50th Anniversary of Women's Athletics at Binghamton University
Profile: Dr. Crystal Joseph '88, track & field athlete
Brief: A native of nearby Endwell, N.Y., Crystal Joseph transferred from SUNY Cobleskill and competed in track and field at Binghamton from 1984-87. She was a three-time All-American and two-time national runnerup. After being crowned the University's Athlete of the Year in each of her final two years, she graduated with a degree in biology in 1987. Joseph continued her athletic achievements after graduation, serving as a member of the 1991 U.S. Virgin Islands National Team for the high jump, running trail and mountain races and becoming a master teacher of dance/yoga/Pilates. She graduated from New York Chiropractic College in 1995 (Doctor of Chiropractic) and added two postgraduate specialty degrees in Sports Chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology. She is now self-employed with two practices - in New York City and back in her hometown of the Greater Binghamton area.
Accomplishments on Joseph's Hall of Fame plaque
A high jumper, hurdler and sprinter, Joseph earned three All-America honors in her final two years - the most national awards of any field-event athlete in school history.
As a sophomore in 1985, she placed second in the high jump at the SUNYAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and crossed third in the 55-meter hurdles at the ECAC Championships with a school-record time.
In 1986, Joseph claimed two All-America high jump honors, placing fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and second at the outdoor nationals. Along the way, she became a SUNYAC indoor champion with a school record leap of 5-feet-6 1/4. At nationals, she seized All-America status in dramatic fashion - clearing 5-feet-4 1/2 on her final attempt. Outdoors that year, she cleared a record-height of 5-feet-7 to place second at the NCAA Championships.
In 1987, Joseph won the SUNYAC indoor high jump title for the second-straight year. Then, in her final collegiate competition, she earned her second national runner-up honor at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
A school-record holder in three events, Joseph was named Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" in 1985-96 and 1986-87, also winning the female John Bilos Award each year.
Catching up with Joseph ...
What was your high school sports background and what led you to choose Binghamton?
I grew up in a household were athletics were not allowed unless my grades and music were performed, satisfactorily. I finally revolted against band at the end of my sophomore year, where I played the oboe in the symphonic band, for seven years total, and I later taught myself how to play the flute so that I could play it in the marching band. It was also my sophomore year in high school when I was finally allowed to tryout/compete with the track team! I did the high jump (because it was pitched to me that no one else was doing it), the 100M high hurdles, which is and was my favorite event to compete in, the 400M intermediate hurdles and the 4 x100M relay, locally, for the Maine-Endwell School District. I also competed on indoor track, with the same events, at the proper indoor distances.
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?
I transferred to SUNY Binghamton from, at the time a small Agriculture and Technology school where my curriculum was Biology/Ecology/Psychology themed and very much hands-on. When I arrived at Binghamton, I continued on that same pre-med/ecology/psychology/zoology pathway with some very large classes that were at first, quite intimidating. My studies were therefore my priority and athletics, for me, were secondary. I was enrolled in a highly competitive curriculum, B.S. in Biology. I learned how to channel my studying habits with my heavy course work, including labs, with time management, athletics training and laser focus.
The athletic facilities then were not what they are today; small indoor wooden track and bare-bones training gym, but I also had the opportunity to take dance classes ~ four mornings per week through the Theatre Dance Department as a ballet/modern/hiphop and African Jazz dancer, those facilities were and still are exceptional!! My dancing helped my high-jumping and vice versa.
As you reflect back ... what remain your fondest memories of being a student-athlete at Binghamton?
The relationships that I have built with my then head coach, Coach Gary Truce, and some of my teammates that I am still in contact with! Five time All-American Alice Willis and I also have competed on the same elite track club; Westchester Track Club after attending BU. Honorable mention goes to my brother, Cyle, who also transferred in for part of the time I was enrolled there. He had helped to coach me both in high school and at SUNY B by helping me to get my ‘stork legs’ out of the starting blocks more efficiently, both for running the high and intermediate hurdles. He too was a hurdler in high school. For such a competitive curriculum and school, I am thoroughly pleased with how I managed myself and my time there. I wouldn’t change a thing. Maybe one thing ... the late great Nell Jackson offered me to attend the summer strength & conditioning camps that she led and since I was often still training toward competing in outdoor Nationals, two of my three spring tracks, and/or taking summer courses of Organic Chemistry, and working a part time job, I wasn’t able to participate. I was also asked by one of my ballet instructors to try out for the then-Roberson Ballet Company but because of outdoor Nationals I declined to audition. These things don’t come easy and I definitely don’t take any of it for granted!! I have been blessed.
What does it mean to you to be part of this 50th Anniversary Celebration?
I am honored to be recognized in any way shape or form in this 50th year celebration of women’s athletics! I am both long winded yet actually speechless! I had a fun group of charismatic teammates that I trained with and enjoyed personal life stories with; a few of my teammates Linda Oehler, Lisa Diachenko, Desmond Barnett and I went on to join the Westchester Track Club after graduation and co- Hall of Famer Alice Willis later joined us included as well as many others; Fellow Hall of Famers Chris Coleman and Mark Gumble also grew up in the area and our entire families are friends. Coach Gary Truce is and always will be a positive influence on my athletic career as well as my now professional career as he has some ideas on how I can further my calling in a similar path that he has taken! I see him out and about still running by my mother’s house when I’m up there and we have gotten together, socially, over the years. Again, I am beyond honored and blessed to be among the women that you are deeming had an impact at our school. It’s humbling!
What motivates you?
I stay active in the local Binghamton community by giving back to my hometown and showing up to as many events as possible that I’m invited to, local athlete/patients at my school district and as for at BU; leadership symposium, Hall of Fame events, Women’s Luncheons, Anderson Center for the Performing Arts dance and music events, etc. I also train on campus ~ 3-4 days per week, on the athletic fields, the stadium stairs and/or running through the Nature Preserve! It is very comforting for me to be present there.
As a healthcare practitioner who has overcome many health ailments, and continues to heal from them, I spend a lot of my time researching/studying/embracing my calling by attending as many integrative/functional medicine seminars and webinars and events as possible as it is the way to approach optimal health/functionality, balance and healing in general.
It is my lifestyle, it is my passion & it is my world.
