In August 2017, several dozen members of the Binghamton track & field program were in the same place at one time. Normally, these Bearcat student-athletes would either be together at a practice or a meet. This time, however, the occasion was much different -- and more special.

Adam Helman, a 2013 graduate, and Kathleen Klein, a 2014 graduate, were getting married and many of their closest friends from the track & field team were in attendance. In a memorable photo from their wedding reception, all of the Bearcat athletes gathered for a group photo with a Binghamton pennant.

Both Helman and Klein had standout careers at Binghamton. He was a two-time America East champion in the pole vault and she ran on the conference championship 4x100 relay team as a senior. They were both captains and helped led their teams to runner-up finishes at multiple America East conference championship meets.

But without question, their wedding day and the friendships they developed during their years at Binghamton transcended their prolific careers.

Helman and Klein first met during the 2010-11 track & field season. Each of them have vivid memories of the first year that they knew each other.

"Adam and I technically met at a team function the first couple of weeks into my freshman year," Klein said. "I was meeting so many people all at once but I remember him coming over to me and a group of the freshmen, jumping in a photo with us and saying WELCOME TO THE TEAM! It was so funny looking back and finding that photo after we had started dating two years later."

"The first time we really interacted much was at a McDonalds off campus after one of our winter season meets," Helman said. "We had each gone with some of our mutual friends and happened to be sitting across from each other at the table. I remember her telling a joke -- she will tell you no one else laughed except me but I think no one else heard it! I think that was the first time, after being around each other on a daily basis, that we really had a conversation."

Over the next two years, Klein and Helman continued to be teammates and friends. That started to change, however, in the summer of 2012.

"We started really talking the summer after my sophomore year," Klein said. "We exchanged numbers right after we left from school and talked constantly from there on. Talking with him was so easy and effortless and I knew that summer that he was someone special."

With the Binghamton men's and women's teams training together, Klein and Helman were able to spend a lot of time together both at practices and meets.

"Binghamton's track & field teams are technically separated by gender but in reality, both the men's and women's team train, travel and compete together," Helman said. "In any given week, Kathleen and I would train together Monday through Friday, three hours a day. Meets usually entailed waking up early on Saturday, taking a few hour bus trip to the hosting school, compete all day and then repeating the bus trip home. All of this gave us the unique opportunity to spend time together. It allowed us to experience extremely happy moments together in victories and sadder moments in defeats. In a way, I think these experiences prepared us for the real world that laid ahead."

"It was great being on the same team because Adam was always there supporting me," Klein said Hearing him cheer during my races was so encouraging to me as an athlete and if he had a great day or a personal best, then it inspired me too. Track and field is one of my passions and it is incredibly special to have the person you love be able to share that same passion with you."
Helman has vivid memories of one meet in particular in which Klein was a huge help to him.

"The toughest meet I had was the outdoor conference championship my senior year. I was slated to compete in the decathlon, pole vault, and javelin, totaling 12 events over two days," he said. "Crossing the finish line on the last event (the 1500 run) I collapsed into Kathleen's arms who had been there cheering me on while trying to warm up for her next race which was starting next. She took the time to grab an athletic trainer and make sure I was okay before running over to the starting line for her race. This mothering, caring nature is the same I see in Kathleen everyday of our marriage."

After Helman graduated in 2013, the track & field team was in need of an assistant coach midway through the following year. Helman rejoined the program and continued to show the same leadership qualities that inspired teammates to look up to him during his undergraduate career.

"I always noticed that everyone looked to Adam for leadership," Klein said. "After we started dating, I got to know a man who is also loyal, supportive, family oriented, and incredibly sweet. None of that changed after he graduated."

Both Helman and Klein left Binghamton after she graduated in 2014. In the years that followed, they both established professional careers. Today, he is the Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator for the New York State Department of Health's Center for Environmental Heath. She is a graphic designer for the New York State Retirement System and also has her own photography business.
A lot has happened in the years since they were at Binghamton but the bond they have with their teammates remains strong. That was truly evident the day of their wedding.

"Because of the amount of time we spent with all of our teammates, they became a second family for us," Helman said. "Although many of us are spread out across the country now, when we meet up it's just like the day we graduated. We're extremely fortunate for the amazing friends we made throughout our years at Binghamton and our wedding wouldn't have been the same without them."

"We are so lucky to have had such amazing family and friends join us for our wedding day," Klein said. "All of our friends knew our families so well from the years of track meets and events at Binghamton, that it was one big happy reunion for everyone."