By Mike Warwick

The Bombers reached the NCAA playoffs for the 23rd time in 24 years and advanced to the regional finals for the second straight year. They posted a 26-14 record (winning at least 25 games for the 16th time in 17 seasons) and wrapped up an NCAA bid with a late-season stretch that included a sweep of Rensselaer and wins over Bridgewater State and North Carolina Wesleyan — all ranked in the top 10 at the time.

Junior outfielder Ron Amato capped his record-setting season with third-team all-American honors. He had a school-record 27-game hitting streak, batted .469, and ranked among the team leaders with 6 home runs and 49 RBIs. He was named the Empire Eight conference player of the year and earned spots on the Eastern College Athletic Conference and New York region all-star teams. Senior designated hitter Tony Farago was also an all-ECAC, all-conference, and first-team all-region selection.

Pitchers Jeremy Rivenburg, a junior, and Jake Upwood, a sophomore, were Empire Eight all-stars along with senior first baseman Dave Meluni and out-fielder Steve Musso, catcher Scott Allen, and shortstop Brian Johnson, all juniors. Rivenburg and junior outfielder Steve Musso earned spots on the all-region team, as well.

Ithaca fielded one of its youngest teams ever, with no seniors. Junior coxswain Jeff Morris, the team’s commodore, led the varsity eight to a 6-6 record. At the state championships, the Bombers won the petite final, helping the program to a third-place finish in the overall point standings (combining men’s and women’s results). Juniors Mike Theeman and Nate Trythall were other mainstays.

The Bombers posted a 9-2 record, boosting the program to 88-41-1 since 1990. They recorded a strong showing at the Champion Intercollegiate Regatta; after missing a spot in the finals by 0.3 seconds, they bounced back to win the petite final. They ranked as high as fourth nationally and turned in a third-place finish at the state championships.

Seniors Amy Faucon and Toni Musnicki were the Bombers’ commodores. Musnicki was one of seven Ithaca rowers named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association’s national scholar-athlete team. Seniors Holly Szafran and Beth Greene and sophomores Melinda Bolgar, Jocelyn Fitchett, Liz Jackstadt, and Linnet Miller were also honored.

The Bombers finished 11-3 and just missed an NCAA playoff appearance. The team’s 11 wins were 1 short of the school record and included a season-ending 8-game winning streak.

The lineup featured five new starters, with freshman midfielder Dennis Juleff making the biggest impact. The Brisbane, Australia, native was an honorable-mention all-American and earned rookie of the year honors from the Empire Eight. His team-high 41 points made him the first freshman in 10 years to lead the Bombers in scoring.

Sophomore midfielder Sam Griffo and senior attack Ron Messmer scored 37 points each. Messmer was a second-team Empire Eight all-star, as was junior defender Andy Schreck. Schreck and senior goalie Marc Pascal helped anchor a defense that ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense. The team’s 7.78 goals-against average was the program’s lowest in 19 years.

A record-tying 13 wins and an ECAC championship highlighted the season. Ithaca began the postseason with a third-place finish in the state playoffs, then won three straight games in the ECAC tournament (including upsets of the top two seeds) to claim the program’s first championship in 10 years.

Junior goalie Brooke Andrews set single-season and career records for saves while posting a .630 save percentage. She earned all-American honors from three organizations, including first-team accolades from U.S. Lacrosse. She was also a first-team academic all-American. Junior defender Becky Karver earned all-American honors as well.

Ithaca’s top scorers were junior attack Kelly Bliss (53 points) and senior midfielder Jen Herlihy (52). Five Bombers — Andrews, Bliss, Karver, senior attack Kim Harrison, and junior defender Tara Lahm — were all-region selections.

For the second straight year the host Bombers won the NCAA regional title to advance to the College World Series. They battled torrential rain, weather delays, and third-seeded Salisbury State — who sent the Bombers to the loser’s bracket with a semifinal win. Ithaca bounced back to win three more games, including a sweep of Salisbury State in the championship round (giving the Bombers a school-record 33 wins).

Leading the way was senior Robin Bimson. One of the most successful pitchers ever in Division III, she earned all-American honors and was named player of the year by both the ECAC and the Empire Eight. She set an armful of single-season and career records and wound up as the eighth most-winning pitcher ever in Division III.

A school-record three Bombers earned all-American honors, with sophomore catcher Kristin Furdon named to the first team and junior first baseman Laura Remia joining Bimson on the second team. Remia (.364, 10 home runs, 33 RBIs) and Furdon (.349, 4 home runs, 29 RBIs) were Ithaca’s top hitters. Senior outfielder Janine Lawler joined her all-American teammates as an Empire Eight all-star.

For the second year in a row, Coach Deb Pallozzi and her staff (assistant coaches Eben Bullock, Sherry Dobbs, and Mike Swartz) were named the region’s top coaching staff.

The Bombers (10-8; 4-2 Empire Eight) finished as runners-up in the Empire Eight, losing by one point in the conference title match. Individually, senior Matt Schultz finished 33-13 for the year and a school-record 111 career wins. He and freshman Paul Rubens (22-16 for the year) won the flight A doubles title at St. Lawrence’s Ice Breaker Invitational.

Junior Ari Roberts went 30-12 to raise his career record to 50-39, eighth in the program to date. Freshman Michael Medvin, who won the flight D singles championship at St. Lawrence’s tournament, was 13-8.

Ithaca recorded a fourth-place finish at the state meet and crowned three state champions: junior Matt Hopp in the 400-meter dash, senior Mike Henn in the 100-meter dash, and sophomore Kyle Robison in the high jump.

Henn missed the NCAA national qualifying mark by 0.09 seconds. He was also part of Ithaca’s school-record-setting 800-meter relay team. Henn, senior Jason Kucma, and juniors Phil Keating and Jon Woika ran a school-record time of 1:30.55 at the Penn Relays. (Henn and Woika ran on the 1998 team that previously held the record.)

At the state championship meet junior Dustin Cook took second in the long jump, and sophomore Drew Davidson was the runner- up in the javelin throw. Davidson also earned all-state honors in the shot put and hammer throw, placing sixth in both events.

Ithaca won its third straight state championship. Other highlights included six school records and a career-second all-American showing by senior Cara Devlin. Devlin placed eighth in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA championships (and competed in the 5,000-meter run). Freshman Erin Boshe missed all-American honors in the 10,000-meter run by one spot.

Individual state champions included junior Lauren Byler, who won her third straight 800-meter title; junior Beckie Kravetz, who repeated as javelin throw champion; senior Shari Wilkins, who took her third career discus title; senior Erin Stevens in the shot put; the 3,200-meter relay team of Byler, junior Kathryn Cornelius, and freshmen Lynne Janovich and Anne Ruminski; and the 1,600-meter relay team of Byler, Cornelius, graduate student Jeanne Schick, and senior Courtney Smith.

Ithaca’s throwers rewrote school records — Stevens in the hammer throw and shot put and Wilkins, breaking her own mark, in the discus. Junior Christine Dittrich in the triple jump, freshman Heidi Sanderson in the pole vault, and Smith in the 400-meter dash all set school records.