Coach Dennis Friends has been with the Ithaca College Cheerleading team since 2003 and has been a driving force behind the continued development of the program. Since joining the program after learning about it at a carwash fundraiser by the team, Friends has served as the squad's volunteer coach and has seen the progress the program has made.

"Every year I've been here, things are getting better and better. We have more girls and more dedication. These are very intelligent and very athletic girls. They come motivated every day I see them, and they are very serious about what they do. [They] are focused, and they want to be here. They want to work."

A 1995 graduate of Charles O Dickerson High School, Friends knows about this type of dedication and effort, having been a cheerleading for two years for the Blue Raiders before moving on to the Rochester Institute of Technology to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biomedical Computing. While at RIT, Friends continued cheerleading for his final three years for the Tigers, earning captain's honors as a junior.

In 1999, he returned to the Ithaca area to take a position with Cornell University as a computer programmer and began coaching cheerleading the following year at the high school level. In 2003, Friends assumed the volunteer coaching duties of the Ithaca College Cheerleading team and has since earned safety certifications through the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education and is approved to judge on the national level by Cheer Ltd.

Friends currently resides in Ithaca and enters his sixth season as the head coach of Ithaca College Cheerleading in 2008.

Coach Christine Bonacci (aka Scooby) joined the coaching ranks of Ithaca College in 2007, following her return to New York State after living abroad for a number of years.

Christine is a 1995 graduate of Guilderland High School, where she cheered for four years. Christine continued her cheerleading career in college, cheering for the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers from 1996-1999. Christine was named the captain of the RIT cheerleading squad both her junior and senior years.

In addition to Christine's cheerleading experience, she is also an accomplished dancer. She studied ballet from when she was a small child through the early years of her collegiate career.

Following Christine's graduation from RIT in 1999, she moved to Idaho briefly and began working in her degree field of Nuclear Medicine. In 2000, Christine moved abroad and over the past 8 years, she has had the opportunity to live in Japan and Germany.

Christine returned to the United States in April 2007, and joined the Bomber Cheerleading coaching ranks later that same year. Since her return to the US, Christine has received certifications in safety through the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE) and is certified to judge for Cheer Ltd.

Christine currently resides in Schenectady, NY. She plans to relocate to the Ithaca area in the near future, but in the meantime travels to and from Ithaca on a regular basis. During her visits she can be found working with the cheerleaders at various practices, events and games.

Serving as an assistant coach and the club’s advisor, Jackie Hopkins brings significant experience to the Bombers Cheerleading Squad and has been involved with the Ithaca College Cheerleading team from the very beginning.

With her vast knowledge, experience and involvement in cheerleading, Hopkins has been instrumental in the development of the program over the past five years. “It’s in my blood… I really enjoy the team spirit and camaraderie… and I [stay involved] because I love the sport. The program has come a long way, and I’m very proud to be a part of it”.

Having developed her passion for the sport as a four-year member of the Spencer-Van Etten cheerleading squad while attending S-VE, she has also served as the head coach of the Panthers varsity cheerleading team for the past 10 years and will begin her eighth year of involvement with Ithaca College Cheerleading in 2008.

Hopkins currently resides in Van Etten, New York and is a Planning Design and Construction Assistant at Ithaca College.