan, a former all-conference hitter, calls Ilieva “the epitome of being a Binghamton University student-athlete.”
“Tsvet doesn’t settle for anything less than her best,” she says. “As a result, she can perform at such a high level. Not just on the court or in the classroom, but as a teammate and friend. She continuously guides and encourages teammates, especially when it matters most. Tsvet also has become a role model for younger kids who look up to her — not just for her skills on the court, but her work ethic, as well.”
As Binghamton fans see Ilieva bloom for a third year, it seems the flower question is now clear. She is a perennial. And a vivid, memorable one at that.
Tsvetelina Ilieva helped lead the Binghamton volleyball team to a 17-9 record and a national postseason tournament in 2022, and a trip to the America East championship match in 2023.
Commissioner’s Cup
For the second straight year, Binghamton University athletics captured the America East Stuart P. Haskell Jr. Commissioner’s Cup for overall excellence. Conference Commissioner Brad Walker presented Director of Athletics Eugene Marshall Jr. with the Cup at the year-end conference banquet in Annapolis, Md., on June 5.
Binghamton outpaced runner-up UAlbany and the rest of the nine-team conference to repeat as Cup champions. The Commissioner’s Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletics program in the America East as determined by a scoring system that rewards a school for success both during the regular season and championship competition in the conference’s 18 sports.
Binghamton crowned three regular season champions (women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, softball) and had three America East tournament champions (women’s cross
country, men’s swimming and diving, women’s lacrosse).
Women’s soccer tallied the most points for the Bearcats with 43, thanks to an unbeaten, first-place regular season. Binghamton stood in second place after the fall and winter seasons before a strong spring vaulted the Bearcats into the top spot. Women’s lacrosse provided 34 points after sharing the regular season title and winning the tournament in an historic 2024 campaign. The women’s track and field team used program-best runner-up finishes indoors and outdoors to contribute 32 points.
Much like the 2022–23 title, Binghamton rose to the top of the standings due to a breadth of success from its 17 America East-sponsored sports. More than half of Binghamton’s teams finished in the top 3, and three-quarters of the teams finished in the top-half of the standings.
The conference Cup was Binghamton’s second at the NCAA Division I level, but fourth overall. The athletics department also won titles in the Division III SUNYAC (1996–97) and Division II New England Collegiate Conference (1998–99) before the program’s transition to Division I and America East membership in 2001. Binghamton joins UAlbany as the only current America East members to win back-to-back titles.
Women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis
The spring season featured conference titles from women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis, each of whom advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s lacrosse team punched its ticket with a 12–11 victory over top-seeded UAlbany in the America East championship game, shown on ESPNU on May 5. With the victory, the Bearcats captured their first conference title in the program’s 23-year history. Binghamton earned a berth in the 29-team NCAA Tournament, where they fell to sixth-ranked Yale in the first round.
Champions!
Head coach
Stephanie Allen’s squad prevailed in a rematch of last year’s championship in which UAlbany won, 14–13. The Bearcats used a 10–1 run spanning both halves to grab the lead and then held off a late charge from a UAlbany team that was playing in its 13th straight title game. Binghamton kept UAlbany off the board for more than 20 minutes and scored eight straight goals to turn a 7–2 deficit into a 12–8 lead. The Great Danes kept Binghamton fans on the edge of their seats with three straight goals and then final possession in the closing 17 seconds. But the Bearcats’ defense smothered a would-be UAlbany scoring chance and forced a turnover in the closing seconds, setting off a celebration.
celebrated its inaugural season in the Northeast Conference with a championship. Top-seeded Binghamton beat third-seeded St. Francis (Pa.), 4–1, in the NEC Championship, played in 20-mph winds at the Mercer County Tennis Courts in New Jersey.
Head coach Nick Zieziula’s squad won the program’s 11th conference championship (10 in the America East) and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2013.
Binghamton’s season ended there with a 4–0 loss to No. 26 Michigan. The team also achieved a 3.75 GPA and received national recognition for its community service.
Three weeks earlier, men’s tennis
Baseball
The summer months were filled with unprecedented national and international success by former Bearcat All-American Emily Mackay, but baseball second baseman Nick Roselli earned his own headlines on July 16, when he was selected by the New York Mets in the Major League Baseball Draft. Roselli was taken in the 11th round, becoming the school’s highest-picked position player in 34 years.
Roselli hit .349 in three seasons with the Bearcats, including a .388 mark in 2024. In his three-year Binghamton career, Roselli accumulated 153 hits and 104 RBI in 115 starts. Nearly 40% of those hits were for extra-bases, including 26 home runs. He ranks among Binghamton’s all-time top-10 in average (third), home runs (fourth), on-base percentage (second, .442) and slugging (second, .608).
Earlier in the spring, Roselli’s head coach, Tim Sinicki, earned his own national distinction by winning his 700th career game. Having concluded his 32nd year, Sinicki now joins an elite group of 11 NCAA Division I baseball coaches who have won 700 or more games at the same school.
Sinicki, a six-time America East Coach of the Year, is the longesttenured coach in Binghamton University history and owns the fifth-longest tenure at one school among any current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Having been to five NCAA Regionals since 2009, Sinicki has consistently positioned the Bearcats among the elite teams in the America East and the Northeast.
Women’s tennis
Paul Caceres, a former assistant coach at Farleigh Dickinson University, was named women’s tennis coach in July.
During Caceres’ time at FDU, the Knights’ women’s program advanced to the Northeast Conference championship match three times in five years, including a runner-up showing in April. In each of the five postseasons, Caceres’ teams won at least one tournament match and reached the semifinals every year. His FDU teams performed at an elite level off the court, with annual academic honors and ITA Community Service Awards in 2022 and 2023.
Caceres is a Hall of Fame former collegiate tennis standout. As captain, he led his University of the Sciences (Philadelphia) team to the NCAA Division II Regionals in 2009 and is the school’s all-time singles and doubles wins leader.
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