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Through the 1940s Bomber success continued, with sprinter Alex Doig, sprinter John Lunievicz, hurdler John Smith and high jumper Bill Zaruka among Ithaca’s top competitors.
During the 1950s thrower Lou Bakos, hurdler Glenn Bartle, distance runner Fred Bleiler, sprinter and pole vaulter Dick Carmean, sprinter William Jackson, thrower Bob Marella and hurdler George O’Sullivan were among the many Ithaca athletes to contribute to the program’s success.
Yavits retired as the program’s head coach after the 1963 season, but not before leading such standout performers as Theodore Bedell (a shot putter, long jumper and hurdler), sprinter Newton Brooke, distance runner John Coons and sprinter James West
The 1964 season saw former Yavits assistant Mike Greene take over the reins as head coach. Greene’s first teams were led by distance standout Warren Campbell, whose records in the 880-yard run, mile run and two-mile run all stood for at least 15 years. Robert Burnham set school records in the shot put and discus that lasted until 1985. Record-setting hurdler Dave Fontanella and long jumper Peter Toomey were other top performer for Greene’s first teams, as was Tom Ficorelli, who was the 1968 state runner-up in the shot put.
The 1968 season saw Ithaca’s first indoor track and field competition. A highlight was Bob Fehring’s fourth-place showing at the state championship meet.
The Bombers began competing at the Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC) championships during the early 1970s, with top performances from Gary Rittenburg (the 1973 champion in the 440-yard run) and Ron King (the 1972 runner-up in the pole vault).
Jim Cromer (triple jump) and Terry Jarvie (100-meter dash) were conference titlists in 1978, with Jarvie setting an ICAC championship record. David Herman and Len Tyler (a former thrower on Greene’s teams of the late ‘60s) both served briefly as head coach before Ed Decker began a three-year stint in 1978. Under Decker, the 1978 team recorded a 5-1 mark (the program’s first best season in 11 years) and reestablished the indoor track and field program. Jim Cromer set school records in the triple jump and high jump in his career.
Mike Donnelly, a former Bomber captain as an undergraduate, was named head coach in 1981. He coached standouts like Charlie Colligan and Mike Page (who swept the long and triple jump titles at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets in 1980). Under Donnelly, Ithaca won its first two conference titles – the 1981 outdoor championship (the Bombers hosted that meet) and the 1982 indoor crown. The 1981 outdoor team also recorded the program’s second-best finish at the state meet, placing 11th. A year later, the Bombers took seventh at the state indoor meet and fifth at the outdoor event.
Jerry Boyes, another former Bomber athlete, took over as head coach in 1984. After Donnelly had led Ithaca to three straight ICAC outdoor titles, Boyes continued the success as the program won the conference’s outdoor title all three years he coached the team. Boyes’ first team posted a 7-0 outdoor record and he coached NCAA qualifiers Carlos Adrian (100 and 200-meter dashes), Mike Johnson (triple jump), John Loose (high jump),
Jim Nichols (shot put).
The 1985 season saw the program’s first all-American finish as Johnson earned the honor in the long jump at the NCAA outdoor championships.
A year later Johnson earned all-America honors in the long jump at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships, while high jumpers Matt Lesyk and Loose took second and third, respectively, at indoor nationals. Johnson and Lesyk each posted a total of three all-America finishes, the most of any Bomber.
The 1987 seasons were the first for Jim Nichols (not the former Ithaca athlete, whose discus and shot put records still stand) as head coach. Nichols has led the Bombers to 29 top-five finishes at the indoor and outdoor state meets. His teams won nine conference crowns between 1987 and 1995, when the conference discontinued sponsoring track and field. King Lewis matched the program’s best NCAA finish with a second-place showing in the triple jump at the 1988 indoor national meet, helping the Bombers to a school-record 15th-place team finish. He also earned all-America honors in the outdoor triple jump two years later.
In 1991 all-Americans Jason Jackson (100-meter dash), Sean Livingston (1,500-meter run) and David Fields (long jump) led the outdoor team to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the program’s best ever. Livingston also earned indoor all-America accolades that year.
The 1995 season saw the indoor team begin a stretch of seven top-10 finishes in nine years at the eastern College Athletic (ECAC) Championships. Those years were also highlighted by David Kelley’s all-America showing at the 1998 NCAA outdoor championships (he was eighth in the triple jump) and record-setting performances by hurdler Jon Mulholland, pole vaulter Jess Hafner and sprinters Matt Hopp and Scott Rowe (all four still hold school records).
In 2001 the program reached new heights, winning the state indoor and outdoor championships; both titles were the first for the Bombers (who had also won the state cross country title). Ithaca’s state champions from those teams included Matt Hopp – who won his third straight title in the outdoor 400-meter dash – and Mike Styczynski – who was named the outdoor meet’s Outstanding Runner after winning the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs. Brandon Mallette (outdoor 800-meter run), Jim Ravener (indoor 500-meter run) and Chris Ryer (indoor 55-meter dash) also won individual titles.
Mallette and Ravener both earned all-America honors at the 2002 NCAA indoor championship meet, taking eighth and fourth, respectively, in the 800-meter run. A year later, they teamed with Brian Cocca and Garrett Wagner to become the program’s first all-America relay team, earning the honor with an eighth-place showing in the distance medley relay.