Ithaca College took home three national championships this win­ter, one for women’s indoor track and field and two for wrestling.

Emma Dewart ’12 set a school record on her way to becoming a two-time NCAA pentathlon champion in March. She recorded 3,674 points to win the event, rack­ing up the second highest point total in Division III women’s track and field history. Dewart placed second in the heptathlon in the outdoor NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships this May with a point total of 4,917, just three points shy of the first-place finisher.

In early July, Dewart was named the 2012 Empire 8 Woman of the Year. As the Empire 8's winner, she will represent the conference in national balloting for the NCAA Woman of the Year.

Seth Ecker ’12 and graduate student Jeremy Stierly ’11 both won individual titles at the Division III national championships for wres­tling. Ecker won his second straight NCAA title at 133 pounds, and Stierly claimed the crown at 149 pounds. Ecker and Stierly’s titles bring the wrestling program’s total to 10 individual national champions.

Dewart and Ecker were both winners of the 2012 Empire 8 Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards. Nominated student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average. A total of five Bombers have been named Empire 8 Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year since 2008 -- no school has had more selections.