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Beginning in 1959, Ithaca faced an expanded schedule and began recording top-10 finishes at the New York State Track & Field Association meet. John Coons was one of the team’s top performers during the 1960s; he took third at the state meet twice and was second once. During the 1960 season, he placed first at seven of Ithaca’s eight dual meets. Coons recorded 14 first-place finishes over his career. Robert Denoncourt took over as the team’s coach in 1961.
The Bombers recorded their first winning record in dual-meet competition in 1963 under Coach Donald Read. Warren Campbell took third at the state meet that season. Merle “Mike” Greene assumed the reins as head coach in 1965 season and remained until 1972. During Greene’s years as coach, one of the team’s top runners was Tom Williams. Williams set a school record by winning eight races in 1967 and set Ithaca’s course record (4.7 miles) of 26:04 that year. Ithaca began competing at the Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC) championship meet over that period. Mike Post recorded a sixth-place finish in 1968.
After not fielding a team from 1972 to 1977, the Bombers returned to competition under the coaching direction of Gordon Eggleston, who coached the team until 1981.
Bill Ware took over as coach in 1982 and led the team to its greatest success to date. The 1982 season saw Ithaca’s first qualifier for the NCAA Championships, when freshman Jim Quinn qualified as an individual. Quinn, who was inducted into Ithaca’s Hall of Fame in 2001, qualified three times for nationals as an individual (winning the regional qualifier as a junior) and in 1985 helped the Bombers’ to their first trip to the NCAA Championships as a team.
During Ware’s 10 years as coach, the Bombers posted nine top-three finishes at the ICAC meet (winning conference crowns in 1982, 1988 and 1990) and nine top-four showing at the state meet (with the 1985 team taking second). Ithaca began competing at the NCA regional in 1983 and never finished lower than sixth under Ware. The Bombers were second in 1985 – earning their first team trip to the NCAA Championships, where they finished 11th.
Two other individual national qualifiers – Jerry Goodenough in 1984 and Rich Surace in 1986 – became the program’s first all-Americans. Goodenough recorded a 10th-place finish in 1984.
Ithaca made three straight trips to nationals from 1988 to 1990, with Sean Livingston leading the way. Livingston, the program’s first runner to be enshrined in the Ithaca Hall of Fame, posted the highest finish ever by a Bomber at the NCAA Championships, placing fourth at the 1990 race where Ithaca placed 12th as a team.
In 1992 Jim Nichols, who had been an assistant since 1986, replaced Ware (by then a member of Ithaca’s Hall of Fame) as head coach and led the Bombers to a conference title and a 15th-place showing at nationals in his first year. All-American Mike Mulligan’s 25th-place finish at the NCAA Championships paced the Bombers.
The 1997 team returned to the NCAA Championships, where the team took 18th and Ian Golden finished 25th. A year later Golden qualified as an individual and improved his place by three spots to become Ithaca’s only two-time all-American.
The 2001 team started a run of three straight trips to nationals and won the school’s first state championship. A year later the Bombers enjoyed their most successful season ever, repeating as state champions, winning the NCAA regional title for the first time and recording a program-best ninth-place finish at nationals.
In 2003 the Empire 8 (which had earlier existed as the ICAC) began sponsoring cross country as conference sport and the Bombers won the inaugural title. Mike Styczynski won the Empire 8 individual title (becoming the program’s first conference champion) and qualified for the NCAA Championships, where he earned all-America honors with a 24th-place finish.
Dec. 19, 2005