STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – After Towson's second-place finish at the 2022 East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championships, Towson University head gymnastics coach Jay Ramirez has been named EAGL Head Coach of the Year, as voted by the League's head coaches. EAGL made its announcement Saturday night during the awards ceremony of the 2022 EAGL Championships. 

This is the second-straight year Ramirez has been named EAGL Coach of the Year after he was selected last season as well.

Other major EAGL award winners include: Gymnast of the Year Deja Chambliss (George Washington), Specialist of the Year Mara Titarsolej (LIU), Co-Scholar Athletes of the Year Elizabeth Culton (UNC) and Julianna Roland (Temple), Senior of the Year Ariana Castrence (Temple), Rookie of the Year Hallie Copperwheat (Pitt), Assistant Coaches of the Year Amelia Hundley and Marie Denick (UNC), and Administrator of the Year Tanya Vogel (George Washington).

Under the guidance of Ramirez, the Tigers have returned to national prominence, ranking in the top 30 in the National Qualifying Score every week the NQS was available. The Tigers are currently 30th with an NQS of 196.245, which ranks second-best in the conference. It marks the first season the Tigers have an NQS north of 196.000, excluding the 2021 season, which used a different NQS formula.

This season, Ramirez and assistant coach Ashley Sauer, alongside volunteer assistant coach Kristen Presutti Callihan, saw 10 gymnasts earn a dozen All-EAGL honors, the most among the League's eight programs. 

Now in his third season at the helm, Ramirez coached the Tigers to scores of 196.000 or higher in seven of the 13 meets, shattering the previous program best of two. Eight of the program's highest 15 scores have come during the 2022 campaign, while the Tigers also scored 24 event scores of 49.000 or higher, including three meets with four scores of 49.000 or better. 

Twice this season the Tigers scored a 49.250 on vault, setting a new program record for the event. Five of the program's six best vault scores came during the 2022 season, including a 49.100 three times this year. Towson also set a new program record on beam, hitting a 49.400 in a home tri-meet on February 2.

This season, Towson's gymnasts reset career-best scores 26 times while posting 19 first-place finishes, 14 second-place finishes and 20 third-place finishes. Emerson Hurst scored the fourth-best beam score in program history with a 9.925, which garnered a 10.0 from the head judge on the event. Amy Stewart posted the third-best floor routine, scoring a 9.95 from both judges.