D.O. Sports’ 10 best-written stories of the fall

Part of The Daily Orange’s coverage of Syracuse Athletics — and more — this fall is the numerous features written by our staff. As the fall semester comes to a close, we compiled a list of our 10 best-written stories from the past five months. In this list are stories about the photo of a cheerleader that become the symbol of the Pan Am 103 bombing, the tale of former football head coach Scott Shafer’s return to the Carrier Dome and how Gerry McNamara is still beloved in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Read the whole list below.

THE WHOLE PICTURE: How a cheerleader became the face of Syracuse University on the night of the Pan Am Flight 103 attack.

Courtesy of Lawrence Mason

In the hours after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, Syracuse played a home basketball game. At the game, cheerleader Catherine Crossland, now Catherine Hauschild, turned and embraced fellow cheerleader Amy Jo Eveleigh as then-SU professor Lawrence Mason snapped the above photo which would soon become a vivid memory of the tragedy.

RUNNING IN PLACE: Eric Dungey has always said he will run less. Then he runs anyway.

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

In high school, Eric Dungey said he’d run less. Early in his college career, Eric Dungey said he’d run less. Before his junior campaign, Dungey said he’d run less. He didn’t.

BEHIND THE NUMBER: The death Gabrielle Cooper’s father fueled her passion for basketball, which led her to become a star at Syracuse.

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Gabrielle Cooper’s father died in 2011, spurring her passion for basketball and setting her mind on wearing No. 11 to honor her late father. As the only returning starter for a Syracuse team two-years removed from a national championship run, Cooper will play a leading role for the Orange.

Chris Fox molded Syracuse cross country from one of the worst college programs into a national powerhouse

Courtesy of SU Athletics

Chris Fox turned Syracuse from afterthought to champion as the head of the cross country program, and even Jim Boeheim knows how good of a coach he is. “Boeheim would always say to me,” former director of athletics Daryl Gross said. “‘Chris Fox is the best coach in the department.’”

When athletes look to transfer, schools have all the power

Illustration by Lucy Naland | Presentation Director

When college athletes want to transfer to another school, their own college can hold them back, “blocking” their transfer to specific schools. This happened to SU softball player Baylee Douglas when she tried to transfer from her previous college, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

John Bonamego had his dream job, not even cancer could slow him down

Courtesy of Paulette Bonamego

John Bonamego had always wanted to be Central Michigan’s head football coach, but when he finally got the job he got life changing news: He had cancer. Never missing a practice or meeting, Bonamego beat cancer and was on the sideline as scheduled for the Chippewas and has been there ever since.

Isis Young embraces her name’s roots over negative associations

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Isis Young is named after an Egyptian goddess, but recently, her first name has become associated with terrorism. Still, Young refuses to let the negative connotations of her name drag her down, instead choosing to embrace the roots of her name.

Syracuse pulls off monumental upset of No. 2 Clemson, 27-24

Todd Michalek | Staff Photographer

On Oct. 13, a Friday night, then-No. 2 Clemson came to the Carrier Dome for a matchup with Syracuse. What ensued was one of the biggest wins in Syracuse’s history. The game stayed tight, but a few key plays — a late Cole Murphy field goal, a botched fake punt by the Tigers, a critical chain-moving run by Eric Dungey — swayed the game in SU’s favor.

15 years after arriving at Syracuse, Gerry McNamara still beloved in hometown

Todd Michalek | Staff Photographer

There is little in Gerry McNamara’s childhood home to indicate he is one of Scranton, Pennsylvania’s, biggest stars. Elsewhere around town, like at Stirna’s Restaurant, McNamara is still idolized as a hometown hero.

Former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer to return to Carrier Dome as MTSU’s defensive coordinator

Daily Orange File Photo

Syracuse fired Scott Shafer as head football coach in late 2015 after SU knocked off Boston College in Shafer’s final game at SU. Two years later, Shafer returned to the Carrier Dome as Middle Tennessee State’s defensive coordinator helping guide MTSU to an upset of the Orange.