E-mail Coach McCracken (mnm37@cornell.edu)
Mary McCracken, former associate head coach at Syracuse University, just finished her first season with the Big Red as an assistant coach, helping Cornell to one of its best season’s in program history.
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 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 Belen Martinez ’09 and Brenna Gulotta ’09 were named first-team All-Ivy, while Kate Thompson ’11 and Catie De Stio ’11 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.
