SUNY - Cortland Women's Tennis

Bryce Farrell joined the Cortland coaching staff in the fall of 2025. Farrell served as girls' tennis head coach from 2022-24 and assistant coach from 2015-18 at Seton Catholic High School in Binghamton. During her three years as head coach she led the program to a combined 38-4 dual record, two Section Four, Class titles and a Southern Tier Athletic Conference co-title. Eight of her players advanced to the state championship. Her 2022 squad went 15-0. Farrell also served as Seton Catholic's varsity girls' lacrosse head coach in 2017. Farrell has been a lecturer in physical education at Cortland since 2019 and since 2014 is the owner of Organic Yoga & Wellness in Vestal. An alumna of Binghamton University, Farrell earned a bachelor's degree in cell and molecular biology in 2016 and a master's degree in biological sciences in 2017. She played tennis from 2012-13 at SUNY Broome, where she earned National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-America honors. The Binghamton native is a 2012 graduate of Seton Catholic. She played tennis and lacrosse on the scholastic level. Farrell is a USTA Certified Coach and is a member of the Professional Tennis Registry, currently pursuing Level 1 certification. She's also a USTA Eastern, Western Council Member and a member of the USTA Eastern, NY/NJ High School Task Force.

Former Red Dragon Curtis Merrick rejoined the Cortland coaching staff in 2024-25 and primarily works with the team’s sprinters and hurdlers. Merrick is a USTFCCCA certified Sprints, Hurdles, Relays and Jumping Events Specialist, and comes to Cortland after coaching on the scholastic level in Central New York for 14 years and at SUNY Oswego for almost five years. He coached at Cortland during the 2011-12 school year. Most recently at SUNY Oswego, Merrick coached athletes to nine school record breaking performances; during that time he mentored student-athletes to 11 all-conference awards, two all-regional awards, and two athletes earning All-America status. Merrick was the boys' track and field head coach at Liverpool High School from 2001-05 and was an assistant coach at Cicero-North Syracuse High School from 2006-11. He coached a total of 17 different high school All-Americans, including a national champion girls' Distance Medley Relay and a national runner-up in the boys' Distance Medley Relay. Merrick has also coached 24 New York State championship medalists, including athletes who won three individual New York State Federation titles and four individual New York State crowns. During his tenure his athletes broke 12 different Section Three records while one of his athletes broke the New York State 8th-grade record for the 1,500 meters. Merrick is a full-time physical education teacher in the North Syracuse Central School District. He earned his undergraduate degree from Cortland in 1998 after transferring from SUNY Brockport. Merrick also earned a master’s degree from Cortland in 2005. At both Cortland and Brockport, he competed as a jumper and hurdler and was also a football defensive back. A graduate of Liverpool High School, Merrick was an all-league jumper and hurdler under Hall of Fame Coach Oscar Jensen. From 2013-15, Merrick competed as an amateur in natural (drug tested) bodybuilding shows and was able to earn his professional card in 2015. From 2016-2017, Merrick competed as a professional natural bodybuilder before returning to coaching. Merrick has also worked as a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer for more than 20 years, helping a wide variety of clientele reach their fitness goals. A native of Liverpool, N.Y., Merrick resides there with his wife, Bonna, and their two sons, Curtis and Chris.

Mitch Makowski returned to Cortland in 2024-25 to assume the responsibilities as the assistant coach for the throws for the Red Dragon track and field program. No stranger to the Cortland program, Makowski, a 2023 Cortland graduate, competed in the shot put, discus, weight throw, and hammer throw during his collegiate career as a Red Dragon, claiming the school record in the hammer throw during his final season as a graduate student in 2024, earning him a berth at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Makowski, who earned his Bachelor of Education in physical education, brings experience as a teacher and coach, most notably from volunteer coaching with the Cortland program, presenting at throwing clinics, and private coaching in the community. The Webster, N.Y., native is a 2018 graduate of Webster Thomas High School, where he was a member of the football and track and field teams. In track and field, he earned a trip to the New York State Championships as a senior in the weight throw under the direction of Coach Matt Carpenter ’07, himself a former thrower for the SUNY Cortland track and field program.