TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University gymnastics team will host its last two meets of the regular season Friday and Sunday inside SECU Arena.
On Friday, March 12 the Tigers will host George Washington and Temple for 'Pride' meet. Then on Sunday, Towson will host the two teams along with UNH for Senior Day.
Roll into Action
For your listening pleasure fans can watch the meet via:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/towson/portal.htm?eventId=617126&streamType=video (Sunday) and via live stream:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=343979 (Friday) and
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=325564 (Sunday)
New Faces
The Tigers added seven newcomers to the mix this season. Towson will be introducing fans to
Mackenzie Butler,
Sarah Girot,
Simona Kerekes,
Amanda Pedicelli,
Cassidy Stuart,
Grace Vaillancourt and
Allison Zuhlke.
Returners
Towson brings back one competing senior (
Tess Zientek), two juniors (
Nikki Borkowski and
Emerson Hurst) and five sophomores (
Lauren Bolen,
Paige Casper,
Amy Stewart,
Camille Vitoff and
Jenna Weitz) to round out the roster this year.
Last Time Out
Towson saw first-place finishes in every event at George Washington this pass Sunday scoring a 195.050. Hurst scored a career-high and Towson's highest ever beam score of 9.975 after receiving her first 10 from one of the judges.
Lauren Bolen won the all-around with a score of 39.200. Zientek won bars with a 9.8750, Bolen and Vitoff tied for first on vault and three Tigers tied for first on floor.
Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area.
Towson was on track to have its 8th consecutive year of over 10,000 hours of community service in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all activity. Towson finished with 7,527 hours last year, good for third in the NCAA Teamworks Helper Helper competition.
Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson also won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
Meet the Seniors
On Sunday, March 15 the Tigers will honor its two seniors
Kyla Gamble and
Tess Zientek at the conclusion of the meet.
Gamble, a senior from Pembroke Pines, Florida competed in 22 vault and 12 bar routines for the Black & Gold. She tied her career-high score of 9.8 on vault February 29, 2020 and scored a career-high 9.8 on beam February 18, 2018. She was named to the EAGL All-Scholastic Team all four years and earned All-Tournament Team honors in 2018.
Zientek, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. has competed in 33 bars routines and still counting for Towson. She also has competed in 11 vault and floor routines, two beam and competed in all-around twice. She tied her career-high 9.8750 on bars on March 7. Her bars score is also a Towson Top-10 program history mark. She has been named to the EAGL All-Academic team all four years and earned All-Tournament Second team honors in 2018. She also was selected as an alternate on bars at the NCAA Southeast Regional in 2018.
Amplitude the Awards
- Week eight saw Emerson Hurst win her first EAGL Specialist of the Week award. Hurst scored a 9.975 on beam, Hurst posted the highest score on the event in team history. She won the event outright and led the Tigers to a 49.050 on the event. She received a perfect 10.0 from one judge. She also made her season-debut on floor, scoring a career-high 9.800 to lead Towson to a 49.025 on the event in a dual meet at George Washington. The Tigers finished with a score of 195.050 last Sunday.
- Week seven saw the Tigers earn weekly awards with Jenna Weitz being named Specialist of the Week and Allison Zuhlke being named Rookie of the Week.
Weitz set a career-high of 9.875 in the lead-off position for the Tigers on vault, placing second behind teammate
Camille Vitoff with a 9.900. Her three-event performance led the Tigers to tie a season-high 196.150. Her vault score also helped the team post the highest vault total in school history. Zuhlke tied for first on bars with a career-high 9.900 which is also a program top-10 history score. She added career-highs of 9.825 on beam (3rd) and 9.775 on vault, competing her unique namesake vault for the third time this season.
- Week five saw the Tigers earn weekly awards with Camille Vitoff being named Co-Gymnast of the Week and Jenna Weitz being named Specialist of the Week. Vitoff won the all-around posting a 39.125 and earned a career-high of 9.8 on floor. Weitz earned a career-high 9.8 on vault and a 9.875 on floor.
- For week four, sophomore Vitoff was named Specialist of the Week after completing her Yurchenko 1.5 for the second time ever, earning a 9.800 for third place on vault. Her 9.825 on bars was a career-high and good enough for fourth place in the quad meet on Sunday, helping the Tigers post their highest bar total of the season.
- Sophomore Lauren Bolen was named EAGL Gymnasts of the Week for week three. Bolen was named Gymnast of the Week after competing in the all-around for the first time this season, scoring a career-high 39.050, and her first 39 ever. She won the all-around competition in an EAGL tri-meet.
She tied for first on vault scoring a 9.900 on her Yurchenko Full which is out of a 9.950, which was also a career-high.
- Freshman Allison Zuhlke earned her first weekly award after being named Co-Rookie of the Week from the East Gymnastics League (EAGL) on Jan. 19. She posted two 9.7 scores for the Tigers helping them post their highest opening score in school history. She placed fifth on both bars and beam posting the third-highest score for the Tigers on both events.
Conference Rankings
- Towson is ranked second in EAGL with an average National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 194.888.
- Lauren Bolen is ranked second with a NQS score of 39.113 in all-around. She is also third on vault (9.875 NQS).
- Camille Vitoff is tied for first with a 9.875 NQS.
- Amy Stewart and Tess Zientek are tied for ninth with 9.844 NQS on bars.
- Emerson Hurst is ranked second on beam with a 9.9 NQS.
- Stewart is tied for fifth on floor with a 9.863 NQS.
Scouting George Washington Colonials
GW scored a 195.675 in a dual meet with the Tigers this pass Sunday. Deja Chambliss earned a 9.875 on vault and Cydney Crasa scored a 9.825 on floor.
Scouting Temple Owls
Temple scored a season-high 195.4 last Sunday in a dual meet with LIU. Ariana Castrence picked up three event titles including the all-around. Brooke Donabedian won beam (9.850) and Cyrena Whalen, Julianna Roland and Tori Edwards (9.850) all tied Castrence on floor.
Scouting UNH Wildcats
The Wildcats set a season-high score of 196.125 over NC State on March 6. Sophmore Robyn Kelley registered a 9.850 on vault and 9.9 marks on balance beam and floor.
