The Ithaca College gymnastics team traveled to SUNY Cortland to compete in the Empire State Collegiate Championship on Feb. 14. The Bombers placed No. 5 out of six teams, behind Long Island University, Cornell University, SUNY Brockport, Cortland and ahead of Utica University.
The Bombers scored a total of 189.500 points, but the difficulty of the opponents made it tough for them to get ahead. LIU and Cornell compete at the Division I level, and Brockport and Cortland have been powerhouses all season, both ranking in the top five of Division III programs currently.
The Bombers missed the 190.000 score mark by just 0.500, something head coach Rick Suddaby aimed for heading into the meet. The Bombers reaching this mark consistently would put them in a strong spot to qualify for National Collegiate Gymnastics Association National Team Championships as an one unit, one of Suddaby’s biggest goals at the beginning of the season. The Bombers have two more regular-season meets in their schedule.
“Going forward, we’re trying to get in the 190s again, because our chance to get in the [NCGA] championship will be by season average,” Suddaby said. “So we’re trying to get those scores up enough where we can get in there. So that’s the goal.”
The Bombers’ best chance to increase their average is to continue their hot streak on the floor exercise. The team scored a 48.725 and averaged a 9.745, with two 9.850 performances from senior Grace Murray and graduate student Jillian Freyman, who has emerged as one of Division III’s top performers later in her career.
Junior Taylor Arias, a consistent performer on the floor, scored a 9.825. First-year gymnast Lucy Kaupp scored a 9.700, her best all season. Kaupp executed her routine with precision and stuck all of her landings. Suddaby said his gymnasts’ confidence and skill on the mat will continue into the championship season.
In order to drive the average up, the Bombers will need to improve their scores on the uneven bars. The Bombers score of 46.200 and average of 9.240 set them behind the other events when just a small margin of points were needed to put the Bombers in a spot they were comfortable with. Junior Lauren Babineaux and sophomore Mya John led the group with scores of 9.550. Suddaby said there is room for improvement in the event.
“We’re gonna make [the bar event] better,” Suddaby said. “We got a couple more weeks in the season.”
The Bombers will have to get over the hump of scores in the 47.000-48.000 range in the vault event. In every meet, including the state championship, the Bombers have performed well enough to earn a 47.300, but could not reach beyond a 47.950. Suddaby said the Bombers struggle with depth and will need a stronger supporting cast beyond Murray, the sole gymnast in Division III to currently compete her skill. However, Murray fell and scratched her score.
The Bombers scored a 47.275 on the balance beam and averaged a 9.455. First-year gymnasts Emili Horike and Leanne Desjardins, senior Emily Kobusky and John scored all above 9.650, but a counted score of 8.500 because of falls dragged down the number.
The Cortland Red Dragons, the Bombers’ fiercest rival of the 2026 season, have served as a barricade and threshold point for IC. The Bombers have placed behind them three times, and they currently are three places ahead and the closest NCGA East opponent in the Division III rankings. The Bombers currently average a score of 188.650 and place at the eighth spot; Cortland averages 0.713 more and sits at the fifth spot. In order to achieve Suddaby’s ultimate goal of the season, the Bombers would have to slide up to at least the sixth spot or win the NCGA East Championship, which would require defeating Cortland and Brockport.
The Bombers will get to test the Red Dragons for the fourth time in a row Feb. 21 in Cortland, before one final regular season meet against Utica on Mar. 7., then they will head to NCGA East Region Championships in Providence, Rhode Island.
