Caroline Bierbaum LeFrak is the founding partner of Empire Athletics Management.   She was a decorated athlete at Columbia University in New York City, where she was a five-time All-American in cross country and track and field and the 2005 recipient of the Honda Award, an award which is given to the nation’s most outstanding athlete in women’s cross country, according to results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools.  She has track bests of 32:44 for 10k and 15:52 for 5k.

Caroline graduated from Columbia in 2006, with a degree in history, and was selected as an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. She attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, where she graduated Cum Laude in June 2009 and passed the July 2009 New York State Bar Exam. She is also a USATF authorized athlete representative.

Caroline was professionally sponsored by Nike from 2006 to 2008 and now runs competitively for the New York Athletic Club.

Andrey Baranov is one of the most highly regarded agents in the IAAF.  He currently represents dozens of Russian athletes, many of whom are the  world’s most prominent marathoners and track runners, including Liliya Shobukhova, the 2010 World Marathon Majors Champion and two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon (2009-2010) and London Marathon Champion (2010).  In addition to Chicago and London, his athletes have had podium performances in New York, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, Osaka, Los Angeles, Hawaii and a myriad of other premier races.

Andrey studied physical training at the Pyotr Leshaft State Academy of Physical Training, founded in the year of 1896.  It is the oldest academy of physical training in Russia.  Andrey has excelled as an athlete himself, having run a 2:36 in the New York City Marathon in 2001.

 

Lesley Higgins, also a member of the New York Athletic Club, ran for the University of Colorado, where she was a 2-time All-American in the indoor mile and outdoor 3000 meter run.  She has a personal best of 4:40:36 for the mile and 9:58:63 in the Steeplechase, which she ran in 2008 en route to qualifying for the 2008 US Olympic Trials. She is coached by Frank Gagliano, former coach at Georgetown and the Oregon Track Club and currently head of the New Jersey/New York Track Club.  Lesley helps find and refer athletes who could benefit from the services of Empire Athletics Management.