The Liberty League is celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2019-2020 academic year. Originally founded as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) in 1995, the conference was renamed the Liberty League during the summer of 2004. Each Thursday throughout the year, the Liberty League will be celebrating its silver anniversary by recognizing outstanding teams and individuals from its rich 25-year history.
With the arrival of April, the league turns its attention to its past spring sport athletes and recognizes one of Vassar College’s top athletes as well as the school’s first-ever national champion Heather Ingraham ’15. Ingraham was a standout athlete in outdoor track and field and one of the top sprinters in the league’s 25-year history.
During her time at Vassar, Ingraham was a national champion in the 400 meters, a two-time All-American and a three-time Liberty League Champion in two events (400 meters and 4x400 meter relay). She also had success in the classroom earning Liberty League All-Academic team recognition as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District honors her senior year with a 3.7 grade point average as a Science, Technology and Society major.
She started her career with the Brewers on a high note as she shattered the Vassar record in the 400 in her very first collegiate race in 2012. Over the next four years, she broke school records in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. She also helped the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams cross the finish line in record-breaking fashion. All five of those records still currently stand in the program’s record books. She also owns the Liberty League all-time record (association) in the 200 (24.90) as well as the 400 (53.89). She earned All-America honors after finishing fourth in the 400 at the 2014 NCAA Championships and she won the event the following year at the 2015 NCAA Championships, her winning time of 53.89 in the 400, was the fifth-fastest time ever recorded in Division III.
Vassar head track and field coach James McCowan said he first saw something special in Ingraham during her rookie campaign. “Heather broke the school record in the 200, and everybody gathered around her to congratulate her,” said McCowan. “She accepted the congratulations, but also clearly wasn’t satisfied with her results.”
“I loved that attitude,” he said. “She was gracious enough to realize she was breaking new ground yet also driven and hungry enough not to settle for less than her best and keep working to improve. It can be easy to lose focus when you’re experiencing success, but for four years, Heather never did.”
Ingraham had a breakout year her junior season as she opened the 2014 season with personal best times in both the 200 meters and 400 meters. She recorded two victories at the 2014 Liberty Championships in the 400 (57.07) and 4x400 meter relay (4:00.35). She was also third in the 200 meters (25.87) before closing out her junior season with a fourth place finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships, becoming Vassar’s first-ever All-American in Track and Field.
Ingraham was not satisfied with her fourth-place showing in the 400 and in the fall of 2014, set a new goal for 2015. “I told my coaches [in] October the goal was to win it,” she said.
She did not disappoint, throughout the spring of 2015, Ingraham won every 400-meter dash she competed in while holding the nation’s top time in Division III all season long. She won three events at the 2015 Liberty League Championships with victories in the 400 (55.13) and 200 (25.53) as well as the 4x400 meter relay (3:59.04). She also won the 400 (54.15) at the ECAC Championships. In her final race as a Brewer at the NCAA Championships, she obtained her goal, posting the fastest time of her career and earning a national championship title in the 400. Her victory included defeating two runners that had finished ahead of her in 2014.
"It was definitely the way I wanted to go out as a senior," said Ingraham during a post-race interview. "I knew it was going to be a really tough race, but I knew I had it in me...I had a really great race."
“I knew she was ready. The last thing I said to Heather before the race was, ‘Go have fun. She had the demeanor of the champion all season and we’re just super proud of her," McCowan said after Ingraham’s win.
Following her 2015 campaign, Ingraham was recognized as the Liberty League Track Athlete of the Year and she was the recipient of Vassar’s Matthew Vassar Outstanding Career Award at the Brewers’ annual awards banquet.
25th Anniversary Spotlight Series:
10/24/2019 - 1999 St. Lawrence University Men's Soccer
10/31/2019 - Sara Artus, Clarkson University, Volleyball (2008-2011)
11/7/2019 - Ali Marpet, Hobart College, Football (2011-2015)
11/14/2019 - 1997 William Smith College Field Hockey
11/21/2019 - Grant O'Connor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cross Country/Track & Field (2015-2019)
11/28/2019 - Andrew Franks, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Football (2011-2015)
12/5/2019 - 2013 William Smith College Women's Soccer
12/12/2019 - John Coleman, Clarkson University, Basketball and Baseball (2011-2015)
12/19/2019 - Nickie Griesemer, Ithaca College, Swimming & Diving (2013-2018)
1/2/2020 - Kelly Donnelly, Skidmore College, Women's Basketball (2014-2018)
1/9/2020 - Richie Bonney, Hobart College, Men's Basketball (2010-2014)
1/16/2020 - Taryn Cordani, Ithaca College, Cross Country/Track & Field (2014-2018)
1/30/2020 - Amr Khalifa, St. Lawrence University, Men's Squash (2012-2016)
2/6/2020 - Cydni Matsuoka, Vassar College, Women's Basketball (2010-2014)
2/13/2020 - Edvinas Rupkus, Skidmore College, Men's Basketball (2015-2019)
2/20/2020 - Kevin Makarowski, Union College, Men's Swimming & Diving (1993-1997)
2/27/2020 - Kyle Bartlett, University of Rochester, Women's Track & Field (2015-2019)