ITHACA COLLEGE ITHACA COLLEGE - Ithaca College Athletics
ITHACA COLLEGE ITHACA COLLEGE - Ithaca College Athletics
ITHACA COLLEGE ITHACA COLLEGE - Ithaca College Athletics
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>ITHACA</strong> BOMBERS GYMNASTICS<br />
One of <strong>Ithaca</strong>’s most successful intercollegiate athletic<br />
programs, the gymnastics team has achieved great<br />
results at the state, regional and national levels. In 37<br />
seasons, the Bombers have won three state titles, 12 ECAC<br />
crowns and—in the program’s most successful season—<br />
the 1998 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association<br />
(NCGA) championship.<br />
Success started early for <strong>Ithaca</strong> and inaugural coach<br />
Harriet (Carnes) Marranca. In their second varsity season,<br />
the Bombers went 6-3 and recorded a third-place showing<br />
at the 1969 Division II Association of Intercollegiate<br />
<strong>Athletics</strong> for Women (AIAW) championship. A year later<br />
<strong>Ithaca</strong> won the program’s first state title. The 1971 team,<br />
which finished as state runner-up, posted wins over Penn<br />
State and Pitt.<br />
The Bombers recorded winning records in eight of<br />
the next 10 seasons behind top performers like Eleanor<br />
“Winky” Ward and Linda Johnson. Ward set school records<br />
in the vault and uneven bars and won a state title in the<br />
vault. Johnson held the school record in the all-around for<br />
four years.<br />
The 1981 team won the program’s second state<br />
championship behind individual title-winning<br />
performances by Sue Bourne (uneven bars) and Chris<br />
Ficken (balance beam). A year later, in Marranca’s last<br />
season as head coach, <strong>Ithaca</strong> placed fifth at the AIAW<br />
Eastern Regionals.<br />
Marranca, who compiled a 68-47 dual-meet record,<br />
became the first representative of the women’s gymnastics<br />
program inducted into <strong>Ithaca</strong>’s Athletic Hall of Fame<br />
when she was enshrined in 1999.<br />
Sarah Jane Clifford and Jamie Winkler, who competed<br />
during that era, are among the many Bombers who’ve<br />
gone on to successful gymnastics careers; both own gyms<br />
and have been active in club gymnastics.<br />
In her three seasons as head coach, Jackie DeSalvo<br />
led the Bombers to a third-place finish at the regional<br />
championship in 1983, a regional title a year later and the<br />
program’s first two Eastern <strong>College</strong> Athletic Conference<br />
(ECAC) championships, in 1984 and 1985, starting a streak<br />
of four straight ECAC crowns. The 1984 team placed<br />
eighth at the NCAA Division II-III championship meet<br />
(the Bombers were the only Division III team competing)<br />
after posting a school-record eight wins. Sandy Picioccio<br />
set school records in the vault and all-around that year.<br />
Another Bomber first was attained in 1985, when<br />
<strong>Ithaca</strong> native Lisa Gould (whose career ended after two<br />
years) won the individual title on the uneven bars at the<br />
NCAA Division II-III championships; not only was she<br />
the program’s first individual national champion, she was<br />
the first athlete from any Division III school to win an<br />
NCAA title at the combined Division II-III meet.<br />
The program’s best years have come under current<br />
coach Rick Suddaby. During his 24 seasons <strong>Ithaca</strong> qualified<br />
for the NCGA championships 22 of the 23 years the meet<br />
has existed, and won 11 ECAC titles while finishing third<br />
or better at the ECAC meet every year.<br />
Program History<br />
Sandy Picioccio<br />
YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS<br />
Year Record Coach NYS AIAW ECAC NCGA<br />
1968 2-4 Harriett Carnes<br />
1969 5-2 Harriett Carnes 3rd Div. II<br />
1970 2-3 Harriett Carnes 1st<br />
1971 6-1 Harriett Carnes 2nd<br />
1972 3-2 Harriett Carnes 4th<br />
1973 4-2 Harriett Carnes 3rd<br />
1974 5-2 Harriett Carnes 2nd<br />
1975 5-4 Harriett Carnes 3rd<br />
1976 7-3 Harriett Carnes 4th<br />
1977 3-8 Harriett Carnes 4th<br />
1978 4-4 Harriett Carnes 3rd<br />
1979 6-3 Harriett Carnes 3rd<br />
1980 6-2 Harriett Carnes 3rd<br />
1981 6-3 Harriett Carnes 1st<br />
1982 3-5 Harriett Carnes 5th EAIAW<br />
1983 5-4 Jackie DeSalvo 3rd Div. II/III<br />
1984 8-3 Jackie DeSalvo 1st 1st<br />
1985 5-2 Jackie DeSalvo 1st<br />
1986 5-7 Rick Suddaby 2nd 1st<br />
1987 6-2 Rick Suddaby 1st 2nd<br />
1988 6-12 Rick Suddaby 3rd 5th<br />
1989 5-10 Rick Suddaby 2nd 6th<br />
1990 10-5 Rick Suddaby 1st 4th<br />
1991 6-3 Rick Suddaby 2nd 6th<br />
1992 7-4 Rick Suddaby 2nd 5th<br />
1993 8-4 Rick Suddaby 1st 6th<br />
1994 7-4 Rick Suddaby 1st 3rd<br />
1995 12-3 Rick Suddaby 1st 3rd<br />
1996 8-2-1 Rick Suddaby 2nd 8th<br />
1997 15-0 Rick Suddaby 1st 2nd<br />
1998 16-4 Rick Suddaby 1st 1st<br />
1999 6-9 Rick Suddaby 2nd 7th<br />
2000 11-7 Rick Suddaby 1st 4th<br />
2001 14-5 Rick Suddaby 1st 6th<br />
2002 4-8 Rick Suddaby 3rd 5th<br />
2003 13-4 Rick Suddaby 2nd 7th<br />
2004 11-10 Rick Suddaby 3rd 2nd<br />
2005 13-7 Rick Suddaby 1st 5th<br />
2006 12-3 Rick Suddaby 1st 2nd<br />
2007 8-5 Rick Suddaby 2nd 7th<br />
2008 3-9 Rick Suddaby 6th<br />
2009 14-3 Rick Suddaby 2nd 5th<br />
2 bombers.ithaca.edu
Change language