Results (PDF) | Highlights
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's gymnastics team competed for the first time in its home gym on Saturday afternoon when the Bombers played host to defending national champion Brockport at Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers delivered a strong bounce-back performance in the familiar surroundings of Ben Light Gymnasium, recording a season-best 185.700 team score. Unfortunately, it was not quite enough to put Ithaca on top against its NCGA East rival, as No. 1 nationally-ranked Brockport took home the dual-meet victory with a 187.975.
 
Although Saturday's performance was not quite sharp enough to pull out the win against one of the nation's most talented teams, Ithaca should certainly emerge from the day with confidence that it is trending in a positive direction. The Bombers shrugged off last weekend's challenges and put forth their best all-around effort of the young season and are just a couple tweaks and refinements away from reaching potentially greater heights during the remainder of the year. IC posted new season-highs for team score in three of four rotations on the day, securing new highs in vault (47.000), uneven bars (46.450), and floor exercise (46.950) in a highly encouraging performance. The one bugaboo event, which ultimately was responsible for much of the final scoring margin between the two sides came on the balance beam. Typically a strength for the Bombers – who entered the day ranked among the top teams in the NCGA in the event – the beam was not so kind on Saturday with IC registering just a 45.300.
 
Individually, four IC gymnasts recorded new personal bests on the day. First-year Nya Pauldon kicked off the competition for Ithaca with an excellent vault run of 9.300, which marked a third new high in as many competitions for the breakout rookie. Two more first-years also delivered strong efforts on the day, as Cameryn Nichols and Zoe Kyriakopoulos both notched new career bests on bars with scores of 9.425 and 9.450, respectively. The final personal best came from senior Paige Landes on floor exercise, as she made her first lineup appearance in the event dating back to her first collegiate season in 2017 and smashed her personal-best with a 9.450.
 
Despite the brilliance of the aforementioned group, it did not even include Ithaca's two event winners who headlined the day's action for the home team. Senior Cassidy Marquette delivered a stuck landing on her double front-flip vault to pace the field by a full tenth of a point with a 9.675 that was just shy of her personal best. Junior Courtney Christoforo also took home an event title on bars, delivering easily her best routine of the season and the second-best routine of her career in scoring a 9.700 which smashed the field by a full two-tenths of a point.
 
Ithaca got the day started with an excellent run through the vault lineup, which saw a little bit of a shake-up with excellent rookie Ai-Zhen Tung a late scratch during warm-ups. Junior Marin Sheridan slotted into the lineup and the Bombers did not miss a beat in scoring their first 47.000-plus score of the season in the event. IC earned three of the Top-4 finishers in the event on the day with Marquette's 9.675 pacing the group. Christoforo got her big day started in the event as well, scoring a 9.425 to finish third, while Nichols 9.400 was good for fourth. Closing out IC's scoring group was Pauldon and Sheridan who scored 9.300 and 9.200 to finish in a tie for eighth and 10^th, respectively. Senior Baylie Trammell also showed some signs of shaking off the early-season rust with a season-best 9.125.
 
Ithaca carried the momentum over to the bars where again the team showed its best top-to-bottom performance on the young season. Obviously, the highlight came from Ithaca's anchor routine in Christoforo. The junior looked as crisp as the routine that won her an individual title last March in Wisconsin, as she finished just half-a-tenth shy of her career best with a 9.700. IC's rookie tandem of Nichols and Kyriakopoulos also notched Top-5 finishes with Kyriakopoulos taking fourth with a 9.450 and Nichols finishing in a three-way tie for fifth at 9.425. Junior Katie Holcomb continued to be steady in the event for IC, scoring a 9.250 to take eighth. Junior Kylee Black saw action in the bars lineup for the first time in her career, scoring an 8.625, while Trammell had a tough landing on her dismount from the bars to score an 8.275.
 
Things went awry for IC on the beam, an apparatus upon which both teams witnessed some struggles on the day. Landes was the highlight for Ithaca with a 9.350 to take third-place. Holcomb also notched a Top-5 finish, executing her extremely challenging entrance to the apparatus, but also falling from the beam during her routine. She posted a 9.200 to tie for fifth. Kyriakopoulos continued to be a steady competitor for the Bombers in the event, scoring a 9.150. IC's other three routines all saw falls from the beam with Marquette recording an 8.950, Black scoring an 8.650, and senior Emily Szembrot tallying an 8.600.
 
Concluding the day on the floor, Ithaca put together its strongest performance of the season in the event. It could have been even higher if not for three separate one-tenth neutral deductions that can easily be cleaned up in the coming weeks. Nichols paced the group with a 9.475 to take third-place. Landes was right behind in fourth with a 9.450, while Marquette and Trammell took fifth and tie for sixth, respectively, with scores of 9.425 and 9.350. Junior Alexis Griffin and Szembrot rounded out IC's lineup with scores of 9.250 and 9.225.
 
Ithaca will be back in action next Sunday, February 9, when it hits the road for the first of two trips to Springfield, Massachusetts, this season. The Bombers will compete against Springfield College and Ursinus in a tri-meet beginning at 1:00 p.m.