As the sun sets on the Ithaca College season, the gymnastics team sent six athletes to compete at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championship in St. Peter, Minnesota, to cap off its bounce-back season. Following a 3-7 duals record in 2024, the Bombers had half as many duals this season, but finished with a 2-3 record and a higher team scoring average.
In 2025, the Bombers reached a team score of 190 points or more in four consecutive meets, topping out at 191.700 points in a close team loss against SUNY Cortland on Feb. 12. Despite the loss, junior floor/vaulter Grace Murray said she felt most impressed by the team’s consistent performances with the different lineups throughout the season.
“We do have a lot of underclassmen that were in lineups this year,” Murray said. “It was really cool to see how the underclassmen were pulling their own weight, too.”
Murray led the Bombers into nationals, where she earned her third career All-American honor and her second first-team honor. She finished fourth in the floor event, tying her career-best with a score of 9.850. Murray competed at nationals the past two seasons.
Murray said the team’s progression over the season highlights what the Bombers are capable of achieving come championships. The team began with a tough loss to SUNY Brockport by a slim margin, reaching a team score of 186.550. By March 15 the South Hill squad hit their stride and never looked back.
“I think it’s something that we can use to build off of for next season,” Murray said. “[We need to] keep moving forward with what we’re doing, because towards the end of season is really where we like [to show] how consistent we really are.”
There was not always a rainbow at the end of the path. Early in the season, the team faced its biggest test of the year: injuries to key contributors in each event.
Head coach Rick Suddaby said that he was pleased with how the team responded to the injuries suffered early in the season, and that the adversity overcome served as extra motivation for the team.
On Jan. 19, the South Hill squad’s competition against the Ursinus College Bears was canceled because of heavy amounts of snow. Suddaby said he was most impressed with the team’s comeback after the negative news. Following the sudden break in the schedule, the team hit a season-low score of 186.025 at Utica University, where the team finished third out of four teams.
“Some of my favorite moments were how we responded as a team,” Suddaby said. “We talked about it and of course the team wants to [do] well. They responded and came back. … It was a very impressive group.”
Murray said the Bombers take heavy pride in winning against the Red Dragons. This season, the two teams split their meetings, with the Bombers winning the second meeting on the road by a slim margin, 191.300-191.025. The win marked the team’s first of the season, in the midst of the team’s hot stretch of scoring at or above 190 team points. “I think definitely a high of the season was beating Cortland,” Murray said. “I know everyone was super excited about that, because it was a close meet. … It just shows that the competition was there and we ended up being on top.”
Last season, the Bombers sent seven individuals to nationals, with four of those athletes returning this season. Joining Murray on the biggest stage was first-year student Mya John, sophomores Natalie Steed and Lauren Babineaux, and juniors Emily Kobusky and Corey Foster.
John and Babineaux competed in the bars, with John finishing tied for 12th place with a score of 9.625, while Babineaux scored an 8.700. Kobusky turned in one of her best performances of the season on beam, finishing tied for 17th with 9.725 points, while Foster and Steed finished 29th and 35th in floor and vault, respectively, scoring 9.750 and 9.500 points apiece.
Foster, who was a first-time floor event qualifier, visited the college when it hosted the NCGA championship in 2022. She said that getting a glimpse of that environment only increased her desire to be part of the competition.
“It was definitely an eye-opening experience because I’ve never been to a collegiate level nationals before,” Foster said. “I just loved how the energy was in the arena, and everyone was so supportive. It was a really great experience to be part of.”
Foster said she wants to build momentum from her qualification for nationals and believes that she can help the team return a stronger group to nationals next season.
Looking toward 2026, Suddaby said that in order to develop positive momentum going into next year, the team is looking to have eight athletes deep at each event, despite only competing six.
“If you can score [a] 9.5 early in the season, you can then progress it to a 9.6, a 9.7 or a 9.8 and that’s how it can be really competitive,” Suddaby said. “We peaked out just shy of 192 and so that’s good. We need to start there again next year so we can get it to 190 [up to] 194.”
