While the Ithaca College student and faculty body returned home for winter break, many varsity teams remained in action over the break. Basketball, swimming and diving, track and field, men’s wrestling and gymnastics all competed during the academic recess, putting up multiple impressive performances.

Men’s Basketball

Despite dealing with several injuries to key players, the men’s basketball team played six games to ring in the new year, finishing with a 4–2 record in those games. After nearly four weeks off, the team played its first game Jan. 4 against then-No. 19 Carnegie Mellon University, where it suffered a tough 87–73 loss. Following the loss, the Bombers tacked on four wins in five games, all within the Liberty League, improving their record to 9–5 and their Liberty League slate to an impressive 6–1 record as of Jan. 19.

The Bombers returned to Liberty League play with their 81–71 victory over the Union College Garnet Chargers Jan. 10, but suffered their first conference loss to the Hobart College Statesmen the next day, 87–80. The Bombers won their next three games rather handily, defeating the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers 99–73 Jan. 14, the Clarkson University Knights 66–63 Jan. 17 and the St. Lawrence University Saints 64–46 the next day.

Women’s Basketball

After a slow start to the season, dropping three of its first four games, the women’s basketball team rebounded, going 6–4 in its last 10 games to return to an even record on the season. Since the beginning of play coming out of the break in December, it has been a tale of two streaks for the team. 

Beginning Dec. 31, the Bombers dropped four straight games to fall to 3–7. The stretch began at the Springfield Tournament, where they fell to the Tufts University Jumbos 57–42 Dec. 31, then lost to the Middlebury College Panthers 65–52 Jan. 1. After the tournament, the Bombers fell to the Trinity College Bantams on the road 69–64 Jan. 3, then lost at Union College 66–62 Jan. 10.

Following the loss to the Garnet Chargers, the Bombers ripped off four consecutive wins, all within the Liberty League, to stretch their record to 7–7. Three of the four wins were decided by double digits, beginning with a 48–24 win over the William Smith Herons Jan. 11. The Bombers then narrowly defeated the Tigers 65–62, handling the Knights 59–42 on Jan. 17 and running away from the Saints 79–59 Jan. 18.

Men’s Track and Field

Following the team’s strong start to the season at the Cornell University Greg Page Relays on Dec. 7, the men’s track and field team returned to the arena Jan. 11 for the Cornell University Southern Tier Invitational. Junior distance runner Ben Buffone set the tone for the season, finishing fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a personal best time of 8:43.98, qualifying for both the Liberty League and AARTFC Championship. Sophomore sprinter Max Boreland finished seventh in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.11 seconds, and first-year sprinter Damian Simmonds finished sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.95 seconds.

The following weekend, the Bombers hosted their first meet of the season, the Ithaca College Quad meet. There, the team finished in fourth place, highlighted by junior distance runner Aidan Loughlin running a big personal best in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.35, surpassing the two-minute barrier for the first time. First-year jumper Connor Yacomeni won the high jump, jumping 1.89 meters to claim the win.

While the Ithaca College student and faculty body returned home for winter break, many varsity teams remained in action over the break. Basketball, swimming and diving, track and field, men’s wrestling and gymnastics all competed during the academic recess, putting up multiple impressive performances.

Women’s Track and Field

The women’s track and field team brought the energy upon its return to the track. At the Southern Tier Invitational, five athletes qualified for the AARTFC Championship; first-year  jumper Eliana Barnett in the triple jump, junior distance runner Joy Petersen in the mile, senior thrower Lily Seyfert in the weight throw and shot put and senior multi-event Laura Suppa in the 200-meter dash.

At the quad meet, the pole vaulters stole the show and swept the podium. Sophomore Talia Hutchinson finished first with a jump of 3.55 meters, followed by juniors Erin Eastwood at 3.45 meters and Bree Boyle at 3.30 meters. Suppa and junior hurdler Rachel Larson continued their dynamic duo in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing first and second in the event with times of 8.85 and 9.00 seconds, respectively.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

In the final stretch of its regular season, the men’s swimming and diving team competed at RIT against the Tigers and Hamilton College Continentals. The Bombers fell to their Liberty League foe 183–117, but defeated the Continentals 166-132. Sophomore Alec Kutsner, freestyle and backstroke swimmer, won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.53 seconds, while senior diver Ethan Godfrey won the 3-meter dive with a score of 295.15.

The Bombers also competed at the RPI Henry Kumpf Invitational where they placed first as a team. Senior freestyle swimmer Matthew Stevens won the 1,000-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 10:04.34 and junior freestyle and butterfly swimmer Ryan Cooke finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:46.72.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

The women’s team continued to impress individually over the break, despite falling to the Tigers and Continentals. Senior diver Kailee Payne resumed her dominance on the boards by winning the 1- and 3-meter dives with scores of 254.70 and 301.80, respectively. Sophomore Samantha Bender, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly swimmer, won the 200-yard freestyle and backstroke with times of 2:00.87 and 2:11.96.

At the Kumpf Invitational, the Bombers saw first-year student Sydney Koehler, freestyle and breaststroke swimmer, win the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:28.07, while Payne and senior diver Angela Burke swept both the 1- and 3-meter dives.

Wrestling

Posting a 9–1 record in duals this season, the No. 19 ranked Bombers wrestling team continued their dominance over the break. The team swept the Chocolate Duals on Dec. 21, hosted by Messiah University, won the Ithaca Quad and defeated then-No. 20 Ohio Northern University at the Bud Whitehill National Duals at Lycoming College. The only loss for the Bombers at the National Duals was to No. 5 University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire. First-year student Tomah Gummow easily won his bout against his Klondike opponent 17–2, while senior Wenchard Pierre-Louis also came through with a convincing win for the Bombers, 17–1 over his opponent.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics kicked off the 2025 season with a close battle against SUNY Brockport on Jan. 12. The Bombers fell 187.625–186.550, but had several strong individual performances in the loss. Junior floor/vaulter Grace Murray managed the highest score in the vault, reaching the mark of 9.550. On the bars, sophomore bars/vault specialist Lauren Babineaux recorded a 9.700 to help the Bombers extend their slim lead over the Golden Eagles. Junior beam specialist Emily Kobusky scored a 9.750 and lastly, Murray closed out the meet with a 9.675 on the floor, keeping it close against the Golden Eagles, but not enough to take the lead.