Back to alma mater
Former Nisky standout takes reins of women’s program at alma mater
Ex-niskayuna star is new women’s lacrosse head coach at Syracuse University.
Former Niskayuna lacrosse star Kayla Treanor chose Syracuse University nine years ago to play for head coach Gary Gait, an Orange legend.
Treanor then joined Gait among the ranks of Syracuse greats by scoring 269 goals during a glittering career.
Now Treanor and Gait are Syracuse coaching peers. The Orange introduced Treanor as women’s head coach on Wednesday to replace Gait, who shifted over to become Syracuse men’s head coach following the retirement of John Desko.
Treanor spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Boston College, which defeated Syracuse 16-10 in the national championship game on May 30.
“I know what it takes … the commitment, the discipline,” Treanor said at her introductory news conference. “Certainly Syracuse has had a lot of success and I’m looking to build upon that success to hopefully bring home a championship.”
Her parents, Mark and Janice, were in attendance at the news conference.
“She gets to go home to her alma mater,” Mark Treanor said. “She had a great career there and this is one of the few jobs she would ever leave BC for.”
Mark Treanor said his daughter’s discussions with Syracuse started about two weeks ago. There was an erroneous report from the Syracuse Post Standard that Treanor had been offered the job and turned it down.
Mark Treanor said his daughter was offered the job Thursday night and made sure she told her Boston College players before leaving for Syracuse.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” he said.
The Syracuse women have
yet to win an NCAA championship. They’ve lost in the final three times, including a 15-12 loss to Maryland in 2014, when Treanor was a sophomore.
Three times Treanor was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, given to the top player in college lacrosse.
“I want the student-athletes to come here and love their experience,” she said at her news conference. “I want them to leave and say the same thing I did, that this was the best four years of her life.”
Kayla Treanor couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday, hitting the ground running as Orange head coach.
“We’re hoping to get dinner with her tonight, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that,” Mark Treanor said. “She’s already started recruiting and she has to finalize her staff. She’s very, very busy.”
Treanor chose Syracuse over North Carolina coming out of Niskayuna.
“She was fortunate a lot of schools were interested in her,” Mark Treanor recalled. “I think she enjoyed the visit and a lot of it was the chance to work with Gary Gait. It turned out to be a great decision because he’s been a great mentor to her.”
Gait and his twin brother, Paul, are considered two of the greatest players in the history of lacrosse.
Now Gary Gait and Kayla Treanor are colleagues.
“Sometimes the stars just align,” Mark Treanor said. “She’s now his peer and I’m glad that she has him available to her. Sometimes things just happen the way they’re supposed to happen. They’ve always had a good relationship and I’m sure that will continue.”
Mark Treanor noted it’s been a “blur” since his daughter starred at Niskayuna and then at the Carrier Dome, where she returns as head coach.
“It goes by quickly, but it also seems like she belongs here,” he said.