After finishing second out of eight teams at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships on March 7, the gymnastics team qualified for the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championships. The team finished with a 187.950 score, the second highest in Bomber history. Only SUNY-Brockport’s 189.150 team score was higher than the Blue and Gold’s.

Head Coach Rick Suddaby was named ECAC Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach Alice Efland was named the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year. Suddaby has now coached the Bombers to 23 top three finishes at the ECAC tournament.

Ithaca gymnasts took first-place individually in both the uneven bars and balance beam. Freshman Jessica Bolduc won the bars event, scoring a 9.675. It was her highest score of the season and marks the first time she won the event. Bolduc also finished fifth in the vault and floor exercise and eighteenth on the balance beam. She finished second in the all-around competition with a combined score of 38.125. Bolduc’s performance earned her the ECAC Rookie of the Year Award as well as all-ECAC Honors.

Seniors Frances Ente and Roxanne Deshaies also earned all-ECAC honors. Ente finished third on the uneven bars with a 9.525 score. Deshaies finished sixth on the bars, posting a 9.450 score.  

Sophomore Justine Picciano took first place in the balance beam, scoring a 9.625. It was Picciano’s highest score in the event this season and her second consecutive first place finish in as many weeks.

Last season was the only year in the 23-year history of the tournament that the Bombers didn’t qualify for the NCGA championships. This year, the South Hill squad will join the ECAC first-place finisher Brockport and third-place finisher SUNY-Cortland at the championships on March 22 and 23 in St. Paul. Minn.