Mike Thompson enters his 29th season as the head men’s and women’s track and field coach in 2024-25. During his tenure, he has guided Binghamton from the NCAA Division III level to its current Division I status. In the process, he has achieved the rare accomplishment of having coached a national champion at all three NCAA Division levels.
Since Binghamton moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2001, eight different athletes have made a combined total of 23 appearances at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships. Rory Quiller won the 2008 indoor pole vault title while Erik van Ingen and Jesse Garn have both earned first-team All-America honors in the middle distance events. Keishorea Armstrong, meanwhile, was named a second-team All-American in the women's long jump in 2018. Emily Mackay, meanwhile, earned first-team honors in 2021 (5,000) and 2022 (1,500).
At the regional level, the Binghamton men's squad has been ranked in the final USTFCCCA Northeast Region Indoor Track Poll seven times since 2010 as well as five times in the final outdoor poll. The Bearcat women, meanwhile have ranked in the final indoor poll four times and the and outdoor poll three times. Individually, Binghamton has posted 46 NCAA East Region men's qualifiers as well as 10 qualifiers from the women's squad.
In the America East Conference, meanwhile, the men's team has been the runner up in eight times since 2008. It also was the runner up at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 outdoor meets. The women were the runner up at the 2013, 2023 and 2024 outdoor championships as well as the 2014 and 2024 indoor meets.
Thompson and his staff have been honored seven times by the America East conference. They were the top men's indoor track staff in 2008, 2011 and 2014, the best men's outdoor track staff in 2012. On the women's side, Binghamton had the top women's outdoor track staff in both 2013 and 2023 as well as the indoor Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024.
Individually, Binghamton has posted the Most Outstanding Men's Track Athlete seven times, the Most Outstanding Field Athlete seven times and the top rookie seven times at America East Championship Meets. The Bearcat women, meanwhile, have had the top track athlete in the 2007 outdoor meet, the top field athlete four times at America East Championship meets as well as the top rookie four times.
Binghamton had also captured 121 men's individual and relay championships since it joined the America East Conference in 2002. On the women's side, the Bearcats have recorded 85 such first-place finishes.
In the classroom, members of the Binghamton track & field program have been just as consistent. Quiller was named the America East Scholar Athlete of the Year in both 2007 and 2008 and Matt Cavaliere earned the same distinction in 2023. The Bearcats have also posted 59 men's America East All-Academic selections as well as 45 women's picks. In 2008, 2012 and 2019, the Binghamton men's team posted the highest GPA among any track squad in the America East Conference. The Bearcat women’s track team accomplished the same feat in 2010.
Even before Binghamton moved up to the NCAA Division I level, Thompson’s impact on its track & field program was already significant. He coached six NCAA Division III champions and one winner at the 1999 NCAA Division II meet. Binghamton also had five All-Americans at the NCAA Division II level and 42 All-Americans at the NCAA Division III level.
Binghamton recorded a 10th-place finish at the 1999 NCAA Division II men’s indoor meet and was eighth at both the men’s Division III indoor and outdoor championships in 1998. On the women’s side, Binghamton was sixth in the NCAA Division III indoor championships in both 1996 and 1997 before placing a program-best third at the 1998 indoor meet.
Numerous honors have come Thompson’s way during his tenure at Binghamton. In 1998, he was named New York State Coach of the Year for both men’s indoor and outdoor track. Thompson also was selected as NCAA Division III Regional Coach of the Year indoors and outdoors. Two years prior, he was named NCAA National Coach of the Year. In 1997, Thompson earned his first New York State Coach of the Year honor after his men were runners-up outdoors.
Thompson also served as the men’s cross country head coach for four seasons, before handing over the reins in 1999. Prior to assuming the head coaching duties, Thompson was BU’s assistant cross country/track coach during the 1994-95 season.
A former two-time national track champion for the University of Northern Colorado, Thompson served as jumps coach at UNC in 1993, helping produce eight All-Americans and three NCAA champions.
As an athlete, Thompson captured both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division II pole vault titles in 1989. He was a three-time All-American, four-time conference champion, and still holds the UNC pole vault record at 17-7 1/4. In 2003, he was inducted into the Northern Colorado Hall of Fame.
Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s in physical education, both from UNC. In addition, he also has USA Track and Field Level II Certification in the Jumps, Sprints/Hurdles and Throws. In addition, Thompson has been published in the Winter 2003 edition of Track Coach. The article, which is Thompson’s first published work, is entitled “Troubleshooting the Pole Vault.”
Thompson has won four pole vault titles at the Empire State Games (1995, 1996, 1997 and 2004). He and his wife, Sarah, and their two children, Kelly and Rory live in Binghamton.
BINGHAMTON UNDER HEAD COACH MIKE THOMPSON
- One NCAA Division I Champion
- 19 NCAA Division I All-Americans
- 67 NCAA Division I East Region Qualifiers
- Men's Team Regionally Ranked in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021 & 2022
- Women's Team Regionally Ranked in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021 & 2022
- America East Men’s Indoor Runner-Up in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016
- America East Men’s Outdoor Runner-Up in 2010, 2011 & 2012
- America East Women’s Indoor Runner-Up in 2014, 2023 & 2024
- America East Women’s Outdoor Runner-Up in 2013 & 2024
- One NCAA Division II Champion
- Six NCAA Division III Champions
- Five NCAA Division II All-Americans
- 42 NCAA Division III All-Americans
- 206 total America East Conference Individual & Relay Championships
- Three America East Scholar Athlete of the Year winners
- 59 Men's America East All-Academic Selections
- 45 Women's America East All-Academic Selections
COACHING ACCOLADES
- Head of the 2008, 2011 and 2014 America East Men’s Indoor Coaching Staff of the Year
- Head of the 2012 America East Men’s Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year
- Head of the 2024 America East Women’s Indoor Coaching Staff of the Year
- Head of the 2013 & 2023 America East Women’s Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year
- 1998 Northeast Region Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year
- 1997 and 1998 New York State Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Men’s Coach of the Year
- 1996 NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year
NCAA CHAMPIONS COACHED BY MIKE THOMPSON
- Monique Hacker, NCAA Division III Outdoor Triple Jump (1996, 1997 & 1998)
- Monique Hacker, NCAA Division III Indoor Triple Jump (1996 & 1998)
- Jewdyer Osborne, NCAA Division III Outdoor 110 Hurdles (1998)
- Brian Hamilton, NCAA Division II Indoor Long Jump (1999)
- Rory Quiller, NCAA Division I Indoor Pole Vault (2008)
ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- 1989 NCAA Division II Indoor and Outdoor Pole Vault Champion
- Three-time NCAA Division II All-American
- 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2004 Empire State Games Pole Vault Champion
THE THOMPSON FILE
1996-present: Head Track & Field Coach, Binghamton University
1995-98: Head Cross Country Coach, Binghamton University
1994-95: Assistant Cross Country & Track Coach, Binghamton University
1992-93: Assistant Track & Field Coach, University of Northern Colorado
