SUNY Cortland Athletics

One of the best athletes in SUNY Cortland history, Tracey Armstead won five NCAA Division III track and field individual national titles, earned 13 All-America honors and helped the Red Dragons win the 1985 NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field national team crown.

The Monticello, N.Y., native began her Red Dragon track and field career with an All-America finish in the 60-yard dash at the 1982 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division I indoor championships. As a sophomore, she won NCAA Division III outdoor titles in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash and was an indoor All-American in four events.

Armstead added three more All-America awards as a junior at the NCAA outdoor championships. As a senior in 1985, she won three NCAA individual titles – the indoor 55-meter dash and both the indoor and outdoor long jumps – and earned a total of five All-America honors. Her winning long jump at the Division III outdoor championships qualified her to compete at the Division I championship meet.

In addition to capturing the NCAA Division III outdoor team title in 1985, the Red Dragons also finished second at the indoor national meet and won both the inaugural State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) women’s indoor and outdoor championships.

Armstead still holds school records in five events – the indoor 55-meter dash (6.9) and long jump (20’ 4.5”) and the outdoor 100-meter dash (11.7), 200-meter dash (24.2) and long jump (19’ 7”). A great all-around athlete, Armstead also played soccer at Cortland her first two years and won the 1983 Miss Cortland State Bodybuilding Championship.

Armstead earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1986 and a master’s degree in 1990. She has taught physical education at DeWitt Middle School in the Ithaca City School District since 1986. Armstead coached the boys’ and girls’ track and field sprinters and jumpers in the school district from 1985-2000, was the girls’ varsity soccer coach from 1990-97 and the girls’ junior varsity soccer coach from 1986-90. She has worked as a volunteer youth soccer coach for the Ithaca Youth Bureau and has organized a World Fit Walk-a-Thon program for DeWitt Middle School.