SV's Dan Kosick joins Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame
A name familiar to the Susquehanna Valley Sabers community is among the twelve individual athletes and one team making up the Class of 2020 inductees into the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame. Dan Kosick, social worker at Richard T. Stank Middle School, also happens to be among the best adaptive skiiers on the planet, and for that he has been forever enshrined among the athletic elites that have called Greater Binghamton their home.
"I take great pride in knowing I am the first adaptive athlete to be inducted into the GBSHOF," said Dan. "I feel honored to be recognized first as an accomplished athlete without the focus being on my disability. I am assuming I am being inducted mostly because of my skiing career from 1997-2002. I was a member of the US Adaptive Alpine Ski Team from 1998-2002 and competed in two Paralympics including the 1998 Nagano, Japan Paralympics and the 2002 Salt Lake City, Utah Paralympics. I was ranked in the top 5 male adaptive alpine ski racers in the world with a best finish of 4th at both Paralympics."
While those credentials might have been enough for some world class athletes, Dan Kosick is nowhere near his athletic career finish line. Over the past decade, he has become an avid obstacle course racer, trail runner and hiker, having completed some of our country's most challenging day hikes. "I continue to stay active and push my limits. In 2018 I climbed the 19,347' volcano Cotopaxi in Ecuador to help support the Range of Motion Project which supports amputees across the world. Most recently, I started training on something called an ElliptiGO to help prevent injuries. It is like riding an elliptical machine with wheels and brakes. It has no impact which helps save my back. I liked it so much that I recently qualified for the ElliptiGO World Championships in San Diego, CA in October. I will be the first adaptive athlete to ever participate in the event."
Dan was nominated by prominent Binghamton area community and business figure Nancy Phillips. "She has always been very supportive of me and my athletic career going back over 25 years ago," said Dan. "She helped me greatly with fundraisers and financial support when I was a full time athlete. Basically, about 2 years ago she called me and asked for a few details about my athletic career and then eventually came around and said she was nominating me to be inducted. Obviously, I was extremely honored that she thought of me and was actually attempting to nominate me. A few months later I received a phone call saying the committee had selected me." 
Joining Dan Kosick in the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020:Stock car racer Chuck Akulis, noted track and cross country star Tom Carter, who's also made a name for himself spinning a basketball at the end of a long stick at NBA games and other events, power lifter and Olympic weightlifting medalist Bill Clark, legendary Union-Endicott football coach Harold "Ty" Cobb, equally legendary coach and director of athletics Richard "Dick" Foley, Rob Gardner, major league pitcher who took the mound for the NY Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Indians and Bewers, accomplished swimmer Bridge Hobart Janeczko, track and field star Crystal A. Joseph, professional bowler Gus Lampo, Seton Catholic Central grad John Pawlowski, who pitched in the majors and has gone on to a very successful college baseball coaching career, longtime girls basketball coach at Johnson City and Vestal, and STAC chairperson Michele Tidick, along with the 1960-61 Broome Tech mens basketball team which put up a 28-0 record and was the No. 1 ranked team in the NJCAA that year.