The first Ithaca teams in the newly named Empire
Eight Conference make a strong showing.
Fall Sports Round-Up
Men's Cross Country
The Bombers fielded
one of their youngest teams ever this fall, with five freshmen running
regularly in the top seven. One of those freshmen - Garrett Wagner - was
one of just five freshmen in Division III to qualify for the NCAA championships
as an individual.
Wagner won the state
title, helping the Bombers to second at that meet for the third time in
four years. Ithaca also recorded a fifth-place finish at the NCAA qualifier
and placed second or better at three other races.
Freshmen Brian and
Dale Cocca, the third set of twins to run for Coach Jim Nichols, rounded
out the Bombers' top three finishers.
 Women's
Cross Country
A spectacular senior
season by Cara Devlin (left) paced the Bombers to a third-place finish
at the state champion-ships - the program's best finish in five years.
Devlin capped her season with all-American honors following her 18th-place
finish at nationals. During the season she became the first Bomber in
eight years to win four straight races and recorded a second-place finish
at the state meet.
The Bombers won two
meets and finished second in two others. Ithaca finished seventh at the
NCAA regional qualifier. Freshman Erin Boshe and junior Lauren Byler earned
all-state honors.
Field Hockey
 Playing
one of the nation's toughest schedules, Ithaca earned a postseason berth
for the 10th year in a row. The 8-11 Bombers played in the Eastern College
Athletic Conference mid-Atlantic playoffs.
Senior Nicole Sgobbo
and junior Jessica Kennedy (right) were Ithaca's top players. Both earned
spots on the all-state and all-region teams. After helping the Bombers
to a fourth- place finish in the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic
Association playoffs, they were named to the all-tournament team, as well.
Sgobbo helped anchor a Bomber defense that has recorded 17 shutouts over
the past three years. Kennedy scored 15 points this fall, ranking second
on the team.
Football
 A
winning record (for the 28th consecutive season), a postseason appearance
(for the 17th time in 26 years), and a slew of individual awards and honors
highlighted the Bombers' season.
Ithaca played one
of its most challenging schedules (for the first time ever, the Bombers
faced three teams coming off NCAA playoff seasons) and posted a 7-3 regular-season
record.
Senior tight end Jeff
Erne earned first-team all-American honors and was chosen to play in the
Aztec Bowl, a postseason all-star game pitting Division III players against
a team of all-stars from Mexican colleges. Erne was joined as an all-American
by guard Adam Grossman (photo), a third-team selection.
Senior wide receivers
Abe Ceesay and Keith Bonser finished their careers first and second on
Ithaca's career reception list. Sophomore quarterback Brian Young threw
for more than 2,000 yards in his first year as a starter.
Defensively, senior
linebacker Rich Pasquale was the team's leading tackler and earned all-region
honors. Junior defensive back Ron Amato, junior linebacker Julian Forbes,
and senior nose guard Todd Robbins were other stalwarts on defense.
Men's Soccer
 The
Bombers reached the NCAA playoffs for the fourth time in five years, finishing
the season with a 13-3-1 record. Ithaca won the inaugural Empire Eight
championship with a 5-0 league record and was ranked as high as 10th nationally.
Senior Chris Lucci
closed out his stellar career by leading in career wins (45). A first-team
Empire Eight and second-team all-region selection, Lucci ranks among Ithaca's
career leaders in every category, including second with 24 shutouts and
third with a goals-against average of 0.79. Junior forward Wade Wilkinson
led the team and conference in scoring (31 points) and was named a first-team
Empire Eight and New York region all-star.
Junior back Todd McCormick
and senior forward Joao Valerio (photo) both earned all-league and all-region
recognition. McCormick and junior back Shaun Leska were also chosen for
the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's regional all-academic
team.
Women's Soccer
For the 12th time
in 13 years, the Bombers ended their season in the NCAA playoffs. Ithaca
posted a record of 11-5-2 and finished second in the Empire Eight.
For the third straight
year, Ithaca's offense and defense were led by juniors Samme Miller and
Erin DeMarco, respectively. Miller was the team's top scorer for the third
year in a row and raised her career total to 29 goals, second on Ithaca's
list. She was a first-team Empire Eight and NYSWCAA all-star and earned
second-team all-region honors. DeMarco received third-team all-American
honors for the second consecutive season and was a second-team all-academic
selection of the NSCAA.
Junior forward Ali
Helmle, sophomore midfielder Kristin Mooney, junior midfielder Alison
Paratore, and junior midfielder Tara Quinn all earned all-conference recognition.
Paratore joined DeMarco and Miller on the all-region team, and sophomore
back Karen McCleery was an all-state selection.
Women's Tennis
Wins over Hartwick,
Nazareth, and St. John Fisher at the conference tournament gave the Bombers
the inau-gural Empire Eight title. Ithaca finished with an 8-2 dual-match
record and a sixth-place showing at the state tournament. Senior Jaimie
Daniello (15-5 for the year) finished her career with a school-record
43 doubles wins. She and sophomore Andrea Schwartz finished as second
doubles runners-up at the state tourney.
Schwartz, a state
semifinalist at third singles, posted a 17-3 record to lead the team.
Senior Julianna Barbieri won 10 matches to finish her career with 52 wins,
the program's ninth-highest total.
—
Mike Warwick
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