Binghamton University Athletics

50th Anniversary of Women's Athletics at Binghamton University

Profile: Alice Willis '85, cross country/track runner

Brief: A native of Rochester, N.Y., Alice Willis ran cross country and track at Binghamton from 1982-85. She earned her bachelor's degree in accounting in 1985. She was a five-time All-American and an inaugural member of the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. After graduation, she worked as an accountant on Wall Street for about 10 years, then lived overseas for another 10 years in London, The Bahamas and Abu Dhabi before ending up back in Rochester.  She has raised three children: Lars 26, Ailsa 24 and Skye 20 on her own. She worked for a medium-sized payroll company for 11 years before starting a small payroll company with a few of her colleagues in July 2018 called Encompass Employee Management. Alice currently is President of the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce and has been Treasurer and Board member of the Rochester Area Triathletes (The RATs) for 15 years. In addition, she is the founding Race Director of the Rochester Triathlon and co-founder of the Rochester Youth Triathlon. She returned to campus in 2017 when her 1983 women's cross country team was inducted into the Hall of Fame. 


Accomplishments on Willis's Hall of Fame plaque

Willis-Hansen earned five All-America honors in a three year span - the most by any female in school history.  

In 1982, Willis-Hansen helped the Colonials win the 20-team ECAC Cross Country Championship by placing sixth.

One year later, she captured the SUNYAC Championships and placed 12th out of 113 runners at the NCAA Championships, guiding Binghamton to a fifth-place team finish - the highest national honor of any women's team at Binghamton.  

As a senior, Willis-Hansen earned her second cross country All-America honor by crossing 13th at the national meet.  She placed third at the SUNYAC Championships and earned entry into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame.  

In her two-year track career, she won three All-America honors and nine SUNYAC titles.  

At the 1984 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Willis-Hansen placed fifth in the 1500 meters.  She also captured the 800 meters at the New York State and ECAC Championships - both in record time.  

In her final track season, she scored a pair of fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, running the 3,000 meters in the spring.

The two-time captain and team MVP was twice named Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" and still holds eight school track records.  


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Catching up with Willis-Hansen ...

What was your high school sports background and what led you to choose Binghamton?
Throughout my time at Irondequoit High School (Rochester, NY) I played varsity soccer in the fall, cross country ski racing during the winter and then track and field in the spring.  The cross country running coach talked me into running cross country in the fall of my senior year instead of playing soccer as the XC team would have a chance of going to the state meet, which we did.


What was your perception of the climate on campus, in terms of opportunities, facilities and overall treatment of women's athletics while you were here? 
Originally, I wanted to play soccer as my fall sport when I came to Binghamton in 1981- and they did promise me that they would have an Intercollegiate program.  When I arrived they still only had a club team so I played club soccer at SUNY B my freshman year.  We would all cram into someone's car (and listen to The Eagles on 8 track!) and still travel to other colleges and play their actual varsity teams. I don't even think SUNY B ever did start a woman's intercollegiate soccer program in my time there (varsity team began in 1985), which was disappointing as at the time soccer was my favorite sport. I still continued to play intramural and coed outdoor and indoor soccer at SUNY B on top of running year round for the school (sorry Coach Truce - I don't think he knew I was doing that!).

I have to say compared to today, the facilities were very poor.  Of course for XC we had a beautiful campus and challenging hills around the campus to train in the autumn. But when winter hit and we has to train for indoor track - all of our training was still outside in the bitter cold. Intervals were in the icy parking lot of the  woman's gym. That made us tough though and we didn't know any different so we didn't mind. The other big difference is that we had to travel in Vans to all of our competitions which we shared with the rest of the campus programs - not dedicated to sports. Most memorable - once we had to ride up to Maine in the winter a van that was recently used by the Geology Department and was covered in soot inside and the windows wouldn't go up all the way!


As you reflect back ... what remain your fondest memories of being a student-athlete at Binghamton? 
I have SO many fond memories - the whole time as a student-athlete I look back on as such a special time in my life. BUT we are still making memories today as my teammates and Coach Truce still get together each summer. We reminisce about all those crazy trips to meets in vans, and hypnosis sessions by Coach Truce. What we truly appreciate now is how with limited facilities on campus and NO (or little) STAFF Coach Truce always came up with fun,creative, varied workouts that motivated us to be the best runners we could, and connected us as a team - a group of people who still remain the closest friends 30 years later. As a parent of a student who is competing on the collegiate level - based on my experience at SUNY B and the wonderful experience Coach Truce provided, I feel confident and happy that my daughter will be well taken care of and have so many special memories also.


Who were some of the people who influenced you during your time at Binghamton?
Coach Truce obviously was a big influence in my life. What a wonderful person and I feel privileged to have him in my life. As a team, we worked hard on our studies and in work outs regardless of any obstacles we faced - sooty vans, icy footing, long trips when we had mid-terms to study for. I remember once because we didn't have enough people at a track meet - the same four of us ran the 4x400 relay and then the 4x800 relay back to back-no complaining. We did what we had to do to get the job done, and did it with joy! That's what we learned as student-athletes at SUNY B and how we all try to live our lives. All of my teammates are hugely successful woman today and each year when we get together, we still learn from each other and from Coach Truce. Personally, I used to be very shy in high school, and the confidence I received through my running success and the strong woman I ran with has benefited me my entire life.

As I am coming up on my 56th birthday - I am thankful to still love running and sometimes when I've had a long day at work and don't feel like hitting the road I remember and say to myself that mantra the SUNY B woman's xc team used to shout together to psych ourselves up "We NEVER get tired"!