Some may think that Mike Thompson sealed his Coach of the Year award on March 14 when pole vaulter Rory Quiller cleared 18 1/2 at the NCAA Track and Field Championships to become Binghamton University’s first-ever Division I National Champion.

But Thompson had this award locked up three weeks earlier, when Binghamton placed a best-ever second place at the America East championship, behind only an Albany team that won its third title in four years.

Thompson and his staff were rewarded by being named America East Coaching Staff of the Year, and now unanimously voted as Pipe Dream Coach of the Year.

While Quiller dominated the headlines, other stars like sprinter Cazal Arnett, distance runner Chris Gaube and thrower Justin Halleck had huge days at the AE Championship to lead the Bearcats to their record finish.

On the women’s side, Thompson’s squad dealt with injuries to or down years from virtually every star, yet the team refused to quit and finished in seventh place, when a basement finish seemed inevitable.

Perhaps more than any other sport, a track coach relies on his staff, so this award is not just to Thompson, but to his entire coaching staff: Annette Acuff, who coaches the distance team and brought Gaube to campus; Natalie Dawkins who works with the sprinters and in her first year has seen Arnett named Rookie of the Year at the Indoor Championships; Wally Yelverton, who works with the field athletes and has seen Halleck become one of the best throwers in the league. Throw in graduate assistants Dan Jordy and Hasani Hampden, and you have a lot of people Thompson will need to thank for this award.

But this year, more than anything, it was Thompson’s specialty, the pole vault, that he will be remembered for. Thompson joined a select group of coaches who have guided winners to national titles at each of the Division I, II and III levels. He also won a collegiate pole vaulting title himself when he was in college.

And something tells us this won’t be a one-shot deal. Thompson pulled off one more masterful move as the season ended, one that will ensure that Rory Quiller might not be the last Bearcat National Champion — that Quiller might not even be the last Quiller.

Yes, Thompson brought in Rory’s brother, Robb Quiller, the current state champion and Section IX record holder in the pole vault.

Thanks to Thompson, for at least four more years, the spiedie, the pierogies and the carousels will have to make room for pole vaulting in the pantheon of Binghamton greatness.