Beatrice Crane Banford joined the Marshall Athletic Department in September of 1997. Crane is responsible for all Olympic sport operations, which includes all intercollegiate activities outside of football and men's basketball. She is also coordinator of the CHAMPS Life Skills program and all personnel responsibilities within the department of athletics and serves on the NCAA Committee on Athletic Certification and the NCAA Legislative Review and Interpretations Committee.
A native of Cortland, NY, she came to Marshall from the University of Louisville where she had served as Senior Women's Administrator and Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance. At Louisville she oversaw the eligibility certification for all 19 varsity sports and more than 400 student-athletes. As SWA, she represented the needs and concerns of female student-athletes and coaches.
Prior to her work at Louisville, she spent three years at North Carolina State as the Coordinator for Compliance and Athletic Programs. She also worked previously as Operations Assistant at the PGA Championship and on the T.C. Jordan Golf Tour.
Crane Banford graduated from N.C. State in 1992 with a degree in political science and English. She earned her master's degree in sport and facility management from Ohio in 1993.
She and husband Craig Banford reside in Huntington. Craig is a native of Kettering, Ohio, and is a graduate of The Ohio University and Ohio State University College of Law. Banford practices law at Huddleston Bolen, LLC. The couple has three children; Lily, Max and Eliza Grace.
