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Seasonably Hot
Ithaca's fall teams turn in
impressive records.
Ithaca's athletic squads enjoyed
another successful campaign in fall 1997, combining for an 83-32-4
record, a winning rate of 71 percent. An outstanding six of eight
Bombers teams were represented in the NCAA play-offs. This marked
the ninth consecutive autumn that Ithaca's teams won at least
61 percent of their outings.
Women's
Cross-Country
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Ithaca opened
its campaign with a victory over Binghamton in the club's lone
dual meet of the fall. The Bombers won the Rensselaer Invitational
and then placed 4th on back-to-back weekends in the New York
State College Track Championship and the NCAA New York region
championship.
Junior Meghan Brady was Ithaca's
top finisher in the first eight races of 1997. She ran to 11th
in the state meet and 12th in the regional run. Senior captain
Heather McGimpsey saved her best effort for last with a team-leading
11th-place result at the New York region event. Her 18:41 clocking
was the fastest turned in for Coach Kelli Bert's team in the
fall. |
Men's Cross-Country
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Stellar performances
by junior Ian Golden and senior Andrew Weishaar at the NCAA championship
helped cap a successful men's cross-country campaign for the
Bombers. Golden placed 25th, good for all-American honors, and
Weishaar was 49th. The duo posted the 5th- and 10th-best efforts
in school history.
The Bombers placed 2nd at the
NYSCTC and 4th at the NCAA New York region meet. Weishaar ran
5th at the state meet and 7th in the regional, Golden 7th and
6th. Golden ended up leading Coach Jim Nichols's contingent in
7 of 10 races. |
Field Hockey
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Ithaca continued
its run of postseason appearances with an eighth straight berth
in the NCAA play-offs. Ithaca defeated Eastern Mennonite, 2-1,
before falling, 3-2, to Lebanon Valley in the regional final.
The overall season record was 14-8.
 Senior
forward Julie Parsons earned second-team National Field Hockey
Coaches Association all-American laurels after pacing the team
with 10 goals and 5 assists. She has led the Bombers in scoring
in each of the last three seasons. Leslie Greene, a four-year
letter winner along with Parsons, was a third-team all-American.
Junior forward Kelli Coppola had 9 goals; senior forward Megan
Gehrig tallied 7. Junior goalie Jen Stoneburg played all 22 games
at goal and posted a goals-against average of 0.80 with 9 shutouts.
Coach Tracey Houk got the Bombers
off to a 5-0 start in 1997. Ithaca shared the New York State
Women's Collegiate Athletic Association crown, thanks in part
to a semifinal victory over eventual Division III champion Cortland;
the title tilt with William Smith was canceled because of inclement
weather. |
Football
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Ithaca posted
its 27th consecutive winning season (7-3) on the gridiron and
narrowly missed an NCAA play-off appearance. The club's three
losses --- to Division II Mercyhurst, NCAA play-off participant
Cortland, and Eastern College Athletic Conference postseason
entrant Buffalo State --- were by a total of only 13 points.
The Cortland encounter was another Cortaca Jug classic --- with
the Red Dragons pulling out a last-minute, 33-28 win in front
of 11,714 at Butterfield Stadium.
Senior offensive tackle Briggs
Bedigian was named a second-team selection on the Hewlett-Packard
Division III all-American team. He was a first-team ECAC upstate
New York all-star along with senior tight end Chuck Thornton,
junior punt returner Matt Buddenhagen, and senior linebacker
Tim Myslinski.
 Junior quarterback Michael O'Donovan set
12 school records and tied a 13th during his first full season
as a starter. He completed 198 of 351 passes for 2,611 yards
and 23 touchdowns, each an Ithaca mark. Thornton established
a number of Ithaca standards for tight ends, including receptions
(35) and receiving yards (538). Myslinski was the club's top
tackler. He ended the season with 88 total stops, including 14
tackles for losses.
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Men's Soccer
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Coach Andy Byrne
guided the Bombers to the NCAA New York region championship and
the Division III quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
Ithaca's campaign finally came to a close with a 2-0 play-off
loss at Amherst. The Bombers reached the quarterfinals after
getting by Rochester in the regional semifinals on penalty kicks
and then downing Rensselaer, 2-1. Byrne was named the National
Soccer Coaches Association of America New York region coach of
the year. He picked up the 150th victory of his Ithaca tenure
during the 14-5-1 season.
 Senior
forward Mitshel Lavender and senior back Dan Katz were both named
to the NSCAA all-American team. Lavender, who led the team with
11 goals and 4 assists, was a second-unit pick; Katz earned a
third-team slot. Senior forward Guillermo Iladoy aided the Ithaca
offense with 8 goals and 5 assists. The sophomore goal-keeping
duo of Matt Deskiewicz (6-2, 0.71 goals-against average) and
Chris Lucci (8-3-1, 0.79) had another strong campaign.
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Women's
Soccer
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Ithaca made its
10th visit to the NCAA Division III play-offs in 1997. The Bomber
season ended when Ithaca and Elmira played to a 1-1 tie in overtime
and the Soaring Eagles earned the right to advance by converting
a sudden-death penalty kick.
Coach Mindy Quigg guided a very
youthful squad this season to its fine 10-4-3 record. Three of
the top four scorers were freshmen, including rookie Samme Miller,
who led the team in scoring with seven goals and six assists.
Senior Jamie Bonter and freshman Jessica DiManno made second-team
all-region. Freshman Erin DeMarco was a third-team pick. First-year
player Lindy West emerged as the club's starting goalkeeper and
posted a 0.68 goals-against average. |
Women's
Tennis
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With a record
of 5-5, the Bombers finished the dual-meet season strong with
three consecutive victories and then tied for sixth at the campaign-ending
NYSWCAA championship. The third doubles pairing of sophomore
Jaimie Daniello and junior Gina Specksgoor (see story, facing
page) reached the tournament finals.
Daniello and Specksgoor posted
12-2 doubles records. Daniello added a 3-0 singles record to
finish with an overall 15-2, tops on the club. Senior Alexandra
Ricchi had the best singles mark at 9-5. Sophomore Kim Faulkner
held the first singles post for the Bombers. |
Volleyball
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Led by senior
all-American Heidi Nichols, the Bombers played their way into
the NCAA Division III New York region final. Nichols, the school's
first two-time first-team all-American, finished as the Ithaca
career leader in kills with 1,855. She was named to the GTE college
division academic all-American squad as well.
The Bombers won invitationals
at Rutgers - Newark, Brockport, Rochester, and East Stroudsburg
to open the season. At the end of September, Ithaca was 17-1
and ranked 10th in Division III. The campaign-ending NCAA play-off
berth was Ithaca's fifth consecutive. The team ended the season
with a 32-6 record.
Junior setter Jill Finochio,
who was an all - New York region selec- tion along with Nichols,
became the Bomber leader in career assists (3,925) and moved
up to 4th on the career dig ledger (1,054).
Photos by Tim Mckinney |
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