SUNY Brockport Athletics

John Feeney took over The College at Brockport gymnastics program when former head coach Marie Durham stepped down in the summer of 1999. Feeney is in the midst of an unprecedented run of success in gymnastics with the Golden Eagles. In the 2018-19 season, Feeney led the program to its second NCGA National Championship and another NCGA East Regional Championship. 

Coach Feeney led the team to an 8-8 overall record in the 2017-18 season. The unit took third place in the NCGA East Regional with a score of 190.225, with Candi Kowalik earning the All-Around Gymnast title. The Golden Eagles also finished third in the NCGA National Championships.

The 2016-17 season saw the Green and Gold finish with a 14-5 overall record. The team won its second consecutive East Regional title after recording a team score of 191.850. In the NCGA National Championships a team led by Brittany Vasile and Candis Kowalik, finished in third-place with a score of 186.800. Kowalik repeated as the beam National Champion on day two after hitting a score of 9.600.

Feeney led a special team in the 2015-16 campaign that finished 7-1 and were ranked no. 2 as they headed into the NCGA Championships. After capturing their sixth East Region Championship since 2007, Feeney was awarded East Region Coach of the Year at the meet, making it his fifth title. During the NCGA Championships, Brockport registered a team score of 193.00 to take second place. During the individual portion of the competition, Candis Kowalik earned first place on the beam to take home a National Championship. 

The 2014-15 season improved on the year before with a 12-7 overall record and finished second in the East Regional before taking fourth at the NCGA Championships. Nine women won All-America Awards after great performances by Lexi King, Stephanie Schuler, Jen Sklenar, Lily Jagodzinski, Connie Kung and Natalie Manga.

In 2013-14, the Golden Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 9-5 and were crowned ECAC Champions for the second year in a row. Throughout much of the season, the Golden Eagles were ranked #1 in the nation. At the NCGA Championships, Brockport finished in third place overall, tying the school record with a score of 190.800 and took the top spot as a team on floor. Brockport earned six All-American honors this season, with junior Stephanie Schuler and sophomore Lily Jagodzinski each earning two. Schuler also broke the school record on the uneven bars during a home meet against Rhode Island with a score of 9.8.

During the 2012-13 season, Feeney coached the Golden Eagles to their first ECAC team title since 2009-10. Brockport finished the season with an 11-6 overall record and place fourth at the NCGA Championships. Schuler finished as the National Champion on the beam, leading six Golden Eagles who received All-American honors.

Feeney led the 2011-2012 team to the pinnacle of success, winning the 2012 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championship for the first time in program history. Feeney was awarded the NCGA Coach of the Year for guiding the Golden Eagles to their first ever national championship. Feeney also won the award in 2010 as co-coach of the year and outright in 2004. The 2011-2012 team reached a No. 1 national ranking and the overall best score in school history with a 190.800. The Golden Eagles participated in the national championship for the 10th consecutive season.

At the 2012 National Championships, Feeney coached two individual national champions in Taylor Wierzba on the Floor Exercise and Elizabeth Levy in the All-Around event. Feeney guided 11 gymnasts to All-American awards at the championships along with three All-American Academic team members. Throughout his illustrious career, Feeney has coached 37 All-Americans and 16 Academic All-Americans.

In the 2009-10 season, the Golden Eagles earned a 9-7 record and finished as the national runner-up for the third consecutive season and fourth overall, equaling the college’s best finish, at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Division III Championship meet. The team won the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship for the third time in the last four years and set the school record for a team score with a 190.050 against SUNY Cortland during the regular season.

Feeney led the 2008-09 squad to a 12-4 record, an ECAC Championship and runners-up at nationals. The 2007-08 team posted an 18-7 record, finished second at the National Championships and the ECAC Championships.

Under Feeney, the Golden Eagles have rewritten the school record books. Since Feeney’s first year in 1999, 49 of the top 50 team scores and the top 30 individual all-around scores have been posted. On vault alone, the school record has been broken an astounding 45 times.
Jordan Christiano, Carrie Santore, Sarah Bulka and Lauren Gildemeyer have filled the Brockport trophy cases with NCGA All-America hardware. One of the four brought an individual national title of some kind back to Brockport every year from 2003 to 2006 and again in 2008. Christiano became the program’s first national champion when she won the all-around competition in 2003. Santore was a four-time National Champion, and even advanced to the Division I National Championships, where she qualified for the event finals. Bulka won back-to-back championships in the all-around in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 she also took home the Outstanding Senior Gymnast award after earning three more All-America honors, bringing her gaudy career total to 13.

In 2008, Lauren Gildemeyer continued the long run of top all-around gymnast in the program. She won an individual National Championship in the floor routine. In 2009, she achieved All-American status for her finish in the vault at the National Championship meet and also won the ECAC floor exercise and vaulting titles at the Regional Championship meet. In 2010, Gildemeyer received three All-America awards at the NCGA Championships in the floor exercise, all-around and the vault. Her performance qualified her for the NCAA Division I Regional Championships where she finished 14th on the floor exercise.

A 1976 Brockport graduate, Feeney has a vast background coaching gymnastics at the club and high school levels. From 1983 to 1990, he was the girls’ coach for the Greece Central School District. He also spent three years as has head gymnastics coach at Hilton High School. Among his many achievements were coaching the Monroe County Gymnast of the Year and Section V all-around champion in 1998, and several Monroe County Tournament individual champions through the years. He also coached three Monroe County Tournament team champions while at Greece (1987, 1988) and Hilton (1997) and five Monroe County League champions (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1997). While the head coach and program coordinator for Northwest YMCA gymnastics (1988-99), he coached gymnasts in the Levels 4-6 and Optional Levels 7-10 and had several local, state, regional, and national champions.

From 1988 to 1993, and then again from 1998 to 1999, Feeney served as the Chair of the Monroe County High School Gymnastics League and, from 1990 through 1998, was the Section V Gymnastics Team Coach for the NYS Public High School Athletic League State Meet.