Mary McCracken, former associate head coach at Syracuse University, enters her fifth season with the Big Red as an assistant coach. During her time with the Big Red, she has helped Cornell to four of its best seasons in program history.
The Big Red completed the 2010 season with an 11-5 record overall and a mark of 5-2 in the Ivy League. The 11 wins matched the school record for wins in a season, initially set in 2008, while the 5-2 record gave the Big Red its fourth second-place finish in the conference standings in the last five years. It also gave Cornell a .500+ record in the Ivy League for the sixth straight season, the most consecutive winning seasons in program history.
In 2009, Cornell finished the year with a 10-5 record overall and tied for third in the Ivy League with a mark of 4-3 in conference play. Additionally, McCracken’s work with Melanie Jue ’10 earned the goalkeeper a second-team Mideast Region All-American selection, as well as a nod to the All-Ivy first team.
In 2008, the Big Red completed the season with an 11-5 record overall and 6-1 mark in the conference to finish in second place in the league rankings for the third straight year. The team set the school mark for overall victories (11) and conference victories (6) in a season as well as setting the school record for goals (45), assists (38) and points (128) in a season.
McCracken’s work with Jue helped the junior to earn first-team All-Ivy honors in just her first season of college field hockey. Joining Jue on the first-team was unanimous selection De Stio and Belen Martinez ’09, while forward Abbi Horn ’09 earned second-team honors and midfielder Kate Thompson ’11 was an honorable mention selection. The five All-Ivy selections for Cornell were the most in program history. De Stio and Martinez were also named to the 2008 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I Mideast Region All-America teams, with De Stio taking first-team honors and Martinez earning second-team accolades. De Stio became Cornell’s first first-team selection since 2002, while Martinez earned the distinction of becoming Cornell’s first-ever three-time Mideast Region All-American selection. Martinez was also named to the NFHCA Senior All-Star team, becoming just one of two Ivy League players named to the 38 player squad.
In just her first season on East Hill, Cornell completed the year with a 10-7 record overall and a mark of 5-2 in the conference to finish tied for second in the league rankings for the second straight year. The team tied the then-school mark for overall victories (10) and conference victories (5) in a season and featured two important wins as Cornell snapped a 16-game winless streak against then-No. 17 Princeton before traveling to her former school and defeating then-No. 19 Syracuse for the first time since the 1983 season.
Four Big Red players earned postseason Ivy League honors in 2007, as Martinez and Brenna Gulotta ’09 were named first-team All-Ivy, while Thompson and De Stio made the honorable mention squad. The selections marked the first time since 1997 that Cornell has had two first-teamers, while the four total selections were the most since 1991. Gulotta and Martinez then went on to be named to the 2007 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I Mideast Region All-America second team. It was the first time since 2002 that Cornell has placed more than one player on an all-region team.
McCracken spent 14 seasons with the Orange field hockey program, earning the promotion to associate head coach after serving as SU’s top assistant coach from 1993-2003. During her tenure, the Orange won four Big East regular-season championships and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
McCracken was heavily involved in the coordination of the program’s recruiting efforts and served as the director of the Orange field hockey camp each summer. During her time with Syracuse, she was directly responsible for the recruitment of 22 players that received regional All-America honors, while helping to coach an additional nine players to regional All-America status. Of those 31 players, 12 went on to be named All-Americans, while three others were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
Prior to arriving at Syracuse, McCracken spent three years as the assistant field hockey and assistant lacrosse coach at the University of Delaware.
McCracken broke into the collegiate coaching profession as the head field hockey coach at LaSalle University from 1988-89.
A native of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., McCracken graduated from Ohio Wesleyan in 1979. A three-sport athlete for the Bishops, McCracken was a four-year letter winner in field hockey, helping her team to the Ohio State Championship as a freshman and earning Great Lakes Field Hockey Association Team honors all four seasons. She also played on the women’s basketball and lacrosse teams for three seasons, and was named to the Midwest Lacrosse Team all three years. In 1986, she was inducted into OWU’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
McCracken earned her master’s degree in physical education from The Ohio State University and served as an assistant coach for the Buckeyes during the 1982 season.
