THE TRAGEDY OF FLIGHT 3407
Soccer star perseveres without her dad, a Flight 3407 victim
Student-athlete makes history without man who brought such joy
PENDLETON—Nicole Borner should be having the time of her life. The 17-year-old Starpoint High School senior will be valedictorian of her class this spring. She’s the first Spartans girls soccer player to earn a Division I scholarship. Throw in the fact that the prom is on the horizon, and there’s a lot to celebrate.
If only her father could be there.
David Borner was excited about the promise this year held for his daughter and his family, but they will mark the milestones without him. He was among the 50 people who died Feb. 12 in the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.
“It’s still really, really difficult because it still doesn’t seem real,” his daughter said.
The Kraft Foods salesman was 49 when he died while trying to make it home from a business trip in New Jersey in time to go with his family on a cruise the next morning.
That vacation was supposed to be the start of something fun. Instead, Nicole was the one who handled the 2:30 a. m. phone call from an airline representative notifying the family about the crash that claimed the life of her father and best friend.
He took her to Buffalo Sabres games. The Culinary Institute of America graduate cooked for her and the family, as well as for her Starpoint teammates.
And he spent countless hours driving her places so that she could get noticed by Division I coaches. He beamed when he learned that his daughter was getting a full ride to play soccer. So, despite the added pressures it will present, opting out of her commitment to Binghamton University is not an option.
“I can’t really not have fun,” she said, “because my dad would have wanted me to have fun. It keeps me away from just being miserable. . . . I’m not going to give up having fun at the prom or making a speech at graduation just because of everything, because that wouldn’t have been what he would’ve wanted.”
So she, her 13-year-old brother, Michael, and their mother, Cheryl, will press on.
Nicole figures the best way to honor her father is by donning the team colors —green and white—of the Bearcats. They open the season Aug. 28 against Delaware.
She acknowledges that she’s worried about leaving her mother and younger brother behind, especially since it will be that much harder for them to get through life’s daily challenges—including the grieving process. But . . .
“I know my dad, more than anything, would have wanted me to play for Binghamton,” she said. “He was really proud about it.”
While Nicole officially signed with Binghamton on Feb. 5, the Borners were a part of the Bearcats’ family before that date. David, Cheryl and Michael joined Nicole for her official on-campus visit so that coach Sarah McClellan could get to know them before making a scholarship offer to Nicole.
“It’s just one of the best families I’ve met,” said McClellan, who was among the more than 700 people in attendance at Borner’s funeral Feb. 21.
The Borners expected a large number of people to attend the funeral in Pendleton Center United Methodist Church. Still, Nicole was kind of shocked that it was standing-room only at the service. Her father’s family and friends shared memories of the fun-loving man—who often engaged in passionate discussions, not arguments, over a variety of subjects during family dinners. Toward the end of the service, the song “I Can Only Imagine” was played at Nicole’s request.
“It’s just a song I’ve heard in church a lot, and it has to do with what you’re going to do when you actually get to that point and you’re actually face to face with God,” she said. “It just felt like it related to the situation because I always wondered what he was going through as we were going through this here.”
Nicole put in the work to become a historic figure in Starpoint girls soccer.
Both Spartans coach Beth Couch and McClellan said Nicole sees the field well and is very good at distributing the ball and controlling the game from midfield. She recorded 48 goals and 89 assists in 78 games as a four-year starter.
“Hopefully it draws more attention to Starpoint soccer, and it gives more people opportunities in the future [to get noticed],” Couch said of the impact of Nicole’s scholarship.
“Division I, it’s a big deal,” Nicole said. “It’s an honor because we have had a lot of [talented] people come through that have played a lot of soccer.”
She is running track this spring for the first time since the seventh grade as part of her collegiate soccer training regimen. She’ll run in the 400-and 800-meter events, which require speed and stamina— perfect for a soccer midfielder.
Nicole devoted previous springs to playing club soccer in Syracuse, which is how the lightning-quick redhead caught the eye of the Binghamton coach.
“I know that she’s going to be able to come in . . . and make a positive contribution to our team,” McClellan said.
It would be easy for Nicole to be angry about the circumstances that took her father’s life. It’s human to struggle with the uncontrollable, the unforeseen.
David Borner won’t be there to snap photos of his daughter in her prom dress. He won’t be there to listen to her graduation day speech. He won’t be there to hug her after her first collegiate game, nor will he be there to greet her after homecoming games at Niagara University (Sept. 11) and the University at Buffalo (Sept. 13).
But Nicole refuses to be consumed by bitterness. She knows that her dad will always be with her in spirit; fresh, and beaming, in her memories.
“I had 17 really good years with my dad,” she said. “I’m just kind of solid in my faith that everything happens for a reason. . . .
“You might not find out until later what that reason actually is, but if it wasn’t supposed to crash, God could have done something about it.”
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