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| • 2008 Cross Country Coaches | ||||
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 Head CoachAnnette Acuff Ninth Season Oklahoma (1995) Annette Acuff begins her ninth season as the men’s and women’s head cross country coach in 2008. She also serves as an assistant track coach for the Bearcats. Acuff came to Binghamton from the University of Northern Colorado, where she was the assistant women’s cross country coach for three years. During that span, she coached one cross country All-American and three All-American distance runners in track. Under Acuff’s leadership, the Bears enjoyed back-to-back NCAA Division II Championship appearances, placing 10th in 1997 and 14th in 1998. In the five years prior to her arrival at Northern Colorado, the program had not advanced to the national meet. In 1997, Northern Colorado’s coaching staff was selected as North Central Region Coaches of the Year. Acuff also was an assistant men’s and women’s track coach for three years, handling the distance runners. A former NCAA Division I runner, Acuff earned all-conference honors in indoor track two straight years in the 1,000 meters at Oklahoma (1992-93). Acuff was also an Academic All-Big Eight selection four times (1991-94). Acuff received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Oklahoma in 1995, and went on to earn her master’s degree in physical education, with an emphasis in sports psychology, from Northern Colorado in May 2000. She received her Level I and Level II U.S. Track & Field Certification in 1999 and 2001 respectively. |
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Joe Pienta begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Binghamton cross country program. He will also assist with coaching the distance runners on the track & field teams. Pienta has spent the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant cross country and track coach at Columbia University. The women's team placed second in the Ivy League last season and sent their top runner to the NCAA Championships. The women were also sixth out of 36 teams at the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet while the men placed 10th out of 34 squads. Also last year, Pienta was an assistant cross country and track coach at The School at Columbia. He worked with students ages 10-14 in the first year of the middle school's athletic program. A 2004 graduate of the University at Albany, Pienta earned America East All-Conference honors in both cross country and track. He placed sixth at the conference's cross country championship in 2002 and eighth in 2003. In track, Pienta earned all-conference honors in the 5,000 at the 2002 America East Indoor Meet. In the classroom, Pienta was consistently named to the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in history. |
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Assistant Coach