Complete Results (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The third-ranked Ithaca College gymnastics team capped off its home schedule on Sunday afternoon when it welcomed top-ranked Brockport and Rhode Island College for the 2018 Harriet Marranca Memorial Invitational. The Bombers continued their surge down the back stretch of their schedule, posting a 189.575 to easily outpace Brockport's 183.800 and RIC's 174.925 to win first-place at the event.
 
The team celebrated its past and present on Sunday, holding the annual meet to honor the program's founder in 1999 IC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Harriet Marranca, while also honoring the team's five senior members of the Class of 2018. The squad certainly lived up to the pomp and circumstance of the day, scoring the top team marks in three of four rotations to take home first-place by nearly six full points.
 
Highlighting Ithaca's performance were a pair of IC gymnasts that set new career highs on the day. Freshman Savannah Gigandet equaled her personal best on bars with a 9.400, while senior Melissa Hollrigl shattered her career mark in floor exercise with a 9.675 to put the capper on the fantastic all-around day for the team. Overall, the Bombers had 13 Top-5 finishers, while an IC gymnast took first-place individually at all four events.
 
Ithaca gained nearly a full two-point edge in the first rotation, scoring a 47.250 as a team on vault. It marked the fifth consecutive competition the Bombers have exceeded 47.000 team points on the apparatus.
 
As expected, leading the way for IC was junior Carolyn Nichols who continued to showcase why she is the top-ranked vaulter in all of Division III. She marked a 9.725, tying Brockport's Stephanie Mager for the top score in the event. Nichols and Mager ranked first and second, respectively, in season-average score for the event coming into the weekend.
 
Behind Nichols was sophomore Baylie Trammell, who bounced back from a couple of tough outings her last two times in competition to score a 9.450 on Sunday. She finished in a tie for fourth. Rounding out IC's scoring group were seniors Kaylee Pacunas and Melissa Hollrigl, as well as sophomore Paige Landes. Pacunas notched a 9.400 in her final home meet, finishing in seventh place. Hollrigl registered a 9.350 to come in a tie for eighth, while Landes was right behind her with a 9.325 to come in 10^th. Junior Victoria Gery was also solid on the day, scoring a 9.300 in an 11^th-place showing.
 
IC maintained its advantage over every other team in the competition during its second rotation on uneven bars. Although the team did not reach its high mark from earlier this season, the Bombers turned in a strong 46.875 as a group to hold a healthy three-point edge in team scoring at the halfway mark of the meet.
 
Ithaca had the Top-3 finishers in the event, while all six of its lineup entrants placed within the Top-10. Leading the way for Ithaca was sophomore Elyse Ryden, who also had a nice return to competition after a tough performance last time out. She scored a 9.550, just .025 off her career best, to come in first-place. Behind Ryden was the freshmen duo of Courtney Christoforo and Savannah Gigandet. Christoforo scored a 9.450, while Gigandet equaled her personal-best mark with a 9.400 to come in second and third, respectively.
 
Rounding IC's lineup was strong performances from senior Danielle Maffuid, freshman Lauren Hansen and sophomore Baylie Trammell. Also competing in her final home meet, Maffuid tallied a solid 9.275 in a sixth-place finish. Hansen equaled her career-best with a 9.200 to come in eighth, while Trammell took 10^th with an 8.850.
 
Ithaca's beam score iced the event for the Bombers. The home side scored nearly 2.5 points more than Brockport and over three points higher than RIC to seal the meet in favor of IC. Ithaca had sixth of the Top-7 scores in the event.
 
Fittingly, it was a senior that led the way, as Kendra Balcerak turned in her best score of the year with a 9.700 to come in first. Sophomore Paige Landes continued to hit the mark, scoring a 9.675 to come in second, while sophomore Emily Szembrot also turned in another excellent routine to score a 9.575 that was good for third.
 
The rest of the lineup also hit their routines. Junior Nina Bustamante posted a 9.425 to come in fifth. Junior Haley Lyons got the Bombers off to a strong start in the rotation, marking a 9.400 that was good for sixth. Freshman Katie Holcomb rounded out the scoring group with a 9.350 to come in seventh.
 
Ithaca put the cap on the afternoon with an excellent run on floor exercise, sweeping the Top-4 places and marking a 47.675 as a team.
 
Nichols led the way with a 9.700 that was good for first. Hollrigl smashed her previous career best by a full point to register a 9.675 in a second-place showing for the senior. Gery and Trammell rounded out the Top-4, scoring a 9.650 and a 9.550, respectively. Also competing for the Bombers were freshmen Lauren Hansen and Alexis Griffin. Hansen scored a 9.100 to tie for seventh, while Griffin registered an 8.925 that was good for 12^th.
 
Sunday's victory marked the first time that Ithaca has taken home a first-place finish at the Harriet Marranca Memorial Invitational since the 2013 campaign when it scored a 186.025 to best Brockport, RIC, and Wilson.
 
The Bombers will be back in action next Saturday, March 3, when they travel to Cortland for a 1:00 p.m. dual meet against the Red Dragons.