IC News

Ithaca College’s athletic teams are known for excelling year-round — that’s one of the reasons the college has finished in the top 30 in the Director’s Cup standings every year.

But even by that standard, this past weekend was exceptional for the Bombers. IC captured conference titles in men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s track and field, while the wrestling team finished tied for first at the NCAA Mideast Regionals, qualifying six individuals for the NCAA Championships.

The weekend began with the track and field teams competing in the Liberty League championships at RIT. The men’s team was in second place after the first day, thanks to first-place showings from the distance medley relay team of Patrick Robertson ’20, Zachary Wachs ’22, Timothy Cook ’21 , and Alex Whatley ’23, and pole vaulter Dom Mikula ’22.

But they vaulted into the top spot on the second day with a dominating performance. Daniel Monchek ’22 won the 60-meter hurdles, while Kasim Cisse ’22 won the high jump, Andy Frank ’22 topped the competition in the 200-meter dash, and Luke Tobia ’22 took home first in the weight throw with a school-record throw of 17.83 meters.

That was enough to propel the Bombers to their third straight indoor title, by 38.5 points, over runner-up RPI.

The women’s championship required no such comeback, as the top-ranked team in Division III made quick work of the competition. On the first day, the Bombers distance medley relay team of Parley Hannan ’20, Rachel Rose ’23, Katharine Downey ’23, and Julia Tomanovich ’23 won their race by an astounding 30 seconds. Hannan also won the mile race in a school-record time of 4:53.38.

Other champions from day one were Katelyn Hutchison ’22, who won the 400-meter dash, and Meghan Matheny ’22 who won the pole vault.

It was more of the same on the second day of competition. Hannan took home the 3,000-meter title, while Sarah Rudge ’20 won the 800-meter run. Meanwhile, Tia Jones ’23 won the 200-yard dash, Samara Herzog ’23 took the top spot in the 60-meter hurdles, and Kendall Wellauer ’20 won the weight throw.

The Bombers 299.5 points more than doubled second-place University of Rochester’s 143, and secured the squad’s 13th consecutive conference title.

Over on the hardwood, the men’s and women’s basketball teams both punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament with dramatic victories in their respective conference tournaments.

The men’s team secured their first tournament appearance since the 2012-13 season by upsetting top-seeded RPI in overtime, 80-69. Sebastian Aldrete’ 20 tied the game in the final seconds of regulation with a layup. The Bombers had defeated Hobart College 80-72 the day before, following a 64-54 victory over St. Lawrence in the quarterfinals earlier in the week.

The Bombers will take on Babson College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m.

The women’s team won in electrifying fashion, as Grace Cannon ’21 sank a jump shot with 0.3 seconds on the clock giving Ithaca a 71-69 victory over Vassar College. The top-seeded Bombers had knocked off RPI in overtime the night before by a score of 74-66.

It was the second straight conference title for the women’s team, which has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last eight seasons.

The Bombers are hosting New England College in their first-round game.