When                                      Sunday, February 12, 2023                                                                                                  
Where                                     The Palestra | Philadelphia, PA
Team Records                       Towson (11-2)
                                                 UPenn (7-4)
                                                 West Chester (7-3)
                                                 Ursinus (1-5)
Live Stats                               Stat Broadcast
Live Video                              ESPN +
 
First Rotation
After a huge EAGL victory for Towson, the team is already jumping back into action. Towson heads to Philadelphia on Superbowl Sunday for a quad meet with University of Pennsylvania, West Chester and Ursinus College.
 
Sweet Victory
Towson hosted a quad meet with EAGL competitors North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Temple last Friday night at an electric SECU Arena. The Tigers put up a season best score of 196.375 to top the Wolfpack, Panthers and Owls by at least 1.125 points. The team picked up three career and nine season best scores, along with some new additions to the record book. The rookies were on fire as per usual, with Polina Belanovski and Isabella Minervini both earning individual first place finishes.
 
The team stayed in first place after each rotation, earning scores of 49.000 or better on three of the events. Towson found most success on uneven bars, where the team posted the best score ever in program history of 49.400. The Tigers are currently ranked 14^th in the nation in the event. Incredible effort was put forth from each gymnast competing in that event as everyone scored 9.800 or better. Junior Grace Vaillancourt received the second highest score in the event for Towson, posting her second best score this season of 9.900. She placed fourth overall. Isabella Minervini left it all on the bars, posting a phenomenal 9.95 which ties her for the second-best score for the Black & Gold in program history. The freshman won the event for the third time this season.
 
Vault was the next best event for the Tigers, where they earned the fourth highest score in school history – 49.150. Lauren Bolen and Camille Vitoff both earned season best scores of 9.850, tying with each other for fourth. Polina Belanovski helped the team immensely, posting a career best 9.900 to win the event individually. With that score Belanovski is in the top 10 in program history for the event.
 
Scouting the Quakers
UPenn is currently on a three-game win streak with its most recent success being a dual meet victory against Ivy League foe Cornell. The team earned a season high and fourth best team score in program history of 195.250 to defeat the Big Red by a landslide. The Quakers strongest suit of the meet was vault, where they posted a 49.075 led by Olivia VanHorn's 9.875.
 
Penn currently ranks 46^th via RoadToNationals with a 7-4 (overall), 2-0 (Ivy) and 4-0 (Gymnastics East) record. Vault and beam have proven to be the team's specialty so far this season, as they have posted highs of 49.075s on both events. The individual top scorers include Olivia Vanhorn (9.875) for vault, Mccaleigh Marr (9.875) and Skyelar Kerico (9.875) on bars, Campbell Marr (9.925) on beam and Sara Kenefick (9.875) on floor.
 
The Tigers and Quakers last saw each other on Feb 13, 2022 at SECU Arena where Towson won after posting a 195.950. 10 Tigers reached the podium at this meet including a tie for first on floor from Grace Vaillancourt (9.975). Penn's all-arounders grabbed the first and second spots with Sydney Kraez (38.925) and Sara Kenefick (38.250).
 
Towson-Upenn By the Numbers
-Towson has competed against Penn five times since 2011
-Series record Towson leads, 5-0
-Home Record 3-0
-Away Record 2-0
 
Scouting the Rams
West Chester is coming to this meet on a three-game winning streak as well with the most recent accomplishment being against Ursinus. Narrowly missing their season high, the Rams put up a 193.55 to beat Ursinus on the road. West Chester posted the highest score in all four events as well as had individual winners for all four.
 
Via RoadToNationals the team ranks 61^st with a 7-3 (overall) and 2-0 (conference) record. The top performers in each event are Kiah Johnson (9.850) for vault, Jordan Coleman (9.775) for bars, Kristina Rodriguez (9.850) and Anna Lacey (9.850) for beam and McKenna Kissinger (9.825) for floor. Kristina Rodriguez is also the teams only all-arounder, with a high of 38.550.
 
This will be the second time Towson competed against West Chester this season. The Tigers last met up with the Rams at Towson's home opener on Jan 20, 2023 where the Black & Gold placed second with the highest home opening score in program history, 195.075. West Chester finished in fourth after posting a season high 192.475.
 
Towson-West Chester By the Numbers
-Towson has competed against West Chester eight times since 2013
-Series record Towson leads, 8-0
-Home Record 7-0
-Neutral Record 1-0
 
Scouting the Bears
Ursinus is coming off of a dual meet with West Chester, where the team fell to the Rams after posting 187.075. Despite the loss, the Bears still put up a season best team score due to a near two-point improvement from the previous best this season. The score was made up of a 47.950 on floor, 47.325 on vault, 46.250 on beam and 45.550 on bars.
Ursinus is currently ranked 77^th on RoadToNationals. The individual top scorers in each event are Erin Stubbs (9.625) for vault, Alex Panetta (9.550) for bars, Daria Gregory (9.575) for beam and Sidney Schreiber (9.800) for floor. Isabella Scarpetti is the team's lone all-arounder, who has a high of 37.200.
 
Towson last saw Ursinus on Feb 19, 2022 at SECU Arena where Towson finished second in the tri-meet with a 196.525 after posting 49.000s or better in each event. Ursinus took third, falling to West Virginia and the Tigers after receiving a team score of 185.175. Towson picked up three individual first place finishes from Clara Hong, Lauren Bolen and Camille Vitoff.
 
Towson-Ursinus By the Numbers
-Towson has competed against Ursinus eight times since 2010
-Series record Towson leads, 8-0
-Home Record 5-0
-Away Record 2-0
 
Road To Nationals
-Towson still sits in 30^th via RoadToNationals.com
-Bars remains the highest event ranking, where the Tigers are currently 14^th
 
Towson Leaders by Event
-Vault: Polina Belanovski, 9.900
-Bars: Isabella Minervini, 9.950
-Beam: Grace Vaillancourt and Lauren Keener, 9.825
-Floor: Amy Stewart, 9.925
 
Getting Into the Spirit
-The following are the remaining themes for home meets this season:
-February 26: Senior/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Day (George Washington, Fisk and William & Mary).
 
Talented Playing Field
-12 out of the 21 teams Towson will compete against for the 2023 season are either ranked or receiving votes in the WGCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
-The highest ranked competitor is University of Denver, ranked 13th with 1119 points.
-Maryland (424) and Iowa State (407) are ranked 29th and 30th respectively.
-West Virginia is ranked 33rd with 214 points.
-George Washington, Temple, New Hampshire, Rutgers, Pittsburg, LIU, Ball State and Fisk all received votes.
 
In The National Rankings
-Towson was only two points away from being ranked in the Top 36 teams for the WCGA Preseason Coaches' Poll after picking up 142 points.
-George Washington received votes, earning 94 points.
 
How to Say It: TOWSON
TOWSON is pronounced TOW like towel + Son.
 
IT IS NOT: TOE-son, Townson, Towsond, Townsend, Townsen, Towzen. One N, no Z.
 
We are Towson University, no longer Towson State University (and haven't been since July 1, 1997).
 
Our mascot is Doc The Tiger, named after Donald "Doc" Minnegan, long-time soccer coach and athletics department administrator. Towson became the "Tigers" in 1962 after John Schuerholz (yes, the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame General Manager) pushed for the name change from the "Towson College Knights".
 
Next Time on Tiger Gymnastics
-The team takes a short break before heading to New York for a dual meet with LIU on Feb 18 at 7 p.m.
-The Tigers will remain at LIU for the weekend, being joined by Bridgeport and Brown for a quad meet on Feb 20 at 1 p.m.