TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University gymnastics team welcomes Rutgers University to SECU Arena on Friday, Feb. 24 for its annual Pink Meet. The dual meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

 
Meet Coverage
The dual meet will feature live stats and a live video stream that shows both teams' routines, courtesy of Towson Sports Network. Amy Phillips and program alumna Tandy Knight '91 will have the call. Fans can also find the results of the meet on Road to Nationals.
 
Fans who wear pink to help the Tigers support breast cancer research can receive a special $5 ticket.

 
Last Time Out
Towson is looking to rebound after dropping a road dual meet decision to Eastern Michigan University on Monday evening (196.000-193.075). The Tigers recorded 19 top 10 performances at the dual meet, including five of those routines in the top five. Erin Tucker won the event title on vault (9.800), while Gabriella Yarussi finished as the runner-up on balance beam (9.850) and all-around (39.075). Tyra McKellar matched her career high of 9.900 on uneven bars to finish second, while Noelle Harada took third in the all-around (37.925).
 
Rutgers is coming off a close dual meet loss to Illinois-Chicago on Sunday (194.275-194.200). The Scarlett Knights set a season-best of 48.750 on balance beam and matched their season-best on vault (48.725) at that meet. Rutgers' Erin McLachlan won vault (9.800) while April Baker and Makenzey Shank tied for first place on balance beam (9.800).

 
Ranking among the Best
Towson is ranked 43^rd on Road to National's rankings with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 194.150. Rutgers is ranked 52^nd with a RQS of 193.595.
 
A regional qualifying score (RQS) is used for qualification for regional competition and is based on a team's and an individual event competitor's six-best regular season meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the RQS, the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged.
 
The Tigers' have an RQS of 48.590 on balance beam, which is tied for 33^rd on Road to National's rankings. Towson's floor exercise RQS of 48.790 is 39^th in the nation. Towson ranks 50^th nationally with a RQS of 48.355. The Tigers' RQS of 48.245 on vault ranks 55^th nationally.  
 
Gabriella Yarussi and Mary Elle Arduino have matching 9.800 regional qualifying scores on balance beam, which is tied for 79^th in the nation. The pair are tied for eighth among EAGL gymnasts this season on balance beam.
 
Tyra McKellar ranks seventh among EAGL gymnasts this season with her RQS of 9.780 on floor exercise.

 
I'm Honored
Tyra McKellar picked up two weekly honors after winning the all-around title at George Washington. The junior was named EAGL Gymnast of the Week and earned NewDay USA Female Student-Athlete of the Week honors on TowsonTigers.com. McKellar posted a season-best team score of 39.250 for the all-around and set season-bests for floor exercise (9.875) and vault (9.750).
 
Gabriella Yarussi was named NewDay USA Female Student-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 10 for her performance in the Tigers' home opener. She matched her career-high with a 9.900 on balance beam to win the event title. Yarussi is one of 11 gymnasts in program history to score a 9.900 or higher on balance beam. She also competed on vault for the first time since returning from injury and finished seventh overall.
 

Up Next
Towson travels to EAGL rival Pitt on Friday, March 3 for a 6:30 p.m. quad meet. The meet will also feature Michigan State and West Virginia.