PITTSBURGH – For a second-straight week, the No. 24 Towson University women's gymnastics team improved on its best road score, dropping in a 196.100 at Fitzgerald Field House, edging host University of Pittsburgh 196.100-195.875 Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (13-6, 6-2 EAGL) picked up the East Atlantic Gymnastics League win with Towson's best road score this season. Lauren Bolen led the way for the Tigers with two first place finishes, winning the vault outright (9.875) while tying for first on beam (9.875). Mia Davis joined Bolen on the vault podium with a second-place, 9.850. Rookie Clara Hong finished tied for third on bars (9.825) while classmate Elise Tisler scored a 9.850 in her first official routine, finishing third at the meet.
Towson and Pitt (10-8, 4-3 EAGL) traded scores across the final two rotations as Towson went 49.025 on floor and then 49.200 on beam while Pitt went big on beam with a program-record 49.350 and 49.125 on floor.
How it Happened
- Following a dual-meet rotation, Towson began its day on bars where Hong scored her third-place 9.825. Camille Vitoff went 9.775 to finish sixth overall as Grace Vaillancourt (9.750) and Lauren Keener (9.725) finished third and fourth for the Tigers, respectively. Sarah Girot and Steph Macasu each scored 9.700 for Towson's fifth score.
- Moving to vault, Bolen scored her winning 9.875 from the five spot. Davis went third for the Tigers as she scored her 9.850, tying her season best. Tisler was Towson's third scorer, dropping in a 9.825 to tie for fourth. Nikki Borkowski finished with a 9.800 for a sixth-place tie. Jenna Weitz and Vitoff each scored a 9.750 for the Tigers, tying for ninth.
- Cracking the official lineup for the first time as a Tiger, Tisler put down a 9.850 on the floor in Towson's third rotation, finishing third place overall. Her classmate, Hong, was tied for fourth in the meet with a 9.825 on the floor, followed by Amy Stewart (9.800) in sixth, and Bolen and Vaillancourt scoring 9.775s for a tie at eighth place.
- Beam scoring was tight as Bolen tied for a five-way tie for first place with her lead-off 9.875. Pittsburgh had four of its five scorers log the same score en route to a program-record 49.350. Weitz, Hong and Emerson Hurst all tied for sixth with 9.850s while Lauren Keener rounded out the scoring with a 9.775.
- Towson did not have any all-arounders. Pitt's Sidney Washington won the dual with a 39.475, edging teammate Hallie Copperwheat's 39.200.
Behind the Numbers
- Towson put up three 49.000s or better in the meet, scoring a 49.100 on vault, a 49.200 on beam and a 49.025 on floor. The Tigers logged a 48.775 on bars.
- Pittsburgh also put up three 49.000s, going 49.100 on bars, a program-record 49.350 on beam and 49.125 on floor. Pitt struggled on the vault, having to count a 9.050 for a team total 48.300 on its first rotation.
- Towson's 49.100 on vault was the third time this season the Tigers hit a 49.100 or better on vault, also tying for the third-best score in program history.
- Bolen's 9.875 on vault was a season-best for the junior, while Tisler also tied her own season best on vault with a 9.825.
- Davis tied her career best with a 9.850 on the vault as well.
- Bolen also tied a career-best on the beam, scoring her 9.875.
- Towson has topped Pitt in the two regular season meetings this year, pairing Sunday's result with a 195.975-194.300 win over the Panthers back on January 28 in a tri-meet at UNC. The Tigers have now won three-straight head-to-heads with Pitt, doing so in three different locations (Brookville, New York; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
Up Next for Towson
- The Tigers return home next week to finish off the regular season with a quad-meet.
- Towson will host George Washington, Maryland and Southern Connecticut State at SECU Arena on Friday, March 11 for a 6 p.m. meet.
- The meet will be Towson's Senior Day meet as the Tigers will honor Nikki Borkowski, Emerson Hurst and Jaz Kauffman.
- It will also be the Tigers' Own Your Roar meet, a student-athlete mental health initiative founded by former Towson gymnast Olivia Lubarsky.
- Additionally, there will be the First Annual Soft Dog Toy Toss following the meet. Fans are asked to bring a plush dog toy to SECU Arena to throw onto the floor exercise area following the meet. The soft toys will be collected and donated to the Maryland SPCA.
